Door-to-Door Ministry in the UK: What is it Like?

by leavingwt 13 Replies latest jw friends

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  leavingwt

  For those in the UK, what was it like to engage in the door-to-door ministry?

  I watched the video below, today, and the author states that pushing your religion on others in the UK is considered crass. Further, he says that religion is a very private matter. I would love to hear about your general impression of engaging in a public ministry in this environment. Or, if you disagree with the gentleman's assertion, please explain.

  Practically all of my JW preaching experiences were in areas (Mississippi and East Harlem, NYC) in which the Bible was very popular and people would talk about it. I've never had anyone look at me as if I had two heads, when carrying a Bible to a door.

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Eam-z1bwrk
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  dozy

  The ministry in the UK is pretty awful. Dreadful. Chronic.

  Firstly , people aren't used to being knocked at the door by sales reps etc and most view it as an unwelcome irritation at best.

  In addition , few people are religious and generally people are suspicious & hostile towards religion. (Bear in mind that Tony Blair had to hide his religious beliefs or at least not talk openly about them because people would have viewed him as a "nutter" - contrast that with the USA where any prospective President has to be seen as a Christian chuch going man (or woman.))

  Thirdly Brits in general tend not to speak to strangers. You can sit in a train for 5 hours & not even acknowledge the presence of the people around you. So the act of trying to make conversation with a complete stranger on a religious matter is painfully difficult.

  The only interest in the UK is from the "foreign language" field. Essentially the number of JWs has pretty much flatlined for the last 20 years.
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  bigmac

  also i would imagine its f***ing cold at this time of year: i should know, i live here.
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  zombie dub

  In an hour maybe 2-4 people are in, of those 90% will just say "no thanks" and close the door, 3% get annoyed and slam the door, 1% born agains who try and argue i.e. the trinity is correct, 5% people that take the mags to make the JW go away, 1% not-normal people that become RVs or bible studies.
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  leavingwt

  In addition , few people are religious and generally people are suspicious & hostile towards religion. (Bear in mind that Tony Blair had to hide his religious beliefs or at least not talk openly about them because people would have viewed him as a "nutter" - contrast that with the USA where any prospective President has to be seen as a Christian chuch going man (or woman.))

  dozy: Thank you for those details.
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  wobble

  All true, the comments above.

  The congo. I was associated with was in the countryside,otherwise known as bumblefuck, we had no town territory at all. Nice, often 15 minutes between doors.

  The folks we called on were mostly polite but not interested, a goodly number snatched the mags out of your hand to get you to go away,most just said "not interested".

  I was quite good at overcoming objections and getting a conversation going, but also, having been a regular pioneer, quite good at just making the householder feel good,and pleased that you called, strangely, very few were quite suitable as R.V's in my opinion.

  It is true that anyone who is overtly religious is looked upon as slightly strange,but just at present there is a small reaction to "secular Britain" from a few believers who feel that us non-theists are getting the upper hand,we are getting pro-God stuff in the press etc.

  The D to D work in the U.K must be hard for a real believing Dub, it is so non-productive, but I think most of them just go out to count some time on their report.
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  Nobleheart

  I found this video to be really insightful, even though it's not produced with JW in mind. For example the parallel between Parent-child, reminds me of the Parent-Child relationship between a JW and his/her Bible Study. The JW is supposed to teach him what's right and wrong, 'encourage' him to make needed changes, correct him if the Study is not bringing an aspect of his life in harmony with JW teachings. Meanwhile the Study has to be compliant with everything, if the study (or relationship) is to continue. When in service we tell others that we're there to discuss the Bible with them, get their opinions etc, it starts off as the Adult-Adult relationship, but quickly it degenerates to Parent-Child. This in spite of the fact that many of these people are Christians, have completed their education, work and raise a family. This approach is most likely to fail, so often in service you hear JW justifying the apathy or negativity with comments such as "Satan has blinded their eyes, etc".

  It's no wonder that most ppl who accept to participate in our studies are either children (because as video shows indoctrination is easier when critical thinking faculties are not yet developed), or worse yet nutjobs.

  i appreciated it.
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  jookbeard

  living in very densely populated suburbs of London all my life the D2D work was always a complete waste of time in my years as a Dub as is probably the case in most parts of Northern Europe, my success in the "field" was odd mag placements the odd return visit and follow up calls on mag placements were always greeted with "I never read the mags you left me last time" (what a surprise!) in a 2 hour door banging session you would be lucky to get 2/3 people answer their door, god knows what it must be like these days,our KH in Wimbledon was only a couple of hundred yards away from a very busy town centre with 2 busy train stations and a big shopping mall bustling daily with tens of thousands of the public yet street work was never ever suggested in my time as a Dub,stupid isn't it?
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  wasblind

  Hi there leaving

  I'm from the U.S. of A, hope you don't mind me posting here though.

  MY question is, the same question many have asked before, and that is

  if JW's are so eager for the end to come according to Matt 24:14 why use the slowest way to get the

  message out ? Television and the internet, they can get the message out much

  faster, they already can read the mags online, they can also offer free bible

  studies and tracts the same way, heck they can even use billboards. The message would still be going door to door

  it's ashame that with all this new light, nothing has flashed up to lighted the load of the average dub.
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  BluesBrother

  Field Service in the UK ? Cold and unproductive are the words that spring to mind.. i have it in town and country, and it is not much better anywhere. When I started as a kid one met more religious people who were prepared to talk, but they are few and far between now. If they have a faith it is probably Church of England and they view it as an imposition to expect them to discuss it.

  Mostly it is "not at homes" anyway, you might meet one or two people at home in an hour....God! I am so glad that I stopped doing it.....

  Wasblind...Why do they do it that way? We discussed this recently and concluded that it is more a ruse to keep the members busy, than a genuine attempt to reach people..