Are the halls of the Kingdom filling up, are they the same as before the pandemic or are they emptying?

by LaFrancia 33 Replies latest jw experiences

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  slimboyfat

  In our local congregation there are around 50 in the hall and 15 or so online. This compares with usual attendances of around 50 to 60 before the pandemic. Is that down or up? It’s pretty much the same.

  Last year’s summer convention in Glasgow had between 7000 and 8000 in attendance. This is similar to figures stretching back as far as I can remember. On that measure attendance has been pretty flat for around 30 years. I don’t see any major moves, up or down.

  One thing that has changed is there are more foreign language congregations however, especially Polish in Scotland. So overall the number of active JWs is probably slightly up when you take that into consideration.

  By contrast most other churches are declining rapidly, including the Catholic Church which also benefitted from an influx of polish Catholics in the early 2000s.
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  Magwitch

  I recently moved to a small mountain town in Colorado (pop. 6000). There had been an active kingdom hall here for many years. I found out yesterday that the kingdom hall has been totally boarded up and closed permanently (happened during Covid). It is unclear what the witnesses in this area are doing because the closest Kingdom Hall is over an hour away and in the winter, the roads are pretty much impossible.
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  JW GoneBad

  Just talked to a friend from another local JW congregation with similar size congregation...150 to 160 total publishers. This is how he described this past Sunday's meeting:
  
  1) First 6 rows practically
  empty...everyone was seated in the back rows.

  2) 75 were in attendance...in-person.
  
  3) A lot of new folks...people he didn't know.
  
  4) 45 were on Zoom.
  
  5) The rest (upwards of 50+ publishers) were unaccounted for.
  
  Who gives a rat's ass about other religions & their attendance figures...we here on this forum should be elated that Watchtower World is bleeding-out...Yaaaaay!
  
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  LV101

  Other religions are interesting and Slimboyfat has great info/stats! Catholic churches here were packed couple yrs. ago and it's hard to believe they're losing so many.

  JW GoneBad - elated and hopeful.
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  NotFormer

  It's hard to judge numbers. Anecdotal evidence swings both ways. Many people here believe that the WT is fudging the numbers. Do JWs fill out their census forms, or is that too political? What does the census data say?
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  Gorb

  Who cares, anyway?

  Gorby
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  St George of England

  Where I live in the UK the numbers are fairly stable, about 60 to the PT and WT, a few less to Mid-week meeting. Usually about 30+ on ZOOM but only half a dozen have their camera on.

  The main reason for maintaining attendees is the very high number of immigrants that have moved in. I really don't know anything about most of them other than the fact i cannot understand much of what they say.

  George
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  Beth Sarim

  Its like religion is just dying in general.
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  KalebOutWest

  In the United States, the Roman Catholic Church is undergoing a surge of regrowth.

  While Europe has continued to drop, the numbers inthe Americas and Africa have caused the Catholic Church to triple since 2020. It has caused a clergy shortage which for Catholics is very serious as they require clergy in order to perform Mass and produce the Eucharist and hear confessions.

  Not only has the rise in numbers increased to 16.7% on this side of the globe, but a more "traditional" type of Catholicism among millenials and the youth has developed, desiring conservative values that view Rome as "too liberal." (In the United States, the group supports Donald Trump and opposes Pope Francis.)

  Certain areas of the US are filled with lively activity of Jehovah's Witnesses like never before. The recent Las Vegas SuperBowl saw JW outreach make national news as scores of them and their little carts hit the Vegas Strip--an uncommon sight. (I live in Vegas.)

  In this part of the US they are in every major airport as you depart, handing out literature at exits, using notably their prettiest "white and blonde" women-- very cultish in the selection is the chatter of the crowd that passes them by (their pasted smile mostly is what haunts you.)

  Kingdom Halls may not be filled up where you are, but they are like bed bugs, in the thousands in the public where I am.
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  Beth Sarim

  Or sometimes I wonder if the number of PIMOs, doubters & faders are really as high as many think they are.