History of Witnessing in the UK.

by Chariklo 34 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

• 

  Rob Crompton

  Chariklo,

  The book you want is, Bible Students in Britain, by Albert O Hudson, published in 1989 by Bible Fellowship Union. Hudson was a British Bible Student during the Russell years and was among the many who seceded following Rutherford's takeover. I came across him and his book when I was researching the origins of the WT movement as a post-grad sutdent at Durham University. Though I never met him personally, I had several telephone conversations with him and he was very encouraging and helpful to me in my own research. He was well into his nineties when he died.

  I don't know if his book is still in print but if you draw a blank, PM me and I'll do what I can to help.

  Rob Crompton http://snigsfoot.blogspot.com
• 

  ballistic

  cities hordes of urchins, pale, ragged and without shoes or stockings, roamed the streets searching in gutters and rubbish heaps for scraps of food. ..

  nothing changes then... ;)
• 

  St George of England

  1951 Wembley 36,000

  Including little George.
• 

  AnnOMaly

  Of interest. Some little newsreels - a few focusing on the UK. The glory days.

  http://www.britishpathe.com/search/query/Jehovahs+Witnesses
• 

  Band on the Run

  Uneducated Carribean folk love God. Unlike the simple Carbibean, the land of Shakespeare, Henry IV, the Magna Carta, Henry VIII, Mary Tudor and Elizabeth Tudor abhor God. There are genes in British DNA that reject Jehober God. This septred isle is rotten. People in economic trouble love God. I can't believe I ever believed this crap.

  French - YEs. English- No. They love third world folk. I believe God loves all folk.
• 

  Chariklo

  Thank you so much, all of you!

  You've given me much more than I could possibly have imagined, in wonderful detail, and with prospects for futher research. Special thanks to Mickey Mouse and Rob Crompton, but actually to all of you because among those little snippets of information are gems with ideas attached to them.

  Rob, I've spent a while on your blog. I am going to PM you, and also Mickey and maybe some others too. It may not be until tomorrow, as life has become very busy today...I'll maybe post a bit about that elsewhere later on.

  Loz, do you remember any stories that couple told. BTW, Loz, I'm very conscious that I owe you a PM and it will come. Someitmes life takes over, and although it's easy to dip into the forum, more considered writing just doesn't always happen to order.

  George, sounds as if you were a small boy at Wembley then. Any partular memories that stand out?

  You may be wondering why I asked this. Well, I have just a little germ of an idea, but it's only a germ, very small, and the way my brain works is weird. The subconscious does a lot of the work but the conscious mind deals with facts and then the two work together, and it's all unplanned.

  I'll let you know.

  One of the best things that's happened to me since I determinedly walked away ffrom the Borg is that my creativity has begun to return, along with a growing sense of freedom. My experience of the Borg is that all creativity was stifled, almost completely.

  Very busy today, not sure if I'll get back on here or not.

  Thanks again everyone! I love this forum!
• 

  St George of England

  George, sounds as if you were a small boy at Wembley then. Any partular memories that stand out?

  No I don't actually remember being there. Just the photos in the family album.

  George
• 

  Phizzy

  Dear Chariklo, when your germ of an idea has grown in to a full blown virus, let us know, many more of us may be of use to you.

  I am in the U.k and was many decades in the cult, so have experience and memories of stories etc.
• 

  dozy

  From what I understand , the boom time for JWs in the UK were the 50's & 60's and (like everywhere else ) up to 75. Back then , the religion was regarded as fresh , new & met the aspirations of many living in what were somewhat austere times. Unlike today , there was a real sense of love & community amongst JWs and very little published to refute some of the doctrines & practices.

  If you look at some of the Pathe videos , you see hundred of young couples - often low - mid level professionals - getting baptised. You never see that today. I recall myself as a young child placing 30 / 40 magazines on a Saturday morning & many people being very interested in the message , most of whom had hardly ever heard of JWs. In my later years , I was lucky to place a single magazine , even though I was giving them away for free.

  The failure of 1975 punctured the bubble - it was particularly hyped up by the WTBTS in the UK helped by poor economic conditions - a dreadful recession in the mid 70's with a 3 day working week , mass unemployment & a catastrophic fall in the stock market - which led many JWs to think "the end was nigh." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1973%E2%80%9375_recession Many JWs in the early 70's moved out of England to more isolated areas of the UK , such as rural Wales , Scotland & Ireland to "serve where the need is greater".

  Since then , numbers have pretty much increased by a miserly 1% or so a year with a small net retention of children , and the occasional recruit , especially in the "foreign language field." Britain being now very much a secular society , like most of the rest of Europe , is very difficult territory indeed for JWs & the ministry is very unrewarding for most JWs.
• 

  Old Goat

  According to Schulz and deVienne (Nelson Barbour: The Millennium's Forgotten Prophet), there was interest in the UK from the 1860s. They name and connect to articles by an Eliash H. Tucket, a Baptist turned follower of Barbour. A Christadelphian journal reviewed Barbour's Midnight Cry booklet and there were Herald of the Morning subscribers in the UK. On their web sites (one of which is invitation only) they reprint the review.

  A Canadian writer noticed Zion's Watch Tower in an article published in Rainbow. Earlier Rainbow had reviwed Three Worlds. The first concerted effort in the UK was by two Americans sent by Russell, John Corbin Sunderlin (a pioneer era photographer and former Methodist minister) and Joseph J. Bender. The contracted the printing of thousands of copies of Food for Thinking Christians and had them circulated by messenger boys. Small congregations grew up almost over night, but they remaind very small.

  A significant number of early converts within the United States were immigrants from the UK. They evangelized by mail, and Russell notes that one of them wrote letters to put interested readers in England and Scotland in touch with each other. That in brief, is the story as two reliable historians present it. What the Watchtower says is mostly wrong.