Ah, but Emma, aren't they just killing off everyone who they do reach at home but who, for whatever reason, aren't interested in their presentation? Sounds like they'd do better to just stay at home and give more people a chance at armageddon (damn, I can't remember how to spell armageddon...)
Door-to-Door Work - Most Inneffective Work of the 21st Century
by Black Man 52 Replies latest jw friends
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czarofmischief
Wouldn't it suck to be judged based on your response to a sweaty, tired, hungover pioneer who spends most of the presentation trying not to drool on his magazines?
Face it, most of the dubs WOULDN'T be allowed to represent a company in door to door campaigns. They just aren't skilled, dedicated, or "together" enough. I love most of them, but most of them just don't want to be there, right? I didn't...
CZAR
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stillajwexelder
I am still a witness in "good standing" and I know that I do anything , browse shop windows, look at nice cars etc, but still count about 10 hours per month - I should stop the pretense really but have not got the courage -- too many family in the truth
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kilroy2
when you are knocking on doors you cant read about the problems with the teachings on the internet. bussy work. you know idle minds, we are not smart enough to think for ourselves. its dangerous. better to pound on doors,
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garybuss
The door to door exercises are useful to the group is more than a few ways.
1. It is a way to identify those loyal and pliable. Only members counted are canvassers called "publishers".
2. It serves (or at least it used to) as a fund raiser.
3. If it is not a fund raiser now, it serves to consume the production of the corporation.
4. It is an activity that seems to give purpose.
5. It gives structure to the hierarchy.
6. It serves inversely to identify weak members and walkaway candidates. The first activity to go is "service".
7. There is the occasional new recruit that comes in by the door to door soliciting.
There has to be more . . . . -
jgnat
8. It keeps the martyr complex happily humming along for the faithful.
9. If they stopped walking, they might have time to think, or (gasp) read the Bible.
oops! By the way, welcome stillajwexelder! We should have a thread somewhere on the top ten ways to kill time in field service.
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minimus
Can you imagine what would happen if Witnesses were told that they didn't have to concentrate on this "work"? JW's have already been told that other areas of the ministry should be pursued too. If JW's were suddenly expected to put in 10 REAL hours in the ministry, what would they do? I think the Society purposely keeps JW's focused on a meaningless work.
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jgnat
Ten REAL hours would mean allowing some creativity and "out of the box" thinking.
The Christian Reformed church is notable for their good works. A Christian Reformed church in our neighbourhood has a fantastic program for teen parents. There are volunteers to pick up the parents and bring them to a class just for them. Volunteers to babysit their kids. A clothing exchange. The list goes on and on. This service was started by a woman who was very active in the anti-abortion movement. By switching her passion to a positive, she is making a world of difference for many moms.
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Risot
I came to be a Witness through informal witnessing. From the beginning, it was apparent to me that Jehovah's Witnesses had very poor public relations and that generally, no one had any idea what their core beliefs were. Why? Because people immediately associate Jehovah's Witnesses with "those annoying people who interrupt me from watching Sunday football." Thus, from the beginning, I was never too keen on the door-to-door work - I thought it hurt more than helped the spreading of the truth.
Now that my convictions regarding the Witness faith have changed, I embrace this aspect of the ministry. Jehovah's Witness' ministry continues to alienate themselves from the rest of society, giving them increasingly bad PR. Bad PR is necessary to keep newcomers out. Keeping newcomers out is necessary for stifling the growth of the Organization. The WTS may not want hoards of people joining the faith, but they also don't want their numbers to decrease. However, ironically, I think it's the door-to-door preaching work that is keeping numbers in the U.S. from growing at any significant rate. As time goes on and more and more people become apprehensive about Witnesses knocking on their door, these numbers may start declining. So I say - keep it up!
In other countries, however, this is not the case - particularly in poor countries. I've spoken to several missionaries from South America and Africa. They said it's not uncommon for each missionary to have at least 10 bible studies at any given time. So in these areas of the world, unfortunately, I think the "door-to-door" work is quiet effective as it's intended.
-Risot
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cbew
Great posts. Yes, the door to door work has never been effective in locating new converts and bringing them in but it is an effective channel for the distribution of their literature and bringing in the $$$$. Like any business organization it has to have an outlet and distribution channels for its products. If you figure at least $5 to $10 dollars in donations per month per publisher ( either paid for by the publisher or donations received in the field ) you are looking at approx. $360 million to $720 million comming in to enrich the WTS publishing empire. Great business when you figure it costs nothing to the WTS for this distribution outlet. It has always been about the $$$ otherwise why keep doing the HH work when it is so ineffective.