Jw meeting locator

by Done 10 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

  • Done
    Done

    I was born in and a jw for about 40 years, most of it in the same state. Im getting ready to move about an hour away and typed in my possible new zip code to the meeting locator to see who of my past contacts i will possibly run into.

    When the locator gives you the list of nearest congos, is congo "A" the one that your address would be "assigned" to? The congo that works your territory? There is a congo A and B at the same hall.

    I know that the congo i left(where i live now), if you put up a visible no trespassing sign they absolutely would not come on the property. Im going to be renting in a rural area short term until I find my next home to purchase. There will be very visible no trespassing signs at both of the next homes.

  • Old Navy
    Old Navy
  • Old Navy
    Old Navy
  • darkspilver
    darkspilver
    Done: When the locator gives you the list of nearest congos, is congo "A" the one that your address would be "assigned" to? The congo that works your territory? There is a congo A and B at the same hall.

    The JWorg Meeting Location Finder is available at: https://apps.jw.org/E_SRCHMTGMAPS

    Interesting question.

    Short answer: NO

    Long answer: NO. The meeting finder lists, in order, firstly the physically closest Kingdom Hall to your location and then, secondly it lists the congregations that meet at that KH in alpabetical order.

    I've tested the above with location zip/post codes in congregation territories I'm familiar with and which go to multi-use KHs.

    One of the locations I tested was physically closest to one KH, which was listed as the first result, BUT actually the location is within the territory of a congregation that meets in a different KH (which was listed third, as two congregations meet at the physically closest KH).

    Thus, although the local Bethel does have a 'masterplan' of each congregation's territory, the public online meeting finder appears to work on a purely mathematical 'straight-line' geo-distance/alphabetical basis.

    In addition, while discussing this, it is probably worth mentioning that there are also two other 'limiters' that effect results on the JWorg meeting finder - which interestingly Nicholaus Kopernicus fell foul of last year when doing some research on foreign language congregations:

    The congregation search facility on JWorg appears to have two 'limiters' on the results you get - a maximum number and a maximum distance:

    • Firstly it limits any search to a maximum of 100 results

    • Secondly it limits search results to a maximum distance - from a quick check this appears to be 100 miles

    READ MORE: https://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/6349425083416576/britain-doldrums

  • Done
    Done

    Thanks for the info. A and B meet at the same hall, but not in alphabetical order in the listing. My thought was it would be congo c or d covering the area im moving too. I know people in B and C. Guess Ill wait and see if it happens. I work a lot and noone catches me at home now, but they all know me here and probably skip my house.

  • darkspilver
    darkspilver

    Interesting - are you on a mobile / tablet?

    I'm currently using a laptop / PC

    When I do a search using my location as either

    Shaftsburg
    Okemos
    Williamston

    Every time the East Saginaw St KH is listed first with the two congregations that meet their listed alphabetically, ie:

    First: East Lansing - MI (USA)
    Second: Okemos - MI (USA)




  • Done
    Done

    Tablet. Moving to zip code 48848

  • darkspilver
    darkspilver

    OK - I get the same result as I got before.

    The East Saginaw St KH is listed first with the two congregations that meet their listed alphabetically, ie:

    First: East Lansing - MI (USA)
    Second: Okemos - MI (USA)

    The fact that I can't replicate your results means something is going on - which may be device specific - and it is highly unlikely to be based on congregation territory.

    BUT I note that when using 'any language' - the E and F congregations at North East St are not listed alphabetically for me - that may be a 'foreign language' issue, but alphabetically English (cong F) is before Spanish (cong E), and the two letter codes the WT use are EN (English) and ES (Spanish).

    From the programming side I would expect some kind of 'listing order' to be used, if only to speed up the results.

    Interestingly the other congregation identifier that WT uses is the 'congregation number' (used internally for literature and magazine shipping etc etc) - this could explain the results in my earlier post where I have most, but not all the data, but numerical order by congregation number could be what is happening to my results (and by coincidence they're alphabetical aswell) - but again interesting that I can't replicate your results using the same location.

    You could be in any one of three congregations - I would say unlikely to be East Lansing (they'll probably have enough territory in the built up areas) which leaves either St Johns or Owosso - but it's anybody's guess....


  • darkspilver
    darkspilver

    Looks like WT have 'updated' the meeting locator

    https://apps.jw.org/E_SRCHMTGMAPS

  • Done
    Done

    Still shows the same location in the same order for me.

    Almost done with step one of the move. Took a few days off work to finish up.

    Amazing how much healthier, happier, wealthier i am since leaving the org and a bad marriage. This move is adding to it too. Kind of feels good knowing i probably wont even see anyone from this congo anymore. Small town, i see them at the post office with the cart every Saturday - changed when i get my mail. Pass someone in traffic - get this awefull ugh feeling. Drive by the hall or someone's house and ask myself why i waited so long to leave. All the constant reminders wil be gone. Chapter closed, no, book closed. Next.

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