Where the heaven did they come up with those numbers? Or are they starting to count the coronaviruses as "publishers"? Anyone with half a brain would look up the religion on the Internet before committing, and anyone that goes back to that religion on their own is stupid. That might have passed back in 1991 before the Internet became widespread and people that have an IQ of 0.0000001 or higher could research without going to the library or bookstore, but today?
2024 year Highlights: JWs hit 9 million Publishers
by Sanchy 51 Replies latest jw friends
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peacefulpete
I can see the church growing, unrest in the world is fuel for escapist faiths. The modern media and slick website are bound to be persuasive. They have invested heavily, and I see no reason to doubt they are seeing results.
My first concern is why so many of us care. We know if the WT didn't exist people would just run to something else. If seeing our old church continue to grow steals our joy, they still control us.
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no-zombie
Sadly everyone, the number of 8.5 to 9 million publishers might be right.
From last year's report, there was about 120,000 congregations world wide and if you simply divide 9 million into 120,000 ... you get 75 people per congregation. And allowing for people who are only on zoom and who just tick the reporting box, it does sounds about right.
But like people have said before, most of the brotherhood (at least in the western world) are elderly and as few of the born-ins stay ... we should start seeing a contraction developing soon.
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Vidiot
slimboyfat- “…it’s one figure they don’t give in the highlights…”
Good catch. 👍
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ICBehindtheCurtain
They can show whatever numbers they choose to, there is no way of keeping tabs on this, nor will the current active members question it. Most of us here don't believe any of it.
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St George of England
If the number of congregations has decreased despite all the other numbers going up then I think it raises legitimate questions about whether the growth is real.
The number of congregations is not included in the highlights but will be in the full report available end of December/ beginning of January.
Some recent figures:-
2023 - 118,177
2022 - 117,960
2021 - 119,297
2020 - 120,387
2019 - 119,712
2018 - 119,954
2017 - 120,053
Just a few more weeks to wait. I wonder if they will still publish the number of partakers following Geoff Jackson's AGM talk? Every year for decades now I have thought this will be the last year they publish that number!
George
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blondie
Congregations per jwfacts.com WTS seems to have putting about 1978...just after 1975 debacle https://www.jwfacts.com/watchtower/statistics.php#L5
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joe134cd
WingCommander4 hours ago
I have one helluva hard time believing membership is ANYWHERE NEAR 9 million. No fuggin' way! Probably more around 3 million.
Well here is your proof!!
https://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/4801405261447168/comparison-between-jws-lds-sda-mexico
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slimboyfat
As Joe points out, if JWs measured their membership as Mormons do then they have far more than 9 million members, probably nearer 20 million.
They are doing better than practically all other Christian groups in western countries because most churches are in steep decline. In Scotland hundreds of churches are closing every year, numbers are dwindling, and the average age of attenders is now over 60.
The congregation number has flatlined for about a decade and is down from its all time peak. I wonder if it will start increasing slowly again.
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DesirousOfChange
Blondie's chart seems to indicate steady growth through the years, though slowing after 2016 (which was before Covid). I guess this is when there was considerable sell off of poorly producing (of contributions) congregations.
IDK if I believe that number of congregations is that indicative of anything. All reports on attendance are that it is on a serious downtrend. ZOOM attendance is questionable as any kind of "attendance". I personally know some who admit they sign on, but without camera, and thus are able to go about with whatever task they really want to be doing -- watching TV, whatever, etc
Clearly there is no zeal or urgency. The JWs I know personally and via reports from JW family are all vacationing big time. Nearly everyone has made at least one international vacation and very often they are to Europe. (That's probably a bigger deal for US citizens than others. Traveling to an international destination other than ie, Cancun is fairly expensive and a 10 hour flight.) You wouldn't know they are worried about the cost of milk and eggs.