CONVERTING
GETS HARDER
(Investigator 104, 2005
September)
Jehovah's
Witness (JW)
statistics in their
yearbooks include the number of baptisms, the number of hours JWs spend
proselytising, and the number of "return visits".
A "return
visit"
is when a
JW calls again
on a householder who showed interest or when he visits to conduct a
"Bible
study".
The table
below
shows how
many hours and
return visits it takes on average to make one convert.
It can be
interpreted
as follows:
- It's
taking more
and more hours to achieve baptisms.
- It's
taking more
and more return visits to achieve
baptisms.
- Making
converts got
more difficult in the 1960s.
- After
1965 people
again got baptized more quickly
because Armageddon was awaited in the mid-1970s.
- A new
increase in
difficulty occurred in 1976-1978
when hopes of Armageddon in the mid-1970s failed.
-
- Difficulty
increased again near 2000 when predictions
of Armageddon in the 20th century failed.
| Year |
Baptisms |
Hours
in Millions |
Hours
per
Baptism |
Return
Visits in
Millions |
Return Visits per Baptism |
| 1951 |
63,200
|
62.85
|
990
|
20.44
|
320
|
| 1955 |
63,600
|
83.83
|
1,350
|
27.14
|
430
|
| 1960 |
69,000
|
131.66
|
1,910
|
44.44
|
640
|
| 1965 |
64,400
|
171.23
|
2,660
|
59.17
|
920
|
| 1970 |
164,000
|
267.58
|
1,630
|
121.23
|
740
|
| 1975 |
295,000
|
382.30
|
1,300
|
155.34
|
530
|
| 1976 |
197,000
|
359.26
|
1,820
|
145.68
|
740
|
| 1977 |
124,000
|
321.42
|
2,590
|
|
|
| 1978 |
95,000
|
307.27
|
3,230
|
130.18
|
1,370
|
| 1979 |
114,000
|
318.97
|
2,800
|
134.01
|
1,180
|
| 1980 |
114,000
|
339.43
|
2,980
|
142.10
|
1,250
|
| 1985 |
190,000
|
590.54
|
3,110
|
224.73
|
1,180
|
| 1990 |
302,000
|
895.23
|
2,970
|
|
|
| 1995 |
338,000
|
1,150.15
|
3,400
|
|
|
| 2000 |
289,000
|
1,171.27
|
4,050
|
433.45
|
1,500
|
| 2004 |
262,000
|
1,282.24
|
4,890
|
|
|
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