26% drop in auxiliary pioneers in "special month" between 2011 and 2012

by sir82 58 Replies latest jw friends

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  sir82

  I don't recall seeing this posted on this board before, my apologies if the topic is duplicated....

  In April 2011 and March 2012, the GB made a "loving provision" to allow JWs to sign up for the auxiliary pioneer work with only a 30 hour requirement instead of the usual 50 hours.

  In 2011, in the USA, about 500,000 signed up to be auxiliary pioneers.

  In 2012, per the August 2012 KM, only about 370,000 signed up.

  That's a 26% drop in just 1 year!

  Granted, in many parts of the US, the March weather is far worse than April's. But on the other hand, there were 5 Saturdays in March 2012 - you could get your "time in" with 5 long Saturdays and nothing else.

  I was virtually certain there would be a drop-off in numbers this year, but I was expecting a 10-15% drop.

  It seems that enthusiasm for knocking at empty houses and offering lame tracts is waning far faster than even I expected.

  Combine this news with the approximate 2% drop in Memorial attendance in the US in 2012 as compared to 2011, and the (anecdotal) evidence of a decrease in baptisms, and it seems that we may be very close to the point where we begin to see the JW "publisher count" numbers actually begin an overall decrease.

  Does anyone have any info on other countries, comparing auxiliary pioneer counts between April 2011 and March 2012?
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  WTWizard

  Nice to see that the pious-sneering is dying out. To get a special title for a month for "only 30 hours", seemed a bargain in 2011. However, it wears off. Ditto the waste of paper distribution campaigns. Once upon a time, the witlesses would support those damn things with both feet in it. I remember that fxxxing NR35 (the Jehovah supposedly loves you, you have to distribute that message, so he could show you contempt instead). I wish those wastes of paper could have ended up in the rubbish en masse.

  Hopefully, they got a nice increase in partakers to go along with the decrease in attendance.
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  moshe

  I hadn't seen this information, either. I expected the numbers to be way up- they made it so easy- you only had to get beat up in field service for 30 hours, not 50. Maybe, JWs have fallen out of love with their religion-

  
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  Gayle

  Thanks, sir, thanks for that report, that is a very sizable decrease. The GB make these "loving provisions" to squeeze any last bit of energy and time from the R & F. Some are realizing and questioning, 'what for?'
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  moshe

  I think the average JWs are getting older and don't want to put in 30 hours of d2d ( health issues, too) , pay for that expensive gasoline and pay for the literature out of their own meager retirement budgets- ( and maybe working part time for extra money)

  A typical KH car group today- getting a little long in the tooth - and still waiting for the big A.

  
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  wannabefree

  I think when the Borg announces a "special" activity they get an initial high percentage of participants because the flock thinks, "perhaps the Organization knows something, perhaps this is the start of something big, must get on board" ... then, next year its just more of the same, so interest has waned. They are always looking for ways to stoke the fire and get those flames up. ... ie "The End of False Religion is Near"

  (Oh dear, to make sure I got the title of the tract correct I Googled ... came across a new video )

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ve2DS-h2gTY
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  RubaDub

  As in anything else, the novelty wears out.

  We had about half (50) aux pioneer last year and it dropped to 36 this year.

  I guess we are about average.

  Rub a Dub
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  sir82

  shameless bump for the afternoon crowd.
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  Theocratic Sedition

  26% is a bigger drop than I anticipated as well. I wonder if this illustrates just how many publishers view pioneering if not field service itself, as a colossal waste of time? Few would actually come and say it, but their action or rather inaction in this case speaks volumes and I'm sure the Branch has taken notice. I've said to myself and a couple close associates that I question the value of the average pioneer. Most pioneers accomplish absolutely nothing out in the ministry. I know older sisters in high rises incapable of door to door activity who turn in 15 minute increments that accomplish just as much as the average pioneer that actually makes their time.

  The average JW with a job, and responsibilities, and common sense has to recognize the futility of field service. So possibly they may have felt the peer pressure when the first "pioneer for a month" campaign was in effect two years ago. Or maybe they even got caught up in the spirit of it all. Regardless, after going back into field service autopilot mode, their common sense and previous experience to back up the futility of it all aided them in making the decision not to do it again this second time around.
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  BluesBrother

  I would like to know the numbers for the U K.......? They do not let me near to a Kingdom Ministry, though. I have been told that it is only for Publishers..as though it contained secrets

  Of course the previous year's K M's are all there (U S A edition) on the cd rom and they are happy for me to have one of those. Funny, isn't it?