Recent C.O. visit: Bad news re: U.S. English meeting attendance

by Open mind 84 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  Open mind

  C.O. visiting a nearby town during his Thursday night service talk mentioned how poor meeting attendance is in the English-speaking U.S. congregations.

  He said that when the GB reduced the weekly meetings from 3 to 2, there was a brief surge in meeting attendance percentages. After a few months it began to slide and it hasn't stopped sliding. He said that the national average meeting attendance for English congregations is around 75% of publisher cards in the file.

  So then he goes into a long rant about how you need to push yourself to go even though you're dead tired, cuz once you get to the KH and sit down you'll be energized. Yeah right.

  For some reason, he made no mention of English-speaking US JWs learning to Google "Jehovah's Witnesses".

  om
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  LostGeneration
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  stuckinamovement

  Good one Open mind! I am hoping to make my attendance 0% shortly. Siam
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  No Room For George

  So then he goes into a long rant about how you need to push yourself to go even though you're dead tired, cuz once you get to the KH and sit down you'll be energized.

  LOL!!!! Stop it!!! LOL
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  Sapphy

  It's true, there're a lot of snarky or resigned comments from elduhs I know that people who regularly mised the book study but attended the other two meetings are now regularly skipping the mid week meeting. It's causing difficulties for the KMS when people dont turn up for their assignments...
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  designs

  I don't understand, the Meetings were always so interesting
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  sir82

  Gotta love it.

  Only a nitwit would think reducing the number of meeting nights would magically cause meeting attendance to increase.

  Oh wait - we're talking about the governing body - that explains it.
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  OnTheWayOut

  It's simple- if the 25% missing tend to be the same people, destroy those publisher cards and get back near 100%.

  I think any "surge" after canceling the bookstudy as a separate meeting was simply averaging out the worst attended meeting.
  But WTS has reached a tipping point in the United States and some other places. Their positive growth in the United States has been a shell game- boosting numbers by lowering standards and pumping up all the foreign language congregations.

  Eventually, they will reach the tipping point in the rest of the world. They won't go away, but they will slowly shrink into irrelevancy. It's just too bad that it might take several decades to come yet.
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  Londo111

  If the midweek meeting wasn't so long (3 meetings in one), I think attendence would be boosted. There is allot of filler...especially in the service meeting. And what is the Book Study if not really another Watchtower Study?

  There were so many meetings that talk about going to meetings... I always thought that was a redundant topic since I was already there...and those not there weren't going to hear it.
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  Open mind

  Londo111: "There were so many meetings that talk about going to meetings..."

  LOLOL!! I almost forgot one of the funniest parts of his talk. He said that the GB is so aware and concerned about this trend that you'll find it mentioned in EVERY ISSUE of the Watchtower now.

  THE BEATINGS WILL CONTINUE UNTIL MORALE IMPROVES!!

  om