The link above for the Australian census does not work.
Follow footnote no. 24 on this page to find the page with the Australian census data from 2006:
2008 Publisher Statistics Charted
by jwfacts 29 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
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jwfacts
At the bottom of the page at http://jehovah.net.au/aust_statistics.html there are some graphs from the last 3 Aust census' regarding numbers for various religions. It is interesting that JWs have decreased whereas Mormons and SDA's increased. The figures are important as they are the number of people that actually classify themselves as that religion. With JWs the number is higher than the publisher number as it includes children etc.
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steve2
SBF, I take my hat off to your excellent replies to my post! You have amply convinced me that the LDS inflates its membership.
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slimboyfat
Thank you kind Sir.
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slimboyfat
Just a small point jwfacts: you give the Mormon figure in 2006 as 53,199 whereas the census page shows 52,141. All the other figures match so I don't know how that happened.
Plus remember to compare the 52,141 self-reported Mormons with the 119,975 they claim officially. That is a massive discrepancy.
I don't know about religious trends in Australia enough to comment on that, but it does look like you have good evidence that JWs are not performing as well as other comparable groups in that country in recent years. I would want to look at the Pentecostal numbers more closely to see what proportion of the increase is due to immigration. In the UK Pentecostal groups that comprise African immigrants are increasing rapidly whereas older Pentecostal groups made up of white British people are declining just like other denominations.
I would also say that the fact that children are not counted as publishers is only one reason why the number of JWs is higher in the Australian census than in the official statistics. I suspect there are also a number of inactive Witnesses who still feel in some way attached to the organization and describe themselves as Witnesses even though the Watchtower does not count them as such.
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jwfacts
There has been a great surge in Pentecostal popularity in Sydney amongst young (18-30yo) people. Hillsong particularly so. They have weekly meetings attended by 15,000 people per session, with several sessions on the weekends. These are generally people born in Australia. I have several people trying to recruit me.
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ozziepost
Must be alot of sinful anointed being replaced
How true! I like it..
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steve2
I would also say that the fact that children are not counted as publishers is only one reason why the number of JWs is higher in the Australian census than in the official statistics. I suspect there are also a number of inactive Witnesses who still feel in some way attached to the organization and describe themselves as Witnesses even though the Watchtower does not count them as such.
yes, I'm sure this is what happens also in New Zealand. Parents complete the census forms for each of their minor children (including, of course, babies) and the census question simply asks what religion the child is being raised in. Hence, the larger number of JWs in the official census figures.
BTW, for 2 successive census periods (2001 and 2006) the number of census-based JWs has been decreasing. I don't have the figures on hand at present, but in New Zealand they reached a census-peak of over 19,000 and now are in the early 17,000s. Similarly, the average number of publishers has plateaued for several years around the 13,000 mark, although for the 2008 year, there was a peak of just over 14,000. It will be interesting to see if this peak is surpassed in this somewhat sleepy comfortable little country where the activity of the JWs has been in obvious decline in recent years. I remember the early 1970s when door-knocking was a regular activity and new ones were always filling the hall.
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David2002
"Supreme One" One major flaw in your calculations: Anyone, regardless as to whether he or she is baptized, is counted as a publisher as long as the individual reports the hours preached. So an individual can be counted as a non-baptized publisher for 3 years, and then get baptized. Your figures showing the difference between the number of those baptized versus the increase in publishers are therefore flawed. Some of newly baptized ones were already counted in prior years. I heard of cases of non-baptized Witnesses, who were counted as publishers, who preached actively 3-5 years before being baptized. In many cases these were young teens who were raised as Witnesses. The JW's method of counting members is very conservative compared to most other religious groups. For instance, one may actively attend meetings, and yet not preach actively. He or she will not then be included in the annual membership count. There are literally millions that attend the KH meetings on a weekly basis, more than the average church attendee, and yet the KH attendee is not counted as a member, even if actively participating in the meetings. You will need to correct your method of computations, taking into account what I just mentioned, in order for your statistics to be of any use. - David
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jwfacts
"Supreme One" One major flaw in your calculations: Anyone, regardless as to whether he or she is baptized, is counted as a publisher as long as the individual reports the hours preached. So an individual can be counted as a non-baptized publisher for 3 years, and then get baptized. Your figures showing the difference between the number of those baptized versus the increase in publishers are therefore flawed. ... You will need to correct your method of computations, taking into account what I just mentioned, in order for your statistics to be of any use.
David, you must have missed the comment I make in the third paragraph addressing this .
There are limitations to how much can be read into each individual statistic. ... a person that becomes a publisher does not necessarily go on to be baptised. What is readily apparent is that the trends show a significant drop in growth, and an even more significant increase in the percentages leaving.
As the method of counting has been consistent over the years, the discrepancy averages itself out.