Update: JW Governing Body Confirms Step Back on Bible Society Work

[ReConverted]

Thanks for the information. I sort of marvel at how anyone could still be a JW in light of the failed predictions of the past, but I suppose people can find reasons to still believe in light of most any situation. I suspect their new guidelines about the NWT are probably financially motivated, and it will be interesting to see how the organization does or changes in the future if they are truly facing rapidly declining membership.

The amount of psychological manipulation Witnesses are subjected to is astonishing.

Someone correct me if I’m wrong, but IF memory serves, around 20 years ago the deal was attendance 3 times a week at the Kingdom Hall week. Sundays for “Church” and then 4 topics covered in the other 2 nights.

 

[ReConverted]

I used to be a JW before coming to the True Church. I guess they are afraid that people will see how they “revised” the Bible, since they always change the Bible to their benefit.

Congratulations on your escape and WELCOME HOME! :byzsoc::extrahappy:

Walking away from the Watchtower is a HARD emotional road.
I helped a friend leave “The Organization” 20 years ago. It was wrenching for her.

May God bless and keep you and yours. I will ask God to deliver your family and friends who are still in the Organization!

PS: In my opinion. St. Michael and St. Francis de Sales are the best patrons one can have for dealing with this foul, twisted theology. St. Francis and St. Therese de Liseux are wonderful examples of how to love folks who are going through the trauma and heartbreak that comes from severing ties with the JW’s. If I may, I’d recommend asking God for the assistance of Our Lady and these 4 Saints for your loved ones.

 

[Dave_Noonan]

They’re finally losing people in droves. 2014 was supposed to be the end of this world. To a JW, that was Holy writ. Well, now, they’re saying God has given them “New light”. That only works so many times.

Actually JWs are gaining members, particularly among the U.S. Latino population, in an era when other churches experiencing decline:

ncccusa.org/news/120209yearbook2012.html

 

[DelsonJacobs]

Actually JWs are gaining members, particularly among the U.S. Latino population, in an era when other churches experiencing decline:

ncccusa.org/news/120209yearbook2012.html

Actually annual reports can give a “two-dimensional” misunderstanding when we fail to add the variables.

While it is true that new members are being added to the Jehovah’s Witnesses yearly, the growth has been around only 1% annually on average since 2000. This is actually a decrease in growth.

The Jehovah’s Witnesses publish an annual “yearbook” that includes their own calculations on growth in membership. While these yearbooks go back almost a century, the annual report goes back further into the 1800s. For lack of space I can’t include all that here, but with the Internet I am sure one can find these numbers for themselves to validate what I am about to say.

When I was one of Jehovah’s Witnesses in the 1980s the increase was around 5% annually. Prior to 1975 the average was around 15%. The NCCA report is based on the 2011 statistics (each report contains the figures for the previous year) which show only a 1.85% increase in new members.

What these reports do not tell you is how many Jehovah’s Witnesses leave the religion each year and how many die. The statistics from the Jehovah’s Witnesses also do not take into consideration the possibility of human error in reporting, so no variable is offered or formula provided for this likelihood with their annual report.

If you look up the yearly reports, the years between 1996 and 2005 show an increase of approximately 3 million new members. However the same reports show that only 1.5 million Jehovah’s Witnesses were actively engaged in the religion (one must actively preach each month and send in a report of their activity or they lose their place in the annual report). If one applies the crude mortality rates for this decade to the number of Jehovah’s Witnesses (around 7.6 per 1000 people), this means that some 1 million disappeared from their ranks either through death or inactivity.

The year I officially became a Jehovah’s Witness we had a growth rate of almost 8% that year. Last year the influx of new members was at about 2%.

And rates and studies are what you make of them. For example the same numbers recently got crunched by The Christian Post who reported that Jehovah’s Witnesses have the next to lowest retention of members of all religions at only 37%.

 

[Dave_Noonan]

Actually annual reports can give a “two-dimensional” misunderstanding when we fail to add the variables.

While it is true that new members are being added to the Jehovah’s Witnesses yearly, the growth has been around only 1% annually on average since 2000. This is actually a decrease in growth.

The Jehovah’s Witnesses publish an annual “yearbook” that includes their own calculations on growth in membership. While these yearbooks go back almost a century, the annual report goes back further into the 1800s. For lack of space I can’t include all that here, but with the Internet I am sure one can find these numbers for themselves to validate what I am about to say.

When I was one of Jehovah’s Witnesses in the 1980s the increase was around 5% annually. Prior to 1975 the average was around 15%. The NCCA report is based on the 2011 statistics (each report contains the figures for the previous year) which show only a 1.85% increase in new members.

