Jehovah's Witnesses May Have Peaked in Membership at 8 Million (+/-)

by OnTheWayOut 74 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  sir82

  Next few years will be very interesting if they do go full on fire sale with the halls they want to close. Fewer halls is going to mean longer commutes.

  This is 100% their plan, as stated by a RDC /LDC rep from NY Bethel a few months back, to a joint BOE meeting of multiple congregations.

  Their stated goal is to have 3 congregations per Kingdom Hall, worldwide. It's not a secret, they are telling everyone they meet with about their plans.
  

  That's all well and good in New York, LA, Miami, etc., where there are many KHs with 4 or even 5 congregations.

  What about Podunk West Virgina or Fumbuck South Dakota, where it's 1 congregation per KH and the next KH is 50 miles away? "Keep warm and well fed, brothers, and don't forget to gas up, the service station may not be open by the time the meeting is over."
  
• 

  freddo

  @sir82

  "Fumbuck" South Dakota.

  Laugh. Out. Loud.
  
• 

  James Mixon

  The biggest mistake the GB made, "putting those clowns on

  the videos at JW. ORG.

  Hirohito the emperor of Japan in ww2, A God. I wonder how the people felt

  after they heard his voice for the first time at the end of the war, he is just a

  little man.
• 

  StarTrekAngel

  I think another contributor to the financial fallout was the move to electronic material. Many of the older folks in my circuit still had the mentality of having to "donate" for every piece literature they took. Back in the day when they switched from selling the magazines to the donation arrangement, it was easy to show why they needed to continue donating but now everyone, even the most technologically challenged, understands that there is no problem on downloading the magazine time and time again. Since you hardly stop by the literature desk anymore, there is nothing much to remind you that you need to contribute. Personally I feel this was part of the reason they began to switch from a printing company to a real state company. Once they could no longer sell magazines, they had to look for another venue.
• 

  antes8080

  @OTWO, I agree with you the JW will peek at 8 million and won't come close to the 9. In the congregation I still attend there has been many who have started to be inactive.

  I have relative who just came from Central America. He told me that in the two congregations he served many went inactive last year, main reason rude elders second reason, tired of preaching the same thing. I think that JW org actually has hurt them more then help.
• 

  James Mixon

  All it would take to increase the numbers., an charismatic new face step up

  and take over. Face it the GB members are are not that bright. A new

  change in direction and a lot of new light, they will be OK... They are just a little slow

  in catching up to the world they are living in. They will adjust, sorry to say.
• 

  WingCommander

  3 Congregations to a Kingdom Hall - Seriously?
  
• 

  dropoffyourkeylee

  Wt will have to change or it will fade away. Both would be a better thing than the current organization
• 

  ivanatahan

  I agree. The JWs have reached their peak.

  I remember when I was still in a few years back when the number was still around 8 million and I expected an exponential growth and at least 10 million JWs by this time. Where are the 10 million? It's utterly disappointing. You have these elders and COs and everyone saying that Armageddon is coming and that the growth is bigger than it ever has been and that all these success stories. I can't imagine how disappointed I'd be if I were still in and, after years of high expectations, the number of JWs has pretty much stagnated. That doesn't seem like a religion supported by God to me.

  As other have mentioned, it's clear that with the advent of the Internet and better communication people are more likely to realize the extent of stupidity prevalent in the religion. The financial disaster the cult is experiencing supports that. People are finally realizing that God's "chosen religion" is just another man-made religion that can't even fend for itself. Even my highly pious mother questioned their decision to build a new headquarters when they don't have the money to support themselves, the project, or any other projects.
• 

  LostGeneration

  Their stated goal is to have 3 congregations per Kingdom Hall, worldwide. It's not a secret, they are telling everyone they meet with about their plans.

  This will also piss off a lot of suburban JWs, who are within 10-20 minutes of their hall who suddenly have a 30-40 minute drive. I'm sure they will sell off the more valuable property if given the option of two, so then everyone has to go to the shittier property, which will also probably be in a shittier part of town. And its gonna kill serve-us meetings at halls too, meaning more JWs will have to host those in home, which pisses people off too.

  Greedy bastards just shooting themselves in the foot once again!