Religion Today: Jehovah’s Witnesses’ Year Without Knocking on Doors

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RIVERSIDE COUNTY, Calif. — It’s been one year since Jehovah’s Witnesses worldwide adjusted their hallmark methods of sharing comfort and hope from the scriptures due to the pandemic.

For many, the change from ringing doorbells and knocking on doors to making phone calls and writing letters expanded and invigorated their ministry.

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“Witnesses have embraced this shift, finding the good in these trying times,” said Joseph Castano, who reports a 30 percent increase in the Witnesses’ preaching activity in his region of northern Virginia and nearby parts of West Virginia. “In fact, I hear many saying, ‘I’m able to do more now.’”

In March 2020, the some 1.3 million Witnesses in the United States suspended their door-to-door and face-to-face forms of public ministry and moved congregation meetings to videoconferencing.

“It has been a very deliberate decision based on two principles: our respect for life and love of neighbor,” said Robert Hendriks, U.S. spokesman for Jehovah’s Witnesses. “But we are still witnesses and, as such, we must testify about our faith. So it was inevitable that we would find a way to continue our work.”

Despite the ongoing, more than year-long COVID-19 pandemic and public health crisis, which caused some 1.3 million Witnesses in the United States to suspend their door-to-door and face-to-face forms of public ministry, Witnesses quickly adapted from knocking on doors to making phone calls and writing letters, and moved from congregation meetings to videoconferencing.

In the bitterly cold winters of Arden Hills, Minnesota, Terri Whitmore normally bundles up for the door-to-door ministry in a long down coat and snow boots—sometimes with removable cleats to help navigate icy sidewalks.

Now she sits at her dining room table, sips on hot tea, and calls people on her cell phone to share the same message. In December, she conducted more than twice as many Bible studies than in any prior month. “I’m having a blast,” she said.

“After a nice phone call, it energizes you. You can’t wait to make the next call.”

Her “go-to” topics for conversation with her neighbors are COVID-19, civil unrest, and government. “Some people feel like they have nothing secure to hold on to,” she said. “The power of God’s word is amazing. You can just share a scripture and you feel like they’re settling down.”

Nearly 51,000 people in the United States last year made a request for a Witness to contact them, either through a local congregation or jw.org, the organization’s official website, according to Hendriks. Since the outbreak, the Witnesses have followed up on these requests via letters and phone calls instead of in-person visits.

“Our love for our neighbors is stronger than ever,” said Hendriks. “In fact, I think we have needed each other more than ever. We are finding that people are perplexed, stressed, and feeling isolated. Our work has helped many regain a sense of footing – even normalcy – at a very unsettled time.”

For Kayla McFadden of Temecula, California, the shift to remote preaching work allowed her to increase her preaching activities and gain a renewed sense of purpose. “Keeping a regular routine in my ministry during this pandemic has helped me to have some stability,” said McFadden. “This has also helped me to be more positive and happy by reaching out to upbuild others during this time.”

The 33-year-old has relied on making phone calls and writing letters as safe alternative ways of reaching people in the area. “It’s helped me to be more thoughtful of those in the community, especially ones I visited regularly,” McFadden explained, adding that she has also been able to work on bettering herself as a person, as well as “improving my skills and the quality of my ministry.”

In addition, McFadden says her family has grown to be more connected during the past year, which has contributed to peace in the home. “It’s helped us learn to be more adaptable to changing circumstances and to look for the positive in light of a difficult situation,” she said.

In the rural areas of Salina, Kansas, where the wheat and corn fields stretch for acres, the Milbradt family sometimes drives miles from one house to the next to reach their neighbors. Now, instead of buying gasoline to fill up their vehicle for the ministry, they spend money on paper, envelopes, stamps, and crayons.

“We look for ways to add variety to our ministry,” said Zeb Milbradt. He and his wife, Jenny, help their boys—Colton, 8, and Benjamin, 6—write letters to children’s book authors, local police, and hospital workers. Sometimes the boys even include with the letters hand-drawn pictures of the Bible’s promise of a global paradise.

“We’ve been able to get the message to people who we wouldn’t necessarily reach otherwise,” said Jenny Milbradt.

A letter Benjamin sent to nurses at a regional health center included a quote from the Bible’s prophecy at Isaiah 33:24 of a coming time when no one will say, “I am sick.” The center’s marketing secretary replied to Benjamin, informing him that she scanned and emailed his letter to 2,000 employees. It “made so many people smile,” she said.

Witnesses have also made a concerted effort to check on distant friends and family – sometimes texting links to Bible-based articles on jw.org that cover timely topics, such as isolation, depression, and how to beat pandemic fatigue.

“Former Bible students have started studying again,” said Tony Fowler, who helps organize the ministry in the northern portion of Michigan’s Lower Peninsula.

“Colleagues at work have now started to show interest. Some have started Bible studies with family members who showed very little interest before the pandemic.”

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Castano has been reaching out to Witnesses who had long ago stopped associating with fellow Witnesses. “The pandemic has reignited their spirituality,” he said, adding that many are attending virtual meetings with some sharing in telephone witnessing and letter writing even after decades of inactivity. “It’s been pretty outstanding,” he said.

Fowler and Castano both report about a 20 percent increase in online meeting attendance. But perhaps the most significant growth is in an area that cannot be measured by numbers.

“I think we’ve grown as a people,” Fowler said. “We’ve grown in appreciation for other avenues of the ministry, our love for our neighbor, and love for one another. We’re a stronger people because of all of this, and that’s a beautiful thing to see.”

For more information on the activities of Jehovah’s Witnesses, visit their website jw.org, with content available in over 1,000 languages.

Submitted by Jehovah Witness – Riverside County

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Does your church have an event, news to share or submission you would like to see featured here in Religion Today? Contact the editor: [email protected]

Trevor Montgomery, 49, moved in 2017 to the Intermountain area of Shasta County from Riverside County and runs Riverside County News Source (RCNS) and Shasta County News Source (SCNS).

Additionally, he writes or has written for several other news organizations; including Riverside County-based newspapers Valley News, Valley Chronicle, Anza Valley Outlook, and Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle; the Bonsall/Fallbrook Village News in San Diego County; and Mountain Echo in Shasta County. He is also a regular contributor to Thin Blue Line TV and Law Enforcement News Network and has had his stories featured on news stations throughout the Southern California and North State regions.

Trevor spent 10 years in the U.S. Army as an Orthopedic Specialist before joining the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department in 1998. He was medically retired after losing his leg, breaking his back, and suffering both spinal cord and brain injuries in an off-duty accident. (Click here to see segment of Discovery Channel documentary of Trevor’s accident.)

During his time with the sheriff’s department, Trevor worked at several different stations; including Robert Presley Detention Center, Southwest Station in Temecula, Hemet/Valle Vista Station, Ben Clark Public Safety Training Center, and Lake Elsinore Station; along with other locations.

Trevor’s assignments included Corrections, Patrol, DUI Enforcement, Boat and Personal Water-Craft based Lake Patrol, Off-Road Vehicle Enforcement, Problem Oriented Policing Team, and Personnel/Background Investigations. He finished his career while working as a Sex Crimes and Child Abuse Investigator and was a court-designated expert in child abuse and child sex-related crimes.

Trevor has been married for more than 30 years and was a foster parent to more than 60 children over 13 years. He is now an adoptive parent and his “fluid family” includes 13 children and 18 grandchildren.