What these reports do not tell you is how many Jehovah’s Witnesses leave the religion each year and how many die. The statistics from the Jehovah’s Witnesses also do not take into consideration the possibility of human error in reporting, so no variable is offered or formula provided for this likelihood with their annual report.

If you look up the yearly reports, the years between 1996 and 2005 show an increase of approximately 3 million new members. However the same reports show that only 1.5 million Jehovah’s Witnesses were actively engaged in the religion (one must actively preach each month and send in a report of their activity or they lose their place in the annual report). If one applies the crude mortality rates for this decade to the number of Jehovah’s Witnesses (around 7.6 per 1000 people), this means that some 1 million disappeared from their ranks either through death or inactivity.

The year I officially became a Jehovah’s Witness we had a growth rate of almost 8% that year. Last year the influx of new members was at about 2%.

And rates and studies are what you make of them. For example the same numbers recently got crunched by The Christian Post who reported that Jehovah’s Witnesses have the next to lowest retention of members of all religions at only 37%.

That’s a pretty high bar to be considered an ongoing member (preaching once per month); I can’t think of another religious group with those kind of standards to be considered an ongoing member.

Sure, church statistics are notoriously skewed as each church tries to portray themselves as growing, or in this day, probably shrinking less than they actually are.

Perhaps it would be more circumspect to just say that the JWs are still attracting a lot of people and are probably shrinking less slowly than other religious groups, since they at least are still reporting growth while other groups (Catholic, Baptist, Presbyterian, etc.) are all reporting decline.

 

[DelsonJacobs]

That’s a pretty high bar to be considered an ongoing member (preaching once per month); I can’t think of another religious group with those kind of standards to be considered an ongoing member.

Sure, church statistics are notoriously skewed as each church tries to portray themselves as growing, or in this day, probably shrinking less than they actually are.

Perhaps it would be more circumspect to just say that the JWs are still attracting a lot of people and are probably shrinking less slowly than other religious groups, since they at least are still reporting growth while other groups (Catholic, Baptist, Presbyterian, etc.) are all reporting decline.

I don’t hold much in that last statement. As the report I cited and the numbers I presented show, the Jehovah’s Witnesses likely lose more members than other groups.

CARA states that Catholics retain some 68% of its membership to the Jehovah’s Witnesses 37%, and mid-year reports calculating last year and parts of 2014 show a sharp increase in new Catholics. While JWs claim 277,344 new members last year, the Catholic Church claims 2.696 million (not counting the 13.7 million infants and children baptized).

That means Catholic membership (not counting infant baptisms) averaged 7, 386 new members a day while the Jehovah’s Witnesses about 760 new people each day.

But religion on a whole is declining on the world scene, so it isn’t the earmark of any particular religion to see a lack of faith in Christ grow around us unfortunately.

And, to get back on track of this thread, the Jehovah’s Witnesses have stopped doing the work of a Bible publishing and distributing society–so part of the decline is their own fault. Today they are pushing their website JW.org and doing away with speaking of themselves as the “Watchtower Bible and Tract Society.” Where once they used to preach with practiced speeches, today they have exchanged that for standing silent on the streets showing their publications on display stands.

Sure, they still use the “Watchtower” society as the publishing house for their products, and yes, you will still find them at your door once in a while. But the religion that used to distribute a myriad of Bible versions in various languages is gone along with the “never be silent” preaching of their members. The religion that once believed in “the Creator’s promise of a peaceful and secure new world before the generation that saw the events of 1914 passes away” has been replaced with one that is no longer loyal to its fundamental and historical tenets.

 

[bitznbitez]

While it is true that new members are being added to the Jehovah’s Witnesses yearly, the growth has been around only 1% annually on average since 2000. This is actually a decrease in growth.
…
When I was one of Jehovah’s Witnesses in the 1980s the increase was around 5% annually. Prior to 1975 the average was around 15%.
…
The year I officially became a Jehovah’s Witness we had a growth rate of almost 8% that year. Last year the influx of new members was at about 2%.
…
the same numbers recently got crunched by The Christian Post who reported that Jehovah’s Witnesses have the next to lowest retention of members of all religions at only 37%.

You describe a common trend, this has caught up with many groups, most recently the Southern Baptists. At some point the falloff in rate of growth turns into decline.

The amount of work it takes to keep that 1% growth lately is astounding. I am not exagerating when I say they bang on my door once a month. In my opinion a step back like the original post describe is probably due to a decrease in funding levels.