The Jehovah’s Witness movement has been on a year-long drive to recruit commuters at UK train stations, shopping centres and parks. It’s a change of tactics, writes Sophie Robehmed.
Everybody is familiar with the Jehovah’s Witnesses’ standard modus operandi. Two polite people knock at the door and try and engage a householder in conversation.
The visit is often less than welcome and there are plenty of examples of comic sketches mocking the phenomenon.
But for the last year, the Christian-based religious movement has been trying a different method in the UK.
Volunteers are targeting train stations, as well as shopping centres and other busy places, in 14 cities across Britain and Ireland – Belfast, Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Dublin, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool, London, Manchester, Newcastle, Nottingham, Sheffield.
In London alone, the movement says it has 1,000 people giving away literature – and they get through about 6,000 brochures, 20,000 books, and 100,000 magazines every month.
The tactic was pioneered in New York three years ago and is set to expand further. At weekly congregation meetings, volunteers are encouraged to let passers-by approach rather than trying to stop them. The tactics seem the polar opposite of the doorstep approach – most of the day the volunteers stand there smiling but saying little.
At Oxford Circus, in the centre of London and the fourth busiest underground/metro station in the UK, the Jehovah’s Witnesses are passed by hundreds of thousands of people every week.
Deep Singh, a coordinator for this latest street drive, who converted from Sikhism 23 years ago, stands with his arms outstretched, holding books with the title, What does the Bible really teach?, in capital letters. His wife, Ruth, meanwhile, hovers by a stand, stocked with copies of Awake!, the Jehovah’s Witnesses’ flagship magazine. The couple are joined by another volunteer. And the station’s other entrances and exits are manned by other groups.
Even standing by the volunteers for an hour, it seems that few passers-by stop to talk.
The movement doesn’t have figures for how many converts this part of its mission has produced. And it’s emphasised that it’s an addition rather than a departure from the door-to-door evangelism, but adherents are optimistic that the new tactic is making an impact.
The UK Jehovah’s Witnesses say that the May issue of Awake!, with its cover line Stress – Keys to Managing It, was the most popular of the current drive.
“People were queuing up for a copy in the City [of London],” says Deep. “One woman asked if it was possible to take copies for her colleagues because she said her whole office was stressed.”
The Singhs are both cutting back on their paid work away from the movement in order to be, as Deep states on his WhatsApp mobile messaging profile, “On the Lord’s Work!!” from 7am-7pm. “I feel for people. Life is a mess, and we help to improve people morally, spiritually and emotionally,” says Deep.
“This ministry is definitely better for secular people who like to be in control,” he adds. “They can ignore us, ask questions or just pick up a book to get the answers they’re looking for.” Ruth, who grew up with a Jehovah’s Witness mother and atheist father, agrees. “It makes sense,” she says. “People are so busy and this ministry conveniently fits in with their hectic schedules.”
http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-28166192
