Where have all the children gone?

by ozziepost 16 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  ozziepost

  How did the next line of the Peter, Paul and Mary song go?

  "Long time passing".

  Children in the Witness community here in Oz seem to be disappearing.

  There was a time when each congregation could expect to count new publishers each year from the children growing up in Witness families. How many? Say 1 or 2 in an average 100 publisher congregation. Maybe more. Anything from 1% to 5% each year. I can recall being in one congregation where we had close to 10% increase in the year from the children.

  But what is happening these past few years?

  The last three issues of Kingdom Ministry (Australia edition) shows these figures for publishers:

  October 2001 59,700
  November 59,260
  December 58,140

  This compares with just three years ago:
  October 1998 58,733
  November 60,566
  December 58,706

  Assuming that there is some decrease each year from deaths and DF/DA, it still means a DECREASE is taking place. But what of the children? Wouldn't they make up for deaths and DF/DA?

  Are there new converts? Yes, because the Kingdom Ministry continues to report baptism figures:

  October 2001 216
  November 40
  December 63

  Compare this with three years ago:

  October 1998 653
  November 194
  December 69

  Although much decreased, they are still making 'new disciples'. So what happened to the children of Witness families?

  If the WTS claim that most of them are still getting baptised, it would mean that the dubs are converting hardly anyone in Oz. Also that there is a big drift out 'the back door' by the established Witness community.

  It seems more probable that the children are being lost.

  As Peter, Paul and Mary sang: "Long time passing".

  Cheers,
  Ozzie

  "If our hopes for peace are placed in the hands of imperfect people, they are bound to evaporate."

  
  - Ron Hutchcraft Surviving the Storms of Stress
• 

  Kep

  Good point OZ.

  I hope the decrease continues.

  I know 2 of the out the back door types over there are my brother and sister.
• 

  Beck_Melbourne

  Hey Ozzie

  They are all on the internet reading these posts :o)

  Beck
• 

  ozziepost

  Beck,

  How true!

  That's why I think it "behooves" us to try to reach them in our posts.

  Cheers,
  Ozzie

  "If our hopes for peace are placed in the hands of imperfect people, they are bound to evaporate."

  
  - Ron Hutchcraft Surviving the Storms of Stress
• 

  qadreena

  i think the kids must be getting smart and leaving before its too late, gives them an oppurtunity to find out what they really want you know

  xxx angel xxx
• 

  ozziepost

  Qadreena,

  I wonder if they've "gone" entirely. Perhaps they simply never became publishers but show up at the Kingdom Hall every once in a while, like at the Memorial.

  Cheers,
  Ozzie

  "If our hopes for peace are placed in the hands of imperfect people, they are bound to evaporate."

  
  - Ron Hutchcraft Surviving the Storms of Stress
• 

  Prisca

  Of the kids I grew up with as JWs, I'd say only about a half remained JWs. The rest left as soon as they were 16-18. Most of those that left the "trooth" left home at the same time. Some came back, but most didn't.

  Of the ones that did not leave, a good percentage of them didn't amount to anything JW-wise. Sure they eventually got baptised, even pioneered for a year or two, but most settled into an easy routine of meetings, Saturday field service, TMS talks, and married with a couple of kids.

  It's not easy being a JW child. The meetings are long and boring, there's no real breaks, all the talks and demonstrations are designed for adults not children, and the information really doesn't have any bearing on real-life for kids these days.

  Then you have to go in field service on the weekend, hoping against hope that you don't to a home of someone from school. You also have to miss out on your friends' birthday parties, can't have any Easter eggs, not even get a card or present at Christmas time. Then as a teenager, you're not allowed to wear the cool clothes or listen to the music you want. You can't be in the presence of the opposite sex alone, let alone date, or do have anything to do with that S word!

  So, realistically, why would a child want to remain a Witness when he grows up?
• 

  OUTLAW

  LOL Hey Prisca,your a dub kid if ever I met one.We know how the deal works.....OUTLAW
• 

  ozziepost

  Yeah, well, maybe so you guys, but I gotta tell ya that Mrs Ozzie and I grew up 'in the troof' and we loved (still do) the S word, yet we stayed in the borg for ..... well, a bloody long time!

  Cheers,
  Ozzie

  "If our hopes for peace are placed in the hands of imperfect people, they are bound to evaporate."

  
  - Ron Hutchcraft Surviving the Storms of Stress
• 

  RunningMan

  Well, first of all, most of the baptisms being recorded are not new converts, they are the children of Witnesses. All you have to do is go to an assembly and watch the baptisms. In my area, the baptisms are between 80 and 90% children.

  The number of children is also decreasing, for two reasons. First of all, Witnesses have always encouraged singleness and pioneering, rather than having children. When my wife and I we having children in the 80's, we were the subject of numerous comments regarding starting a family with the end so near.

  Secondly, JW's have always been poor at retaining their children. Only about half of JW children end up staying as JW's. It takes a certain type of insanity to convert to the Witnesses. This insanity is not necessarily hereditary. So, if you start with a low birth rate, and then cull out half of them, you get a big decrease.

  In addition, the society seems to be mining their baptisms from younger and younger groups of Witness children. It is much more common to see 10 and 11 year olds getting baptised than it was in the past. So, even these lackluster numbers are misleadingly overstated.

  Add to all of this the aging demographic in most western nations and the internet, and you have a recipe for a JW recession.