by ToesUp 72 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
Is the preaching work, no longer the number 1 priority?
Why should going door to door be that important now when the organization (Jehovah's) has the JWorg web site.
Or we have literature trolley carts which we place on populated streets.
Jehovah's organization has made it easier to preach the goods news of the Kingdom now.
Thank you Jehovah
Yes - past tense.
Since the mid-90's, the preaching work is increasingly inefficient and ineffective.
@sir82 not at all. Like i stated above the average annual growth of the world population these days is about 1% the Average growth of JW's is around 2-2.5%
Keep in mind that the nr of births among JWs is even lower compared to the general population (because of kingdom interests or this present system of things, hence satans world). That means that a big part of their annual growth is coming from outside of the organisation.
insidetheKH, I came in through the preaching work but in my 8 years in I never saw more than one person who came in as a result of the door to door work.
Also, sir82 makes a valid point about downsizing in the organization. And others have made the observation that mentally unstable people as well as lonely people make up a good percentage of the new ones. I even heard a brother admit to that back in the 70s.
@village we should never extrapolate our own experience in a local kingdom hall to the rest of the world. But just look at the bigger picture, results and statistics over the years.
based on that we can make a fair conclusion that there is growth and that for the most part this growth comes from outsiders and not born ins.
average annual death rate 0.8%
average annual nr of df'd/da'd 0.4%
average annual birth rate 1.5% (at most as explained above, but probably less. Besides that how many of them will eventually become a JW?)
average annual growth rate (for lets say the last decade) more than 2%
Talking about personal experiences. The congregation i am in (this is my fourth year in this congregation) baptised during that period 5 persons. All of them were not born ins and were recruited through the preaching work. None of them is 'mentally unstable'. Also added are 3 unbaptised publishers, also no born ins and brought in via the preaching work. One of them will be baptised this summer at the district convention.
I live in a highly secular western society. People here have high incomes and high levels of education. I just tell this to show that personal experiences at a local kingdom hall won't show any of us the big picture.
insidetheKH: "...we should never extrapolate our own experience in a local kingdom hall to the rest of the world."
My understanding is that most of that growth is from 2nd and 3rd world nations with negative growth in the US and I believe Europe. I don't have the Yearbooks but I think that each nation has its different statistics. Comparing the US to Mexico might be interesting.
My belief, even when I was still in, was that "informal witnessing" to acquaintances and "worldly" friends was a better way of attracting people. It worked for me, having helped to convert two Pentecostals at High School. Never had any success at door to door though.
@village at this moment most growth is indeed in latin/south america, africa, asia. And indeed there is still growth in the US and some other western countries. But also the situation in western countries we should see in the right perspective. The last 5 decades Europe/U.S are becoming secular at high speed. Church attendance and membership is dropping ultrafast. Churches are closing down etc etc. In that kind of environment JW's hold ground or even manage to grow slightly. That on itself is significant.
Informal witnessing is a great way too. But lets not forget that JW's do not believe that they'll have to convert people. They just give a witness and believe that it is Jehovah who makes sure the desireable things of the nations will find their way into the kingdom halls.
But lets not forget that JW's do not believe that they'll have to convert people.....insidetheKH
................................................The most Annoying JW`s..
..........................................Talk about Truth,Lie to Your Face..
..............................................................And..
... ........They`re Not The Least Bit Embarrassed When You Catch Them In A Lie..
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...........................IT`S "WBT$ THEOCRATIC WARFARE STRATEGY"..
......................................... .....I LIED FOR JEHOVAH!!..
.............. .....................
@outlaw this discussion is about growth not about pinocchio.
and the growth continues as we speak,.. only 27 weeks to go to 8.4 million publishers.
