They claim they are 7 million and growing. Is this true? I haven't been to a meeting in 12 years but I know of at least 100 people I grew up with that have left the congregation. Do you think the numbers are accurate in the active JW population? Have you also seen a mass exiting in your time or area? Are people dropping out like flies and congregations are having to combine to make ends meet? Is the GB pulling the wool over everyones eyes trying to make it seem like the org. has growth? Or are you seeing just the opposite?
Are the numbers accurate?
by Joshinaz 14 Replies latest jw friends
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ssn587
most new countees are family members and or friends or relatives of current brain washed dubs. IMO of course.
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slimboyfat
On the whole I think the numbers are fairly accurate. However they have made it a bit easier to be counted as a publisher by allowing old and sick Witnesses to report as little as 15 minutes (I think that was introduced in 2002 or thereabouts) plus a lot of the "ministry" these days is simply handing out one page tracts.
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wasblind
when I was goin' out in field sevice, hardly anyone answered the door
if they had a return visit, that could take up too 15 to 20 minutes then
take a 30 minute coffee brake in reality we spent more time riding around
and runnin' from dogs than actually preachin'
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HintOfLime
I think currently most growth is in non-english areas. Several people I know who are 'in' have learned foriegn languages, as those are the only territories where they readily find victims. (Isolated people from war-torn countries with little education and/or few around them that speak their native language.)
The people I know who are doing this usually have several bible studies going.
- Lime
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Gayle
What percentage is it of that apprx. 7M (if true) are unbaptized JW children and counted as also a Bible Study by their parents? A third about?
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Nickolas
On the whole I think the numbers are fairly accurate. However they have made it a bit easier to be counted as a publisher by allowing old and sick Witnesses to report as little as 15 minutes (I think that was introduced in 2002 or thereabouts) plus a lot of the "ministry" these days is simply handing out one page tracts.
If this observation is accurate, it means that the Society is doing what every other corporation does in order to manage its numbers, and that is to modulate them to the extent that it is legal. A secular example: when a listed corporation needs to change its numbers at fiscal yearend so they are neither too optimistic nor pessimistic, thus inappropriately impacting the value of their stock, it will manage it's working capital allocation accordingly, like selling off a bloated inventory at bargain basement prices or negotiating new terms with customers with receivables liability, all legitimate and legal. The parallel with the Society is that it can manage its numbers (in this case reclining) by modifying the accounting terms.
Great observation, slimboyfat
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pirata
The 15 minutes minimum field service (vs the 1 hour) is not really a big deal. It would have made a one time difference in the year it was introduced, and I don't remember a dramatic spike around then. Unlike most religions, JWs only counts those who actively report, so I'd say the "average publishers" number is quite accurate.
Most of the growth seems to be in the foreign language speaking congregations and countries that haven't yet reached their natural saturation point yet. I have seen good growth among immigrants with very little growth among native english speakers.
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simon17
I'd say the numbers are accurately reported by the WTBS. Like was said, a lot of those field service numbers are either fluff or fabricated. My time report is always a "roll-the-dice" kind of affair. But what gets written on the slips I'm pretty sure is accurately reflected.
The "growth" in industrialized nations, if there is any (most of Europe is negative) is at or under worldwide population growth rates. It can easily be explained by born-ins and then some converts to take the place of the churn of DF'd people. Non-English nations lead the charge.
If there was any cooking of the books, you would never see an increase in worldwide partakers IMO.
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kp138
I was thinking about the numbers the other day too. The reason I thought of this was because when my family started as JW, it included my grandparents, my parents and my two aunts. Now both of my grandparents and dad have passed, my mom and aunt fell away leaving just one aunt that is still in it. Almost anyone I knew growing up has left. It must be growth from other countries or non-english as some have mentioned.