JW membership turnover - a real-life study (page 3)

jam

i need help with my family. We came in around the late 60,and early 1970. Myself,sister and younger brother and our mates.Over the years we added 39 too the ranks. Six of those today are elders,and my sister was one of the 144000, she died a year ago.Only me ,my two sons and a grandson is out.Today when I see my family members they turn away, I have been out since 1987. My family are die heart JW.They are still very active. But I understand ,not one of them have any college education.My son last year at UCLA, this open his eyes. They are all low income windows washer, houseclearners, car detailers and two electrican.

Mary

Yep.....it seems the 50s, 60s and early 70s were the 'golden years' for the Borg. Here's my family:

Both maternal and paternal grandmothers join the religion in the 1930s.

1930s: Maternal Grandma + 3 kids = 4 JWs 1930s: Paternal Grandma + 2 kids = 3 JWs 1950s & 1960s: mom + dad + 7 kids = 9 JWs 1950s & 1960s aunt + uncle + 1 kid = 3 JWs 1950s & 1960s uncle + aunt + 2 kids = 4 JWs 1950s & 1960s aunt + uncle + 2 kids = 4 JWs Total: 27 JWs

Today, out of the 27 members of my family who were JWs in the early 1970s, there are only 5 who are still in de Troof.

BizzyBee

Roughly 30 out and 22 still in.

besty

Mary: "Yep.....it seems the 50s, 60s and early 70s were the 'golden years' for the Borg"

I agree with that - late 50's was those massive conventions in NY - 250k people - I mean that is significant. And then the run up to 1975 with massive year on year growth figures... sadly it was all down hill from then.

isnrblog

Those are interesting stats.

I will do mine and post it here, as time permits.

Mine goes back to the 30's, but I can do it from memory.

I think I may start this as a feature on my blog. I'm getting a lot of traffic, but I would guess people are tiring of my ranting. This is a great idea and a new twist.

Would you think, since we are talking about net membership, we should include any that one studied with and were baptized. In my 50 years, all whom I studied with and who were baptised are now out, with the possible exception of one guy who lives in a remote city in Nevada.

Fred www.isnrblog.com

Jankyn

Besty, that's a really interesting analysis. Mine's very similar.

1930s-1940s: Great-grandmother, one adult daughter + 2 children = 2 JWs, 2 in pipeline

1940s: Great-grandmother, adult daugher, her husband + 4 children = 3 JWs, 4 in pipeline

1950s: Great-grandmother, adult daughter & husband, 4 adult children & 3 spouses + 4 children = 10 JWs, 4 in pipeline

1960s: (Great-grandma passed), adult daughter & husband, 4 adult children & 4 spouses + 12 grandchildren= 10 JWs, 12 in pipeline

1970s: My grandma & husband, 4 adult children & 2 spouses (2 df'd) + 3 baptized grandchildren + 2 baptized spouses + 9 grandchildren = 13 JWs, 9 in pipeline

1980s: My grandma (husband died), 2 adult children (2 df'd) & 1 spouse (1 df'd), 1 baptized grandchild (2 df'd) + 1 baptized spouse (1 df'd) + 9 unbaptized adult grandchildren & 4 non-JW spouses + 4 children = 6 JWs, 2 in pipeline.

1990s: (Grandma passed); 2 adult children & 1 spouse; 1 baptized grandchild & 1 baptized spouse; 1 baptized great-grandchild = 6 JWs, NONE in pipeline. That makes 11 df'd or unbaptized grandchildren + spouses/partners, with 36 unbaptized great-grandchildren. And now we're into great-great-grandchildren (there are 4), so from the original JW in my family, out of 68 descendants "raised in da Troof," there are 6 JWs. And the one baptized great-grandchild is a pioneer who's "available after Armageddon."

That's less than 8 percent retention in our family.

willyloman

This just in from the California front:

1970-2003 membership activity: 2 adults -1 an elder, one a pioneer - and 4 children - all of whom pioneered.

2008 summary: Not one JW in the bunch; celebrating 5 years of religious and spiritual freedom this year. All left as conscientious objectors.

That's minus-6 if you're keeping score.

katiekitten

Great thread!

I would agree that there was a heyday in the 80's, for my family too. My parents, and my mums sister and brother and their respective families all came in in the late 70's and had kids. There was a time through the 80's when the 'kids' were growing up (me and my cousins) and we all attended enthusiastically - 5 adults and 5 kids, 3 families. Since then everyone has fallen out except one cousin who has married and remained childless.

All my other cousins have married and had kids and none of us attend.

My one stoopid childless cousin has a big payoff not to leave because he is an elder and his wife is a pioneer. But they are the end of the line. How dumb are they gonna feel when ahm-a-gettin'em doesnt come and they are lonely old people with no family to cheer 'em up.

Emma

My family is a bit smaller but

'60 - grandma, mom, me and two sisters

'70's and '80's, me mom, two sisters+husbands, my husband, four kids=11

90's I woke up and left, my four kids came with me, ex-husband out but still thinks it's the truff

My two sisters and one bil are left, no kids. Sweet! Three left.

I hadn't looked at it this way before!

M.J.

Yes great thread indeed!

I don't have any stats to add.

But I'd like to make an observation from a group dynamics standpoint.

In my experience, new recruits make up a more idealistic, enthusiastic, and compliant group than a bunch of long-timers or "lifers". The fresher the recruits, the more compliant and enthusiastic.

I think the high turnover, to some extent, is to the WTS's advantage.

For new recruits, the group has the advantage of being able to craft the group image and the model of reality built around the group from the ground up. The group's history can be easily slanted or even revised to suit.

Longer term members have their own experiences and family experiences to draw from, which don't quite match the officially promoted version of reality.

JW membership turnover - a real-life study

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