Do They Still do Door-to-Door as Much as Before?

by cofty 37 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

  • scratchme1010

    Where I live I saw them once about ten years ago. Nothing after that.

  • truthseeker

    In my hometown of Bognor Regis some sisters spend their mornings sitting on a bench on the high street with their literature cart. I've known one sister since I was a child and went up to her and said I didn't want to miss the opportunity to say hi. I said I know you're not allowed to talk to me. She said, yes, I know what you mean. They know I'm an apostate in Bognor Regis.

  • konceptual99

    The door to door work has not decreased in terms of opportunity. There are still the same number of meetings for field service as their always has been through the week and at the weekend. Territory is still worked in exactly the same way.

    Attendance and participation in the door to door ministry is still as much a requirement for MS and elders as it ever was.

    Most congregations organise the carts so as not to conflict with field service events, especially at the weekend. I suspect this is an instruction from the org but don't have a reference to hand. So those on a cart on a Saturday may start at 10:30/11:00 for example, and then it be manned until perhaps 12:30 or 13:00.

    The Metropolitan Witnessing arrangement, which is basically the same cart work as everyone else but with a fancy badge so only the select few can take part is slightly different in that this work takes place for far longer, all day into the evening typically, but because it's essentially limited to pioneers then it's OK to conflict with congregation FS events.

    So standard congregation cart work is not meant to be a substitute for other FS activities. The reality is that there are undoubtedly some who offset door to door work with standing for hours babysitting a trolley.

    The other thing to consider is that Witnesses are encouraged to use videos on the ministry now far more. It's back to the days of the phonograph except now the literature side of it is not printed but electronic.

    I don't have any insight on the impact on the ministry in terms of how regularly maps are worked but my wife does not seem to think there are less people out and she goes midweek and on a Saturday. She has not done the cart yet.

  • sparrowdown

    Just my experience, in my area only a few years ago I couldn't leave the house without seeing a witnessing group of about 6-8 stolling and chatting around a block somewhere in the territory. I haven't seen a single witness going from door to door in two years. There are a couple of carts but only seen in fine weather on wednesday mornings.

  • Cold Steel
    Cold Steel

    They still go door-to-door, but they no longer push for personal Bible studies. The time was, they'd ask you if you wanted them to come back, then they'd tell you about their Bible study program and actively push it. Now, they come to our neighborhood, bail out of their cars and an hour later they meet back, pile in the cars and hit a Denny's. When we answer the door, they cram some magazines into our hands and are gone.

    Back in the 70s they were more aggressive and they knew their Bibles much more than they do now. They're just more interested in getting to the restaurant nowdays.

  • snugglebunny

    Just to add a little frisson in our lives....

  • cofty

    Interesting thanks. koncpetual99 it looks as if they still do as much door to door officially but not in reality.

    Snugglebunny I'm going to have that tune in my head today!

    maybe, they distributed your picture as an evil and dangerous apostate Cofty - Suavojr

    I was talking to a JW at a cart in Edinburgh last week while his partner stayed back out the way. Another two JWs arrived to take over my wife overheard one of them saying to him "you shouldn't be talking to him, that's that apostate I told you about."

  • Wake Me Up Before You Jo-Ho
    Wake Me Up Before You Jo-Ho

    The Regular Pioneers are desperate. I caught up with my mother at the mall and she brought along her friend, a sister. While my kid was playing on one of those mechanical cars, I asked my mother to watch him so I could grab a few things from the supermarket. When I came out, her friend was talking to two women (strangers) nearby. "She's giving a Witness," my mother whispered. Cool. When it came time for the ladies to extract themselves from my mother's friend and her pesky little iPad, I told my mother I needed to go back to her house to collect some mail. She said, "okay, but first I have to give some magazines to the locksmith over there. Your father used to call on him a while ago." My mother's friend said, "no. Save him for tomorrow. I just showed the two women the Website, so we are still counting our time."

    Pathetic. Always on a timetable. Always focusing on the hours and all personal interest is lost. You know that new Kingdom Melody song lyric, "it's the person, not the face"? I beg to differ. "It's the hours that you get, it's a never ending threat..."

  • jookbeard

    lived in this area for almost 6 years, never been called on, had one solitary leaflet through the door in all that time and that was for a memorial invite in Portuguese! I've seen them down my road twice in all that time and it looked like they were just doing RV's and I'm very much on the lookout if there is a presence of them in the neighbourhood, I do actually hear at times that they are in the area as we have a large council estate in this town, perhaps thats where they get more of a response,the cart is still present in the town centre most days of the week though

  • pale.emperor

    I've lived in my new house for 11 months now. No JW knows my address (apart from my ex-wife), and im in another congregations territory anyway. I've not had a JW call here. Nor did i get an invitation for the memorial or convention through my letterbox. It's a good thing they dont have a lifesaving message or they'd have blood on their hands at armageddon.


    My ex-mother in law has this down to an art form. She gets out there at 7am, hands a crumpled leaflet to Mr Rashid at the corner shop who promptly bins them because he's just being polite. Then goes back home, handing another leaflet to any passer by, has her breakfast, goes to the group study, out on the ministry again at 10am and, apparently, that means she's been on the ministry for 3 hours already before she's even knocked on a door.

    Pathetic indeed. Imagine owning a business and your staff doing that.

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