Britain in the doldrums!

by Nicholaus Kopernicus 32 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  Nicholaus Kopernicus

  The 2014 - 2015 JW statistics showed a peak publisher decline of 884 with the average publisher tally showing a gain of 183.

  The 2017 yearbook is now available via jw.org and the statistics for Britain show a 2016 peak publisher increase of 630 and an average publisher increase of a paltry 26!

  Nothing to shout about on the part of the followers of Caiaphas in the Britain branch. Indeed, the figures probably hide a very significant decline in Britain. I say this because immigration is a very talked about subject on various media outlets in Britain. Recent years have seen an influx of many hundreds of thousands of immigrants.

  This high immigration is reflected in the increasing numbers of foreign language groups and congregations in Britain. For example...

  Polish - 32

  Portuguese - 26

  Spanish - 18

  Russian - 10

  Filipino - 8

  The above are just a few examples of foreign language congs/groups via jw.org. Take away this influx and most assuredly Britain's JW population is in decline.

  What could be contributing to the decline in the British context.....

  *Consider the aberrant conduct of many BoE's. Brits like fair play - not bullies.

  *Consider the heavy influence to use digital media instead of hardcopy Bible's and hymn books. Scrolling hymns on a large screen karaoke style just isn't British either.

  *Consider the silly videos of shadow people - banal and boring.

  *Consider the Faithful and Discreet Slave's incursion into kingdom hall's via video. Hardly discreet! Not faithful to anyone but themselves either! If they were really faithful to God's Word they wouldn't be having all those changes in doctrine. No, they're not so much faithful as they are capricious!

  I strongly believe that before long, not even the pattern of immigration to Britain will emasculate the decline in JW numbers here. Time will tell!
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  slimboyfat

  How did you extract the data on the number of foreign language congregations from the website?

  It will be very interesting to see if the total number of congregations begins to decline in coming years.
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  stan livedeath

  back in the 60's--the total for the UK was about 60,000---i heard a circo say "the british field is dead"

  on the subject of immigration---it is now very expensive--and difficult-- for NON EA people to emigrate to the UK. my wife is filipina--so i know what i'm talking about! i am surprised there are 8 filipino congregations in the UK.
• 

  Nicholaus Kopernicus

  I keyed in "Britain" and a language in which I know there is significant publisher increase / activity.

  Re Filipino - they are mostly in London with a group in Southampton and Birmingham.
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  darkspilver

  This high immigration is reflected in the increasing numbers of foreign language groups and congregations in Britain. For example...

  Polish - 32

  That seems a significant drop post-brexit?

  EDIT: I think you've mis-read the jw.org search facility?
  

  This is my list of Polish congregations (excluding groups attached to other congregations)

  1: Aberdeen, Polish
  2: Bedford, Polish
  3: Bicester, Polish
  4: Birmingham, Polish
  5: Bournemouth, Polish
  6: Bracknell, Polish
  7: Brighton, Polish
  8: Chester, South
  9: Corby, Polish Central
  10: Coventry, Polish
  11: Coventry, Polish
  12: Crawley, Polish
  13: Dartford, Polish
  14: Derby, Polish
  15: Edinburgh, Polish
  16: Glasgow, Polish North
  17: Glasgow, Polish South
  18: Hull, Polish
  19: Inverness, Polish
  20: King's Lynn, Polish
  21: Leeds, Polish
  22: Leicester, Polish
  23: Liverpool, Polish
  24: London, Polish Central
  25: London, Polish Debden
  26: London, Polish East
  27: London, Polish Hillingdon
  28: London, Polish North
  29: London, Polish Southbury
  30: London, Polish Streatham
  31: London, Polish West
  32: London, Polish Wimbledon
  33: Luton, Polish
  34: Maltby, Polish
  35: Manchester, Polish North
  36: Manchester, Polish South
  37: Milton Keynes, Polish
  38: Morley, Polish
  39: Newcastle Upon Tyne, Polish
  40: Northampton, Polish
  41: Nottingham, Polish
  42: Peterborough, Polish
  43: Rugby, Polish
  44: Rugby, Polish
  45: Slough, Polish
  46: Southampton, Polish
  47: West Bromwich, Polish
  
• 

  slimboyfat

  Nicholaus doing that search for Polish only produces congregations in the South East of England. It doesn't count the congregations in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Inverness and so on.

  So there probably a lot more foreign language congregations in the UK than your figures.

  The search on the website is clumsy for finding total numbers for whole countries.
• 

  slimboyfat

  darkspilver that looks more comprehensive. How did you get that information?
• 

  darkspilver

  darkspilver that looks more comprehensive. How did you get that information?

  No secret, just from jw.org.....

  The congregation search facility on jw.org 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

  This means that Nicholaus Kopernicus' 'problem' wasn't a max number of results, but a max distance issue
  

  Remember that the search facility is really only meant to find a congregation meeting in a particular language close to a particular point to which you can travel to and attend - so the limits actually seem generous - WT wants the search facility to have a quick response time, so they don't want to overload the backend with more calculations etc being done than is needed in a 'real-world' situation.

  Which also means I've found three more Polish congregations in Britain:

  48: Bristol, Polish
  49: Paignton, Polish
  50: Cheltenham, Polish
  
  
• 

  Nicholaus Kopernicus

  Breathtaking numbers! British decline well and truly emasculated. Read on another thread that JW numbers in Poland down by 2% or so. Suspect that Polish emigration is a contributory factor.

  Foreign language COs have more than enough to keep themselves occupied! The followers of Caiaphas want these folks to be adequately policed supported!
• 

  scratchme1010

  What could be contributing to the decline in the British context.....

  *Consider the aberrant conduct of many BoE's. Brits like fair play - not bullies.

  *Consider the heavy influence to use digital media instead of hardcopy Bible's and hymn books. Scrolling hymns on a large screen karaoke style just isn't British either.

  *Consider the silly videos of shadow people - banal and boring.

  *Consider the Faithful and Discreet Slave's incursion into kingdom hall's via video. Hardly discreet! Not faithful to anyone but themselves either! If they were really faithful to God's Word they wouldn't be having all those changes in doctrine. No, they're not so much faithful as they are capricious!

  I strongly believe that before long, not even the pattern of immigration to Britain will emasculate the decline in JW numbers here. Time will tell!

  I completely agree. I'd add that unlike before, the public in general are more aware of the WT as an entity and of the JWs. Their original model was based on the premise that people didn't know who they are at the same time they had to do a lot more work to access reliable information. Today they are widely known, both the JWs and the ex-JWs, and it's a lot easier for people to compare notes and look for information in addition to the things that they claim.

  In fact, if you notice, a lot of their growth is occurring in areas where online access is limited, and in places with underdeveloped. It also makes sense for people who are new to a country to feel "welcomed" by that organization and ending up forming part of it.

  Thanks for sharing your take on it.