EMPTY KINGDOM HALL

by thebigdebate 53 Replies latest jw experiences

• 

  WTWizard

  They ought to know that they are to reap what they sow. They preach that all the time, while they are hounding people to attend boasting sessions when doing so is not cost effective.

  The real truth is, people will attend the meetings as long as the total value of doing so exceeds the total cost. No one will need to hound them then, because their total value is greatest if they are attending. If, however, the total cost exceeds the total value of being at a meeting, it is best to miss that meeting. Which is what usually happens.

  Kingdumb Hells would be packed full if they produced enough value. If, for instance, the total opportunity cost of attending was $500, and you get more than that in value, people are going to go. But if the value is less, they will not and you get those empty Kingdumb Hells.
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  aligot ripounsous

  Ten years ago, our small 50 publishers congregation (had dwindled from about 75 since mid eighties), in Paris area, merged with the neighbouring 70 or so cong. So, during the first few months we could hardly find seats at meetings, everybody was so eager to meet new members, and maybe new potential mates. Now we are back to about 60 attendants on WE meetings, must be even less midweek. The society has replenished attendance by means of a foreign speaking group, nice folks btw. In addition to regular attrition (death, DFing, DAing), one reason for this shrinking evolution is the cost of accommodation near the center of big cities and, as soon as couples have children they look for larger and cheaper flats or houses on the outskirts of the agglomeration, possibly evaporating in the process.
• 

  Mickey mouse

  80 publishers in our hall, down from 110 (ish) ten years ago.
• 

  willyloman

  In recent years I've lived in two areas in the western U.S. Here's what's happening:

  Location 1 is where we watched 20-some publishers grow to 50, build a hall, grow to 180, build a new hall, grow to 240, split into two congos of 120 each. Several years later, one of the halls had 160 attending on Sunday, while the other had dropped a bit to about 100. That's 260 dubs in the building on the biggest meeting day of the week.

  That was well over 10 years ago; the last person we talked to from the old congo (last year sometime) said the two congos were still about the same size, but many of the faces had changed. So, in a decade, little or no growth (and no new halls have been built there). Meanwhile, the population of the city there has doubled and is one of the fastest growing areas in the nation.

  At Location 2, we moved into a hall that had just split from two to three congos. Ours was the smallest, with about 90 pubs. The other two were over 100. Over the next five years, we watched ours shrink to about 55-60 pubs on Sunday. The other two congos shrunk slightly, to about 90. A nearby Spanish congo meanwhile split twice and finally sent one of their congos over to use our hall which meant four congos met in one building.

  The three English congos decided to build a new hall, with prompting from the CO, to handle all the "growth" we were experiencing. So a double-hall (two KHs, one parking lot) was built. A second Spanish congo moved into the old hall. The three English congos now occupy the two new buildings, but their attendance is unchanged.

  I should mention that city also has undergone huge increases in population in the past two decades, at least doubling the number of residents!

  So, in my experience, there are a lot of "lost dubs" wandering around out there someplace. They are certainly not keeping pace with the population growth, and probably owe that growth for keeping them afloat.