Two things are certain..JW rank & file membership numbers will continue to drop & JW partakers' numbers will continue to climb...this outcome is the complete opposite of what the 8 clowns at the top of this cult hope for...Amen!
So telling that there are no little children
by eyeslice 20 Replies latest watchtower bible
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dropoffyourkeylee
My observation as well (midwest US). I think it is caused by a combination of things.
2/3 of children raised in the religion leave.
very few 20-40 age couples join as new converts (unlike the 70's and 80's when you would see whole families join in)
They do very little/close to nothing specifically for the young people to have fun (many churches have youth ministers, special activities for youths, etc)
The relatively few young people who stick around and remain active (uber pioneers, etc) may get married but usually do not have children.
I think there is an underlying demographic trend going on also, at least in the US, where people are waiting to a later age to start having children, and having fewer children.
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BluesBrother
Predictions of their demise can be wishful thinking.
Congregations reflect the catchment area that they are from. A part of town with a lot of retirees in it will make an old congregation. The next one from an area of town with the sort of housing for families will have a lot of kids. It can also be cyclical. Todays children will in a few years be a congo full of teenagers. .. then they grow up and move . That's life
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Vidiot
JW GoneBad - "Two things are certain. JW rank & file membership numbers will continue to drop & JW partakers' numbers will continue to climb... this outcome is the complete opposite of what the 8 clowns at the top of this cult hope for..."
They definitely dislike the latter, but the former?
I actually think they want to prune the membership down to a more manageable size (without actually looking like they want to, of course, because "growth=God's Blessing" has been burned so deeply into the Org's ideological DNA).
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Biahi
Dropoffyourkeylee, you are right about churches with real programs for teens. My daughter was in one, every Friday night, they got together with a married couple who ran the teen program together. They even went on several mission trips, twice to New Orleans to help with Katrina clean up, and once to Ecuador, to work with orphans. My daughter got so close to this couple, they asked the husband to officiate at her wedding. (He did). Many of those teens are still friends, still Christians, one is a high school science teacher, one is an M.D.
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slimboyfat
The exact same in our congregation.
There’s hard data from New Zealand that JWs are older than the general population and getting relatively older too. Shepherless posted it a couple of years ago. The situation is likely the same across the western world.
On the other hand many religious groups are probably even older than JWs, the only exceptions being immigrant churches and some Pentecostal and new churches.
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Pete Zahut
I remember being amused when once there was an embarrassing topic that touched on immortality. A kid about twelve had his hand up to give an answer. NO adult commented 🤣.
Reminds me of a Sunday Watchtower study where a little girl was called on to answer the question was "What is the difference between literal Circumcision and Circumcision of the heart?" She went on to describe and compare each of these things. It seemed very inappropriate and I wondered what any non JW visitor might be thinking.
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Rocketman123
During the 1960's and 70's of the baby boom generation the Kingdom Halls were full of children.
Now days they are full of the elderly and middle age.
As the decades pass there seems to be less participation in religions in general in most modernized countries.
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IWant2Leave
It’s true there aren’t as many kids as in years past. Some couples are deciding not to have kids, so many JW’s are leaving & taking kids or potential kids with them, and the KH’s in my area have more single sisters than ever before!
A Baptist deacon told me years ago that if a church isn’t growing it’s dying. What he said is very true! His church was comprised mostly of elderly women.
Years ago my kids were used so much that it was embarrassing. WT notices the shortage too. The instructions that call for kids to be interviewed, will now say, such as last week:”If possible, ask selected young children...”
I guess Tony Tight Pants Morris telling sisters not to consider brothers who aren’t MS’s or elders as potential marriage mates, isn’t working out!🤔😂
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zachias
Last time entered the KH was to see a lot of empty seats and mainly elderly folks there.