Are "young people the Jehovah's' growth market:"?

by blondie 11 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  blondie

  http://www.themercury.news.com.au/printpage/0,5942,8215848,00.html Getting a foot in door
  By HEATHER LOW CHOY
  20dec03
  
  YOUNG people are the Jehovah's Witnesses' growth market, according to 22-year-old Witness Jeremy North.
  
  Mr North will attend this weekend's Jehovah's Witness convention at the Derwent Entertainment Centre, which is expected to attract 3500 people.

  A very active member of the faith's door-to-door ministry, Mr North said young people were extremely receptive to learning more about what being a Jehovah's Witness had to offer.

  "In my experience it's when talking to young people that there's the highest potential for success," Mr North said.

  "Because most young people today have no links to any faith, they are curious as to what having a faith is all about.

  "I think we're starting to see a resurgence of interest in religion among young people."

  Ardon Platt said he was eagerly anticipating the convention's mass baptism ceremony, to be held today, at which he would be immersed in a three-metre long tub of water.

  A weekly 45-minute class was helping him hone his door-to-door ministry skills, he said.

  The class involved role plays, where one young witness would pretend to be the unresponsive householder and the other would play door-to-door minister.

  Mr Platt, 15, said householders were not always congenial.

  "I had someone say he'd wet me with his hose and people saying they'd let the dogs out, and someone told me they'd shoot me if I came back," he said.

  Are these young people outside the WTS or children of current members? What do the baptisms show, 3/4 are children of current JWs.

  And how many of them are leaving before or after baptism? More than 75%.

  It's not what they say but what don't they say. Yes, there is the potential but young people are not coming in.

  Blondie
• 

  Poztate

  What do the baptisms show, 3/4 are children of current JWs.

  I believe a lot of their growth comes from the children of JW's.

  Maybe the next"new light" we will receive in the pages of the WT will be a breeding program to help get the numbers up.
• 

  CruithneLaLuna

  A study by the City University of New York indicates that in eleven years, the number of people in the USA identifying themselves as Neo-Pagans increased seventeen-fold (nearly 1700%). That's two or three orders of magnitude greater than the JWs' growth in the USA during that period - and it is especially interesting in that (in general) Pagans do not proselytize. (If you are of Germanic descent, Asatru would be an exception for you.)

  It is very far from true that "all" new Pagans are young - I and some of my friends, among them ex-JWs, who have been drawn to Paganism over the past several years, are middle-aged - but the majority of them are relatively young. It seems quite common for teenagers to be attracted to Wicca and other Pagan paths.

  I think the youth of this culture are a "growth market" for all brands of spirituality. (Ask your Mormon acquaintances from which age group they are drawing the greaterst number of new converts.) The Dubs' share is relatively small, in the grand scheme of things.

  Cruithne
• 

  freelife

  It is very sad that the WTS targets the inexperienced ones for their work. They are just like a lion looking for the easiest prey to devour. The WTS looks for the lame or the young or the sick and makes them grand promeses and dupes them into doing their bidding. This makes me sick!!!
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  Euphemism

  Mr North said young people were extremely receptive to learning more about what being a Jehovah's Witness had to offer.
  
  "Because most young people today have no links to any faith, they are curious as to what having a faith is all about

  Based on my experience, I think that's absolutely true... young people, especially students, are generally open-minded, willing to listen to any idea, etc. That doesn't mean, howver, that they're going to actually commit to the Witnesses! The same open-mindedness that makes them willing to listen to the Witneses makes them reluctant to accept their dogmatism and narrow-mindedness.
• 

  SM62

  Blondie,

  It's true that most new baptisms are children of current JWs. At the last assembly, there were 6 baptised from my congregation and 4 of these were between the ages of 18 and 22 - all brought up as JWs. I didn't see any young people coming in from outside.

  A weekly 45-minute class was helping him hone his door-to-door ministry skills, he said.

  The class involved role plays, where one young witness would pretend to be the unresponsive householder and the other would play door-to-door minister.

  This quote is rubbish. The demos on the platform never involved an unresponsive householder - at least not where I come from. They went like this:

  A: Hi, I'm Pete, we were just in the neighbourhood...blah blah blah blah

  B: That sounds really interesting....blah blah blah

  A: Well, if you look at this brochure, it shows......blah blah blah

  B: Wow - that is SOOOOO interesting and ........blah blah blah

  A: Well, if you have 5 minutes I can show you blah blah blah

  B: OK - I am SOOOOO looking forward to this interesting discussion...blah blah

  A: GREAT! Now, as I was saying....blah blah blah

  They always ended with a placement or Bible study. They were so unrealistic it was unbelievable.

  Terri
• 

  wednesday

  well, i guess if u count all the 11-13 yrs olds that are baptized b/c of parents pushing them that way, sure that is some growth. But u take that same group outside of the confines of jwdub land,do u think they would commit their lives to an org? No, and so many of the young ones that get baptized, by the time they are 15-18 have already changed their mind and are leaving.
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  seattleniceguy

  Euphemism - excellently put.

  I remember in my old hall there was this brother who was always talking about what incredible success he used to have on university campuses. He talked about giving out a questionaire in which students could indicate what subjects particularly interested them, and then Witnesses could call on them with information specific to those interests. I can still remember his eyes going wide as he'd recall the "hundreds" of responses they got.

  Of course, the congregational numbers did not jump by the hundreds. Why? Students are smart. They're open minded. That doesn't fit well with the Society.

  SNG
• 

  minimus

  The only young people that might become JWs are the ones that don't know any better----"worldly" ones. Any self-respecting JW youth knows that by 18, they've GOT to find a way out of the organization.
• 

  Stephanus

  Are "young people the Jehovah's' growth market:"?

  No.

  What in the world can the Dubs offer the young'ns that the World itself can't, even in the form of much more interesting religions?