Posts by joe134cd

34

Elders are no longer teachers

by eyeslice in

jw
friends

back in the day when i was a young witness lad, you very much got the impression that at least the training as theocratic teachers was good.. even the bible reading back then had a short introduction and conclusion.

you had to research and prepare your own ministry school talks and then perhaps you would graduate to a half of a 55 minute public talk.

then later if you were a book study conductor, you got to decide which scriptures to read and highlight.

joe134cd

A person didn’t turn up, causing the meeting to finish early. That would have never happened in my day.

43

Research paper on Effects of Shunning

by peacefulpete in

after being around this site for 21 years now, i've heard many recount their stories and feelings.

many times i can immediately relate but other times they seem to have had a very different experience with the church.

i'm sure that is because not only are all of us different in personality, but congregations and family dynamics vary as well.

joe134cd

Jhine I have had a number of people comment to me that the Catholic Church, well at least in my country, is increasing becoming a none Caucasian church.

25

Being embarrassed by a JW when you were a JW

by punkofnice in

i was out on the ministry(tm) in the 1980's when i was pie-on-earring.

i was only a lowly publisher(tm) being coached by a rather odd elder(tm).. one of the publications(tm) had recently mentioned japan and the growth(tm) of jws there.. the elder(tm), brother(tm) i was with offered the magazines(tm) to the householder(tm).. then he stated, 'there are (gave the reported numbers at the time.

i can't remember the number he stated), jehovah's witnesses(tm) in japan.'.

joe134cd

I sort of thought that was rather funny, not embarrassing.

3

I wonder what the real JW attendance percentages would be?

by LostintheFog1999 in

most churches in the usa are in decline according to pew research.. i wonder what the real jw attendance percentages would be?

mind you from what i hear there's still a lot of them attending meetings on zoom.. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jan/22/us-churches-closing-religion-covid-christianity?.

.

joe134cd

I’m my local area, when I was doing the meeting attendance. There were at least 25% who were not there. Bearing in mind this was almost a decade ago. So it would have to be a lot less than that now. My father came home from the meeting the other day and told me the physical attendance was 50%. There would have had to of been some on zoom.

43

Research paper on Effects of Shunning

by peacefulpete in

after being around this site for 21 years now, i've heard many recount their stories and feelings.

many times i can immediately relate but other times they seem to have had a very different experience with the church.

i'm sure that is because not only are all of us different in personality, but congregations and family dynamics vary as well.

joe134cd

Jhine - I agree with what you’re saying. But the point that I’m trying make, which certainly puts me in the minority, is that when doing comparisons with other faiths the JWs have done really quite well. I attend the Catholic Church now. I have to ask myself where are all the Caucasian people, as it’s a congregation mainly made up of Philippinos, and Indians. Even the Catholic Church is losing its local members.

43

Research paper on Effects of Shunning

by peacefulpete in

after being around this site for 21 years now, i've heard many recount their stories and feelings.

many times i can immediately relate but other times they seem to have had a very different experience with the church.

i'm sure that is because not only are all of us different in personality, but congregations and family dynamics vary as well.

joe134cd

In comparison to mormons, that have more money. The JW are bigger in bums on seats on a Sunday.

The stats in year books are, at the very least, believable.

Their growth, be it small, is bucking the trend of general decline in religion.

43

Research paper on Effects of Shunning

by peacefulpete in

after being around this site for 21 years now, i've heard many recount their stories and feelings.

many times i can immediately relate but other times they seem to have had a very different experience with the church.

i'm sure that is because not only are all of us different in personality, but congregations and family dynamics vary as well.

joe134cd

Jhine - Gosh where do I start!:

https://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/5183083536449536/statistics-out-yet

https://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/4871714881142784/three-children-families-stop-step-decline-mormon-membership

https://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/5748058095616000/jws-bigger-more-successful-mormon-church

https://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/5926017217593344/lds-statistics-extension-may-suggest-that-jws-could-bigger-more-engaged-membership

Just for the record. I do believe the figures printed in the annual report to be true. I have also noted a similar thing in my local area. The country census is twice that reported in the yearbook. This would suggest the 20million figure bill for the memorial to be with in limits.

43

Research paper on Effects of Shunning

by peacefulpete in

after being around this site for 21 years now, i've heard many recount their stories and feelings.

many times i can immediately relate but other times they seem to have had a very different experience with the church.

i'm sure that is because not only are all of us different in personality, but congregations and family dynamics vary as well.

joe134cd

This would support what slimboy fat and myself have been trying to argue. That the activity rates of JWs, compared to other religious traditions, are exceptional. It’s nice to see someone else backs us up.

6

Governing Body: The growth we have is a sign of Jehovah’s blessing.

by RULES & REGULATIONS in

this looks like your typical watchtower study meeting.

lots of empty seats.. twenty-five years ago my old congregation had around 180 congregation members.

the elders decided to split the congregation in two.

joe134cd

I have cut and pasted this from another thread that I commented on…

I saw a similar thing in my local area, with regard to the aging population of JWs. I have been physically gone from the JW religion, for just over a decade. Prior to this I spent about 18-24 months as a PIMO. During this time I was assigned the task of counting the meeting attendance. 4 things really stood out to me.
(1) at any given meeting there was an average of 20-25% of publishers who weren’t there.
(2)If you had the Sunday afternoon meeting there were virtually no under 25 year olds present. Guess they had better things to do.
(3)I too noticed a similar thing to the previous poster. At least 2/3 of the congregation were 50 years or older. I also noticed particularly at conventions the absence of those in the 18-30 year old bracket.
(4)The were no elders in my congregation who didn’t have a full head of grey hair.
Generally speaking I found it an aging religion. Where by a quarter of that membership was absent. Bearing in mind that this is ten years ago. I’d hate to think what it looks like now. I’m just so glad I got out when I did.

169

Are the statistics out yet?

by slimboyfat in

isn’t it about time they released the report for the service year?

or have they stopped publishing it?

did they released selected figures at the annual meeting as they usually do, such as the memorial attendance or record number of pioneers?

joe134cd

I was going to say another good example of redistribution is that of the Iglasea ni Christ (church of Christ). I was attending their services for a couple of months after leaving the JW. This is a religion that relies heavily on the migration out of the Philippines into western style countries. When I was going they were talking about purchasing property to build a church because of the phenomenal growth taking place, and it was to. The rented facilities was at capacity. Yet I was the only one there who wasn’t born in the Philippines. They even highlighted an jw assembly hall that had purchased by the InC in Spain. To highlight the growth and god blessing. Needless to say I had to chuckle to myself.

Yet really had the InC grown in real terms internationally. Had it attracted members who weren’t Philippines. Or was it a result of existing members been redistributed. You decide