Is the Door to Door Preaching Obsolete?

by lepermessiah 20 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  OnTheWayOut

  If someone invents the Metabolism Pill that causes a person to lose weight by increasing metabolism, nobody will believe it's true for awhile because of all the fakes out there that advertise.

  Same with door-to-door preaching. People assume shysters are at their door, regardless of their priestly collar or Bible literature.

  As pointed out, the purpose of recruiting is not the major player on the reasons for WTS to do this. Actually, OMG's reason #3 is their number 1 reason- a distribution channel for WT literature. As long as some money is made via the members or the outsider donations, door-to-door will continue. They have had to cheapen the product in the recent past, so the door-to-door work may cease one day when the donations get even worse, but let's face it- most of them come from the members.
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  wha happened?

  it's all just to keep the R&F busy. In fact most of the routine is just to keep idle time at a minimum which makes them less likely to think on their own
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  minimus

  If you could convince a Witness that "door to door " preaching is not scriptural, you've got an "apostate" convert.
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  lepermessiah

  Thanks for everone's comments. I think this is such an interesting topic.

  Its another one of those core beliefs that has very flimsy, if any scriptural support.

  Also, its proven that in developed countries, the door-to-door is totally ineffective for most people.

  People simply DO NOT want to be called on in this manner for the most part. The only people I know of in our area who do not seem to mind as much are those from foreign cultures that would consider it extremely rude not to be hospitible or polite. Even those folks are very busy and try to cut it short most of the time.

  I know my wife and I never answer the door if we get a "cold call" - I always tell her "remember that the next Saturday you go pounding the pavement!"

  It like what Ray Franz talked about in CoC, that any arrangements in the first century seemingly would have been in the best interests of the Christians, would have been more free-flowing and less rigid, would not be about lining the coffers of the WTBS with $$$$etc........

  Mary, I really enjoyed your comments on that past WT article.

  The point about lesser-developed countries was good as well - It makes you realize though how much the people in the developed countries carry the financing of the work. Im sure they get very little if any money from those poorer areas.

  I still laugh when I see the publisher count increase in the USA, because in my area, there are hardly ever any new ones, and people are leaving left and right.
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  JWoods

  In actuality, the door to door ministry not only was practically worthless in gaining recruits, but it also gave only an illusion of supporting the massive printing operations at Bethel.

  In reality, as every past practicing witness well knows, most of the books and magazines ended up as out of date surplus stuck in the trunk of some witnesses car. The publishers themselves funded the printing activity out of their own pockets.

  It remains only as a mark of Watchtower control over their people.
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  SnakesInTheTower

  jwoods:

  but it also gave only an illusion of supporting the massive printing operations at Bethel.

  ironically, I helped run the Literature Litteratrash Depot at an Assembly Hall here in the midwest for 12-15 years. I can remember when there were months, especially around annual items time (bound volumes, year books, etc.) that we would get 15 pallets stacked high with lit and it came in on a Watchtower owned semi. The last few months that I did this waste of time (sometime in 2006), we were getting only 2-3 pallets, not all of them full, and they were being sent LTL (less-than-load) via "worldly" carriers...it would be trucked to the shipper in NY, sent via rail to the midwest, where a local LTL semi would pick up the lit and unload it....

  I think that very little literatrash is being placed in the field these days... the last time I did door-to-door in Dec. 2006, I used only tracts and a bible, rarely placed, or attempted to place, anything else..... I did early morning "witnessing" with 2 or 3 others from 7am - 9am...driving to the same empty laundromats and leaving new not old magazines....because no one wanted them in the regular door to door work.

  As to people even answering the door.... the least likely time to catch people home is midweek. Saturday mornings before 10 there are lots of people home...but the average meeting for service doesn't even end before 930am...and the groups often stop at their same tired magazine route calls before heading to the same tired territory (which may not even be covered once a year instead of twice)..... getting the same people with the same poor results.

  I dont know why they use this method anymore... except it is no longer about reaching people...its about counting time and busy work.

  Glad I am not doing it anymore...

  Snakes (Rich )
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  JeffT

  http://punditkitchen.files.wordpress.com/2009/11/political-pictures-jehovahs-witnesses1.jpg
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  leavingwt

  The preaching work is not supposed to make SENSE, it's supposed to make CENTS.

  WT makes the most money off of its salesmen. They are an automatic, built-in customer base. Publishers pick up their products each month and pay for them. Any sales generated at the door are lagniappe.
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  JWoods

  Yup, Snakes - They pretty much wrecked the good old literature scam when they went to the "voluntary contribution" rather than fixed prices to avoid sales taxes.
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  PSacramento

  Door-to-dooe never made sense, it was as if you were selling a product, you don't sell God.

  Neither Jesus nor his apostles ever wnet door-to-door and if house-to-house ( Kat' Oikov) meant door to door then why don't the JW's "break bread" door-to-door to as per Acts 2:46 ?