Some incredible new publisher statistics and Graphs

by jwfacts 66 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

• 

  jgnat

  My GOD this is hard to choke down, but slimboyfat is right about overall church decline. It's hard for me to see, because I've always attended growing churches. We do know, however, that we inherit people from other churches that are looking for a vibrant, caring community. So I can bite my tongue and accept what the statistics are telling me. Most likely the growth I see is from church consolidations.

  Churches will have to redefine themselves to remain relevant for the next generation. Some of my favorites, the youth-led 24-7 prayer line.

  http://www.24-7prayer.com/

  And Alpha.org

  www.alpha.org

  Both of these initiatives had their origins in the UK. I live in hope.
• 

  Arthur

  Very good observations and points Anitar. I applaud you Madam.
• 

  Quandary

  Anitar--EXCELLENT points!!

  Q
• 

  JWdaughter

  Slimboyfat, you told AuldSoul "Give me a break AuldSoul, I mean are you serious? You will not accept the data simply because it is a few years old?"

  You need to remember we are all children of "present truth" and as someone on the board chided recently-"Why go into ancient history?"(Speaking of 1974, I believe). We were trained long and hard not to accept old renditions or facts, because the current information is SO much more reliable:). We are old dogs, learning new tricks is hard!

  Shelly
• 

  slimboyfat

  Yes, it is hard to know without empirical evidence what is happening to the post 9/11 religious world.

  Well the English church attendance results from 2005 were published a couple of weeks ago and they show (surprise surprise) continued decline. The rate of decline is slightly lower at 2.3% annually compared with 2.7% in the 1990s.

  But read closely and even that tiny bit of comfort is misleading because, as the overall number of attenders decreases, the small number of immigrants, largely in London, who attend church exert a bigger impact on the overall figures.

  The result is that British people are abandoning the churches at ever faster rates, and soon the majority of those who still attend church in Britain will be immigrants who come from unsecularized countries.

  People are also living longer, which means that there should be more older people who grew up in a more religious age still around to go to church. But that still doesn't seem to be dampening the decline. It just means that the average age of those remaining in church gets older every year.

  A particularly interesting case is the Methodist Church which is still on coarse to disappear altogether within the next 30 years, and the average age of a person in a Methodist church is now approaching 60!

  Interesting what jgnat says since I gather that Canada is similar to Britain in being one of the most secularized countries.

  Slim
• 

  Tuesday

  1997 was when I was around 17, I remember when someone is like 16/17 they're usually pressured to get baptized. I think this big "Jump" or whatever has alot to do with the little baby boom of the early 80's and the children becoming of the age where they have to either be baptized or at least be a publisher.

  Then in 1999 was around the time I turned 19 and that was the biggest decline, which would mean that everyone got baptized due to pressure in their mid-teens, and by their late-teens were ready to leave.

  If this sounds right I give a big "Yay!" to my generation
• 

  NewYork44M

  At what point are ther more ex-jws as compared to active witnesses? Have we reached that breakeven point yet? If not, when can we project that the number of ex's exceed the number of active dubs?