KINGDOM HALL IN SHANNON NEW ZEALAND LIES TIDY BUT EMPTY?!!

by steve2 35 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  Bungi Bill

  Who needs a KFC to keep ones cholesterol levels up, when there are two Shark & Shavings - sorry, Fish and Chip - shops in the township?

  "Four Square" is a grocery chain over there (The term "Supermarket" would be a little too flattering to describe most Four Square shops).

  All jokes aside, perhaps this situation is a commentary on two developments:

  - one being the decline in interest towards the likes of the JWs - by all but the immigrant population - in countries such as New Zealand.

  - the other development being the changing pattern of population in rural New Zealand. A generation ago it still contained a sizeable measure of young people, whereas now the rural population is noticeably older (and by extension, less tolerant of cranks, such as JWs.)

  Bill.
• 

  moshe

  Thanks for the culture lesson- I learn so much- I've been googleing away on NZ- looks liked you guys are just about done with work for Monday and I still have it to do!- and cool- that 45 degrees seems almost inviting after our 2 months of solid 90 degree plus summer in SW Florida.

  That empty, KH could be used for charity purposes- food pantry- senior center- child day care- Oh, but JWs can't bother themselves with the gritty and mundane work of helping the needy. Maybe , the populace has seen the true colors of JWs. Their life saving work is just poppycock.
• 

  steve2

  - the other development being the changing pattern of population in rural New Zealand. A generation ago it still contained a sizeable measure of young people, whereas now the rural population is noticeably older (and by extension, less tolerant of cranks, such as JWs.)

  Thanks Bungi Bill. You may be describing rural areas closer to your own home. Shannon and other similar towns in the Manawatu still have sizable proportions of younger adults, and judging by the size of the schools, lots of children as well. So, not as top-heavy with the older folks as is the case in other areas of New Zealand.
• 

  karter

  Steve2.

  During the late 80's and early 90's i worked on about 15 quick builds in the north island we could'nt build them fast enough.

  Seems they are emptying out just as fast.

  My sister & husband moved to Taumaranui they had 1 Elder a young guy who as soon as my Elder bro-in-law moved in he stood down.

  I helped build the KH there and it seated 250 now they have 40 publishers at best and most of them older.

  I worked on the south auckland assembly hall in the weekends.

  There were 22 full time workers there after about 3 years of those 22,10 had fallen away.

  Seems the WTS was over optomistic about future growth.
• 

  Black Sheep

  LOL

  I knew one wannabe from there who was a right nut job. Had to move to another area to further his goals, but even there, they wouldn't let him handle so much as a mike.
• 

  steve2

  The majority of those young ones are still Dubs, they have just moved to the cities and other countries.

  Hey Black Sheep, the younger JWs in your neck of the woods may well be of a more 'spiritual' disposition than the younger JWs I know of: First chance they get, they fade - and that is usually accomplished by moving away from home and then feeling free to kick back from the religion. But I also think they fade when they don't move away. My acquaintance confirmed that not many teenagers in the Manawatu continue in the religion and one well known elder who has five children ranging in ages from 35 to 22 has the uneasy distinction of having none of them in the 'truth'. He is not alone in seeing his children either completely walking away from the religion or confining themselves to meeting attendance (especially when Mommy and Daddy are present) and no longer door-knocking. The apathy of the younger ones is perhaps one of the main differences I note between my generation of JWs (born and raised in the 50s and 60s): At least when we were younger, we tended to be zealous (yep, back in my day.... but the widespread apathy of those born-in is a repeated observation nonetheless .
• 

  steve2

  I helped build the KH there and it seated 250 now they have 40 publishers at best and most of them older.

  Glad to hear from you karter. Yes, I remember the days of quick builds even though I was out of the organization by then - my friends still in would tell me all the fussing and fuming going on and there'd be a real 'show-off' mentality as if the local JWs wanted the media to notice them (but not all the pressure that went on in the background to get more JWs to volunteer). I'm not surprised at the high drop out rate. I've heard others say that at mid-week meetings nowadays they'd be lucky to have half the hall in attendance. Again, the contrast with the 70s and 80s comes to mind when the kingdom halls were literally bulging with every available seat taken - even during the week at the service meeting.
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  Black Sheep

  The small town congs that I am familiar with have a high retention rate. So does my family.
• 

  steve2

  The small town congs that I am familiar with have a high retention rate.

  Interesting; it must be a south island phenomenon. I know that the kingdom halls in the lower half of the north island can have more people attend than go door knocking. Do the younger ones you know door knock as much as the older ones - or at all?
• 

  Aussie Oz

  The kingdom hall mustn't be worth much...even if it is well kept.

  otherwise the money men would have sold it long ago.

  Oz