Britain in the doldrums! (page 2)

WTWizard

Maybe it's time to do missions in Britain. To heaven with going to Israel.

The foreign field is a joke. Most Dubs that I know are barely hanging on, making zero converts, although "interested ones" love the JW-picnics! People with strong traditions are less likely to join the JW cult, which was an American Haberdasher's invention.

More "exemplary" couples are quitting the foreign language field. The health of the wife is the usual excuse.

Young Elders and their wives in a foreign language congregation are burdened with more tasks than a Circuit Overseer, espescially when they must help turn a "group" into a congregation. They work their secular jobs because the WTBTS sure as hell isn't going to give them any help, then they learn another language, teach, give talks, go D2D, all with very few results.

The decline started as soon as the "Foreign Language Group" idea began. The fudging of numbers could only hide the truth for so long. Young Elders and widowed Pioneers, who can barely learn baby-talk in a foreign language, are not going to convert anyone with their five minute presentations or lame-ass videos. It was cute for a little while, but it jumped the shark years ago.

DD

Vidiot

Data-Dog - "...'interested ones' love the JW picnics..."

Ironic, considering those kinds of activities have been "discouraged" by the the Org leadership of late. :smirk:

DATA-DOG

Maybe Xianinty flourished because the food was good, and everyone shared? Then some a-holes came along and tried to turn it into a religion?

DD

darkspilver

In real terms, over the last twenty years in Britain, there has been a 5.5% decrease in publisher numbers.

The JWs in Britain would need to have a monthly average of 141,929 publishers reporting to be the same (ie no increase/decrease) publisher-to-population ratio as they where during the 1996 Service Year (instead of the current 134,517 average publishers)

Phizzy

Population increase, '96 to '16,as above, in round figures, 8 million .

JW increase in round figures in that time, 10,000.

If they were tracking population increase they should have added at least 17 thousand.

Big disparity.

darkspilver

If they were tracking population increase they should have added at least 17 thousand.

How are you doing the calculation?

Population increased 14% over 20 years
Equivalent JW increase at 14%, to keep track, would mean 142,070

That's just another way of doing my original calculation which used the ratio and got 141,929 (small difference due to calculation rounding?) ?

How do you get 17,000? Do you mean if they where increasing PLUS keeping up / tracking the population?

closed

Few years ago a co who is in Bethel now told me that almost all growth in the UK Is because of immigrants, mainly from Poland.

My experience is: Brits don't go to ministry on evenings when people are in. Saturday mornings are mostly not at homes and only an hour. And then coffee stop. No wonder no new converts, youths bored and all discouraged.

Immigrants are far more industrious . I keep seeing polish and Slovak jaws in my area at nigh time doing d2d. They preach as they work - hard. I apologise Brits but they have more power. Besides, they as newcomers create sort of support groups.. and they need it.

steve2

So that means that, over a 20-year period - 1996 to 2016 - average numbers of active JWs in the UK increased only 10,000 - and that subsumes immigrants.

It would be interesting to do a comparison on the 20-year period, 1976 to 1996 - I suspect that would show huge numerical growth.

Anyone have the numbers for that?

OrphanCrow

steve: Anyone have the numbers for that?

I do

I recently went through all the yearbooks from 1945 and up, extracted the Service Reports for each year, and then compiled them into pdfs for each decade (including maps!)

I sent the pdfs to wifibandit. He should be able to make them available.

If you give me a minute (or a few)...maybe I can post the pertinent years

Calling wifi...

Britain in the doldrums!

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