My congregation had around 25 more people at the Memorial last night than last year, and the two other congregations I have family in all experienced a similar increase in about 25 more people present. Umm, I'm surprised, having thought this year would see a Memorial decline again. And I'm kind of disappointed.
UK Memorial attendances up this year?!
by Isambard Crater 31 Replies latest jw friends
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jambon1
There was always a fluctuation in attendances due to world events. Someone may correct me but I'm sure after 9/11 and the ensuing war on terror that the 2002 attendance was slightly increased.
A bit similar to how they all dropped in 1976 once it dawned on people that the organisation had led them down the garden path with another false prediction regarding 1975.
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sir82
Do you have multiple congregations at your Kingdom Hall? Do you have 2 Memorials, a "late" one and an "early" one?
Maybe last year's was later, and this year's was earlier? Visitors and inactive JWs often go to the earlier one, especially if they have school-age kids.
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Isambard Crater
I hear you about world events, but if stuff like Russia and Syria happen every year from now on, memorial attendances will keep rising, leading J.W's to keep saying the end now really is so very near.
My congregation doesn't share so we just had it at the normal time, but my grandparents' congregation shares with another and they tell me both of them, even the late shift, had record numbers.
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jambon1
What do you mean 'will keep saying', as if it's some kind of new phenomenon?
They've been saying it since the late 1800's along with hundreds of other faiths.
Try to seperate what they say with the reality of the situation. They've had a wee erection about what's happened in Russia. When that blows over they'll find some other form of persecution porn.
Its always the way with them. Repeatative, tedious, scaremongering bullshit.
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sir82
Lots of uncertainty in the world - Brexit, Syria, North Korea....not to mention President Cheeto.
Fear tends to drive wavering semi-JWs back into the fold, as least until things calm down again.
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Isambard Crater
I was just hoping news like the ARC would have put lots of people off going to the Memorial this year, but clearly it's had no impact at all.
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punkofnice
Swings and roundabouts. Some places will be up, others down. I think over-all the JWs are a dying breed on a very slow fade. They'll be around for a while yet.
Isambard Crater
I was just hoping news like the ARC would have put lots of people off going to the Memorial this year, but clearly it's had no impact at all.Sadly, most of the JWs have not heard about the ARC. They would probably be too afraid to look to see what it was if they did get wind of it.
Time marches on relentlessly. I wonder what the JW corporation will have become in 100 years time?
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dozy
Memorial attendance is dependent on a lot of factors - it tends to be higher at the weekends , depends on the weather , if there is a football match on the TV , proximity to Easter weekend etc. From all I hear from my ( few remaining ) JW contacts in the UK , the publisher numbers ( other than immigration from Poland etc which is tailing off now anyway after Brexit ) are slowly decreasing with the overall age of JWs rising & people leaving for various reasons , whether realising it isn't the truth or just through boredom or being "stumbled" etc.
I heard just the other week that a formerly strong elder & his wife & 2 kids had moved away from a neighbouring congregation across country with his work & taken the opportunity to just stop attending meetings. No explanation - just cold turkey ( which I guess is the perfect fade! )
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jwfacts
Jehovah's Witnesses are a superstitious bunch, always looking for signs that the end is about to occur. With Trump as president and his sparring with Putin, they will be thinking King of the North and South. A war in Syria, persecution in Russia, an earthquake, famine in Somalia, and their indoctrination must be on high alert.
You may think that the Australian Royal Commission would have an affect, but just a fraction of JWs even know about this. Yet they all can see the unrest in the world. The sad thing is the total ignorance, as the world is still the most peaceful it has ever been.
What do people think the memorial attendance will be this year? It was 20,085,142 in 2016 and the growth over the last 2 years has been a miserable -0.4% and 1.1%.This year I expect the growth to be more than that, probably more than 2%.