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Nathan H. Knorr & Fred W. Franz
Nathan was an
"organization man" from the start. Often cold and business-like and
strongly disliked by a number of members of the headquarters for his quick
turnabouts on policy and roughshod treatment of those opposed to his ideas, he
had a flip side of love and compassion for his missionary students. He formed
the Gilead Missionary School, he was the author of the modern house-to-house
witnessing technique, and was largely responsible for the greatest growth in
the organization seen in the period leading up to 1975. It was generally known
that Knorr was the organizer and Franz was the writer/prophet.
Other members of
the Governing Body demanded a greater share of power in 1975, to the dismay of
Knorr and his vice-president Fred Franz. Together they resented giving
more power to others in leadership. Knorr died of cancer shortly after a major
policy change in 1975, which established the structure of the modern-day
Governing Body with Milton Henschel as its chairman
and President of the Watchtower Bible & Tract Society.
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Knorr
was a visionary.
In 1942 the organization claimed 98,076 active members. By 1977 they claimed
2,223,538 active members. One day's production of books could make a stack
twice as tall as the Empire State Building!
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Left to right: Lyman Swingle, Sullivan, Grant Suiter, Hugo Reimer, Nathan Knorr, Fred Franz and Milton Henshel
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Every convention would bring several new books or booklets,
always the high point. Some brought changes in understanding referred to as
"new light," containing instructions that superceded
previous understandings, termed "old light."
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