WE SINCERELY hope that your visit to Bethel Welcome!

has been a rewarding one. No doubt it has

helped you to become better acquainted with
the work that Jehovah’s Witnesses are doing to
aid people in their quest for a better future
through God’s Kingdom. May your visit with us
be an encouragement to you in your efforts to
learn more about our loving Creator and to live
by his righteous standards.
VISITING HOURS
Visitors are welcome to take a guided tour of
our facilities. Tours are available from Monday to
Friday from 8:00 a.m. till 11:00 a.m., and from
1:00 p.m. till 4:00 p.m.
˘ 2013 Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania
fo-E Bi
Welcome to the IT IS a pleasure to welcome you to the Britain
branch office of Jehovah’s Witnesses. We hope
Britain Branch Office that your visit will be a pleasant one. Our branch
complex is called Bethel, which means “House
of Jehovah’s Witnesses of God.” This Biblical name is fitting because
all those who serve here are ordained minis-
ters, dedicated to Jehovah God. They devote
themselves full-time to supporting the Kingdom-
preaching and disciple-making work.—Matthew
24:14; 28:19, 20.
To organize this work, there are over 90 branch
Craven Terrace,
offices worldwide—all working under the direc- 1911 /
tion of the Governing Body of Jehovah’s Wit-
nesses.
DID YOU KNOW?
˛ The very first branch office of Jehovah’s Wit-
nesses was established in London in 1900.
˛ Our family members come from 35 different ,
Eversholt Street,
countries. 1903

& Gipsy Lane,

1900
Spiritual Programmes
A good spiritual routine is vital for Bethel
life. Each workday morning, the Bethel family
come together to consider a Bible text from the
booklet Examining the Scriptures Daily. A chair-
man presides over this 15-minute discussion,
in which members of the family are assigned to
comment on the text. After a prayer a hearty
breakfast is served.
On Monday evenings the entire Bethel family
gathers to study the Bible with the help of The Bethel Home
Watchtower. At times, there are special pro-
Bethel family members are furnished with room
grammes after the Watchtower study.
and board and a small monthly allowance to as-
Each member of the family also makes time for sist with their personal expenses. They can truly
personal Bible study and regularly shares in the be called a family because of their unity in serv-
Kingdom-preaching work. ing their heavenly Father, Jehovah God. As a
family they work together, enjoy meals together, Maintenance
and study the Bible together. Members of our Maintenance Department in-
DID YOU KNOW?
A number of necessary tasks are performed clude skilled tradesmen, such as electricians,
˛ Bethel family members attend some 80 differ- at Bethel. For example, some family members plumbers, carpenters, and engineers. Routine
ent congregations. Many learn a foreign language, serve in the kitchen, where they prepare nutri- maintenance prevents equipment from break-
such as Bengali, Mandarin, Romanian, or Turkish. tious meals that are served in our comfortable ing down and saves money on costly repairs.
˛ The Bethel Entrants’ School trains new arrivals. dining rooms. Thus, the family benefits from a
They are required to read the entire Bible during well-balanced diet in a wholesome environment.
their first year.
Others do cleaning, housekeeping, or laundry.
Well-kept buildings, rooms, and clothing all dig- DID YOU KNOW?
nify our holy God, Jehovah.—1 Peter 1:16.
˛ Annually, the Maintenance Department per-
forms over 1,800 maintenance checks.

DID YOU KNOW?

˛ In one year, the laundry washes some
300 tonnes of clothes, linen, and cleaning cloths.
That is equivalent to about 66,000 wash loads at
home!
Offices
Purchasing Department
Great care is exercised when using donated
funds to purchase needed items. From jams to
generators, the Purchasing Department strives
for high quality at low cost.

DID YOU KNOW?

˛ Each year Britain branch hosts negotiations for
purchasing tens of thousands of tonnes of paper
used by printing branches globally.
Service Department
This department supports the preaching activity
of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Britain. It handles
correspondence from circuit overseers, congre-
Translation Department gation elders, pioneers, and others. Conven-
tions and assemblies are scheduled here. The
Literature translated into people’s mother tongues Service Department also processes field ser-
reaches hearts. This department translates the vice reports from the Britain branch territory
Watchtower and Awake! magazines and other publi- and provides specific direction as well as en-
cations. World headquarters sends English text many couragement to Jehovah’s people in the branch
months in advance. Translators work in teams of territory.
three to ensure the translation is understandable
and accurate.
DID YOU KNOW?

DID YOU KNOW? ˛ You can search for Kingdom Hall addresses
and meeting times on the website jw.org.
˛ The Britain branch supervises the translation of Bi-
ble literature into 11 languages, including Irish, Scottish
Gaelic, Welsh, and British Sign Language.

& Translators work in teams of three

The Printery Shipping Department
The Shipping Department processes congrega-
This is where literature is printed, packed, and tion literature requests from Britain and Ireland,
dispatched. The printery prints and distributes along with requests from other branches. Beth-
millions of magazines and brochures each year. el lorries deliver these items throughout Britain
and Europe.

DID YOU KNOW?

˛ Our production record for one week is
8,096,450 magazines and brochures.
˛ Annually, we import more than 1,200 tonnes of
Bibles and books from other branches for distribu-
tion.

Graphics Department
The Graphics Department combines artwork, photo-
graphs, and composed text, using the Multilanguage
Electronic Publishing System (MEPS). Completed
pages are processed to form a set of electronic files
in four basic colour components. This information is
inscribed by laser on four separate plates for printing
the colours cyan, magenta, yellow, and black to form
the full-colour images.
Pressroom
The pressroom has one web offset
press and a number of sheetfed off-
set presses. The web offset press
has an automatic splicer that makes
paper-roll changes without slowing or
stopping the printing. It can print up
to 188,000 magazines an hour.
Sheetfed presses print handbills,
forms, letterhead stationery, and en-
velopes.