Jehovah’s Witnesses are well-known for proselytizing door-to-door and handing out their literature on city streets. Less known to the general public, their adherents have been required for the past century
Jehovah s Witnesses are well-known for proselytizing door-to-door and handing out their literature on city streets. Less known to the general public, their adherents have been required for the past century to make regular reports to their congregation s leaders on how many hours they put into such ministry.
Jehovah’s Witnesses are well-known for proselytizing door-to-door and handing out their literature. Since 1920, their adherents have been required to report to their congregation’s leaders how many hours they put into such ministry. In a historic shift, that practice ended this month for rank-and-file adherents. Samuel Herd, a member of the denomination’s Governing Body, announced the policy change to applause at the October annual meeting of the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania, a legal entity of the Jehovah s Witnesses. Hourly reports once were a key metric for a congregation’s spiritual vitality and a factor in deciding who rose to leadership. Former adherents tell of pressure to meet these quotas and guilt when they didn’t.
Jehovah’s Witnesses are well-known for proselytizing door-to-door and handing out their literature. Since 1920, their adherents have been required to report to their congregation’s leaders how many hours they put into such ministry. In a historic shift, that practice ended this month for rank-and-file adherents. Samuel Herd, a member of the denomination’s Governing Body, announced the policy change to applause at the October annual meeting of the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania, a legal entity of the Jehovah s Witnesses. Hourly reports once were a key metric for a congregation’s spiritual vitality and a factor in deciding who rose to leadership. Former adherents tell of pressure to meet these quotas and guilt when they didn’t.