Northwest D.C. Jehovah’s Witnesses Return to
Door-to-Door Ministry After 30-month Pandemic Pause
Jehovah’s Witnesses will resume their trademark door-to-door ministry beginning
September 1 when a two-and-half-year suspension of the work is officially lifted, just in
time to begin a global campaign featuring a new interactive Bible study program.
The decision to resume their door-to-door ministry marks the complete restoration of all
pre-pandemic in-person activities for the 1.3 million Jehovah’s Witnesses in the 13,000
congregations in the United States. Houses of worship (called Kingdom Halls) were
reopened April 1, witnessing in public places resumed May 31, and in-person
conventions are once again being planned for 2023.
“I’m very excited to be able to go back out in the door-to-door ministry,” said Chynna
Cole, who will be heading out to the Northwest D.C. neighborhood in the coming weeks.
“Although we never stopped preaching during the pandemic, meeting face-to-face is the
best way to familiarize ourselves with the needs of the community and offer practical
assistance from the Bible.”
The suspension of the public ministry was a proactive response by the organization to
keep communities and congregants safe. The move was also unprecedented. Jehovah’s
Witnesses had been preaching from house to house without interruption for more than
100 years through an economic depression, two world wars, and global unrest. But
COVID-19 demanded a different response.
“We believe that the early decision to shut down all in-person activities for more than
two years has saved many lives,” said Robert Hendriks, U.S. spokesperson for Jehovah’s
Witnesses. “We’re now ready and eager to reconnect with our neighbors once again –
person to person, face to face. It’s not the only way that we preach, but it has historically
been the most effective way to deliver our message of comfort and hope.”
The move coincides with a global campaign to distribute a new interactive Bible study
program available in hundreds of languages at no cost. The program comes in the form
of a book, online publication, or as an embedded feature within the organization’s free
mobile application, JW Library. Released in late 2020, the interactive study platform
combines text, video, illustrations, and digital worksheets to help learners of all ages.
“This new study program is designed to match the learning needs of the 21st-century
student,” said Hendriks. “We’re excited to begin sharing it with our neighbors as we
return to making personal visits.”
The pandemic forced Jehovah’s Witnesses to quickly pivot to virtual meetings and
conventions, while conducting their ministry exclusively through letters, phone calls and
virtual Bible studies. This has led to growth in meeting attendance and the number of
congregants, with more than 400,000 newly baptized witnesses joining the ranks of
120,000 congregations globally in just the first two years of the pandemic.
For more information about Jehovah’s Witnesses, their history, beliefs, and activities,
visit their official website, jw.org, with content available in more than 1,000 languages.
