WHAT WAS THE AGE STRUCTURE IN YOUR CONGREGATION?

When I was growing up there were all ages, with a lot of kids. There are still all ages, but fewer kids and few older ones. There are even a sprinkling of single 20 & 30 somethings - probably more than in my 'home' congregation.

lovelylil

the first hall we were in 10 years, mostly elderly which was horrible for my kids. Then we changed halls and there were lots of young families with kids.

Lilycurly

Mostly middle-aged families with a few kids of different ages, a few middle-aged couples who had decided to wait for the new-system to have children. (And who seemed bitter about the ones who DID have kids.)

A group of elderly women, and one or two married sisters with an unbeleiving mate.

stillajwexelder

ageing

White Waves

For years, it was mostly older ones, as the young ones departed in there teens, one way or another. These older ones are passing on so there are fewer of them. Also, we had many older ones that were JWs through all of the predictions of the end crap. Many were the elders of the past, sold everything, etc. only to be made fools by the WT. Their faith has been very shaken in the last few years...so I suspect a few faders . About 1/2 of the teenagers right after me actually staying in, married each other and are having kids but rarely make it because of the kids and the harshness of cong on noise and mess of the sitting area, etc. Also, crying of children being disiplined. The parents were told to take them to the back rooms, but some still too loud. Those told to go outside. Then Senior retirement complexes on 2 sides called cops for "physical abuse of a child... We'll several police squad cars arriving during the meeting with all lights and sirens was not encouraging to them. That was 2 years ago, approx. Oh, the mother was told to take the child to the car, if it was after dark, otherwise, try to disipline the child more quietly indoors. The child was 4 yrs old. You just can't win in the JWs. Meetings were moved to earlier, making it harder on working people. Then being late was criticized. Parents leaving half-way through because children too disruptive, etc.... The one-on-one criticism and the special needs talks to just rubbed it in is why I believe all of the KH numbers are down and there are so many inactive (faders?) at my old KH. A huge factor is the elders aren't proactive in calling or visiting - they grab you at the KH to ream you out. So, logic has it - DON'T GO. Who needs another downer? Definitely no encouraging the flock at that KH. So, I would rate the KH at 35% elderly, 20% mid-age, 20% young parents, 20% children (under 8), 5% (15-19 yrs). No single adults w/out children unless they are new to the area.

Effervescent

Most congregations I attended growing up were made up of more "mature" persons... I'd have to say age 50 and up. There were families that came and went, but very few young ones my age, and almost no young adults. I heard more families moved into the last congregation I attended after I left... but I also heard that A LOT of drama was caused by or involved them. I can imagine the older ones were all up in arms about their world being turned upside down by these families.

Dune

If there is one thing we dont have it is 20-40 year olds.

Its like they dissapear during this time to live their lives and come back when they have nothing better to do, lol.

Mostly 50+'s in my congregation.

15% of the congregation is under 10. There are about 3 females that are between 20-30.

One is new to our congregation, one is privately reproved, and one is just a normal run of the mill female witness.

Bumble Bee

When I was young it was a real mixed bag of people. Several oldtimers, families with children and because we lived close to bethel, single brothers or married couples with no children. There wasn't a majority in any group.

One cong I attended in the mid '90's had more children under 16 than people over that age! That was quite a cong to attend. There was only one other couple our age that didn't have any children. But I have to say, it was one of the better halls we attended. Lots of get togethers, etc. We had fun there.

The last hall I attended was mostly older people or young couples starting out. We are in the downtown area, so it's either older established neighbourhoods, or starter homes/condo's. We also had alot of people always moving in and out, so that also made our fade easier.

BB

What-A-Coincidence

we run the whole gamut.