As of August 2005, Jehovah's Witnesses have a reported membership of more than 6.6 million actively involved in preaching.^[1] To be counted, an individual must be a 'publisher', and report some amount of time in the ministry, normally at least an hour per month, or as little as 15 minutes under certain circumstances, such as chronic and debilitating illness. In 2005, these reports indicated a total of nearly 1.3 billion hours.^[2] Jehovah's Witnesses' preaching activity is self-reported, each member submitting a 'Field Service Report' monthly. Jehovah's Witnesses report activity in 235 lands. They have the custom of counting their membership by 'lands' which are not necessarily countries. For example, Alaska and Hawaii are considered as separate 'lands' from the rest of the United States. The history of Jehovahs Witnesses dates from about 1870 when Charles Taze Russell began to lead a Bible study group in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. ... Jehovahs Witnesses are organized into a hierarchy. ... The Governing Body of Jehovahs Witnesses is a body of elders that oversees all the activities of Jehovahs Witnesses. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Teaching authority among Jehovahs Witnesses. ... A number of corporations are in use by Jehovahs Witnesses. ... Jehovahs Witnesses face legal or governmental opposition in many countries. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Doctrines and practices of Jehovahs Witnesses. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Doctrines and practices of Jehovahs Witnesses. ... The eschatology of Jehovahs Witnesses is central to their religious beliefs. ... It has been suggested that Jehovahs Witnesses: Controversial Issues be merged into this article or section. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Throughout the history of Jehovahs Witnesses, their history, their beliefs, doctrines and practices have met controversy and opposition from the local governments, communities, or religious groups. ... Jehovahs Witnesses have beliefs and practices that are commonly regarded as controversial; by governments for the Witnesses complete refusal to participate in patriotic activities, by some scientists for their belief in creation and by members of Christendom for their doctrines that differ from mainstream Christianity, and by the Christian... William Miller William Miller (1782 - 1849) was an American Baptist preacher, whose followers have been termed Millerites or Millerists. ... Nelson Homer Barbour, (1824-1905) a Millerite Adventist born in Toupsville, New York USA, is best known for his association with Charles Taze Russell from 1876 through 1881. ... Elder Jonas Wendell (Dec. ... Following is a list of Jehovahs Witnesses who are in some way prominent Joshua Elliot Rodrigues - English Student, name comes from the Book of Joshua Maher Shalal Hash Baz - Japanese musician, name comes from the Book of Isaiah Tom Edur - Former NHL ice hockey player. ... Charles Russell in 1911 Charles Taze Russell (February 16, 1852 – October 31, 1916), known as Pastor Russell, was an American evangelist from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania who founded what is known as the Bible Student movement. ... Milton George Henschel (August 9, 1920 - March 22, 2003) was the person who succeded Frederick W. Franz as the president of Watchtower Society. ... Joseph F. Rutherford Joseph Franklin Rutherford 8 November 1869—8 January 1942, is best known as the second president of the Watch Tower Society, the legal organization used by Jehovahs Witnesses. ... Frederick William Franz - (12 September 1893–22 December 1992) served as President of the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, the legal organization used to direct the work of Jehovahs Witnesses. ... Don A. Adams is the current president of the Watch Tower Society, the most important of the Legal instruments of Jehovahs Witnesses. ... Nathan Homer Knorr (April 23, 1905 - June 8, 1977) was the third president of the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society doing so on January 13, 1942, replacing Joseph Franklin Rutherford, who had served in the position since 1916. ... Raymond Franz was a member of the Governing Body of Jehovahs Witnesses for nine years (1971–1980), and served at the organizations world headquarters for fifteen years (1965–1980). ... Doctor Edmund Charles Gruss (c. ... Image File history File links JWStats. ... Jehovahs Witnesses are organized into a hierarchy. ...

A comparison of Jehovah's Witnesses' 2004 and 2005 statistics indicates a decline in the number of Bible studies, baptisms, Memorial attendance and time spent in the preaching work. Recent decades indicate a gradual decline of membership growth, ^[3]particularly in the Western world. The decline in growth has become significantly more rapid since 1995. In the United States, an academic study at CUNY based on a telephone survey (American Religious Identification Survey) was conducted in 2001 and estimated there to be 1.331 million adults in the U.S. who self-identify as Jehovah's Witnesses.^[4] Jehovah's Witnesses report over 1 million active publishers in the United States, but because this includes only actively preaching members (including minors), it is not directly comparable to the ARIS numbers. In 1990, a larger but less detailed telephone survey based study (NSRI) at CUNY reported 1.38 million adults in the U.S. who self-identified as Jehovah's Witnesses. While this might indicate a slow decline in U.S. identification with the group, there was an increase in active U.S. publishers over this period. ARIS notes the survey did not cover non-English speakers and small groups with a high proportion of recent immigrant members were likely undercounted. Announced U.S. Witness convention schedules for 2005 included 75 non-English conventions (most of these in Spanish) of 227 total. The City University of New York (CUNY; acronym usually pronounced kyoo-nee or coo-nee), located in New York City, is the largest urban university in the United States, with more than 208,000 enrolled in degree programs and another 208,000 enrolled in adult and continuing education courses at...

The Witnesses are noted for their racial and ethnic integration.^{[citation needed]} In the United States, an academic study found that the proportion of blacks among adults who self-identified as Witnesses at 37% (the highest proportion among any of the 22 largest religious identifications which make up 90% of the U.S. population).^[5] Congregations are generally organized geographically, and members are encouraged to attend the Kingdom Hall in whose territory they reside, resulting in an ethnic mix generally representative of local population.

Jehovah's Witnesses have an active presence in most countries. In no country are they a large part of the population, however. Brazil and Mexico are the only countries other than the U.S. where the number of active Witness publishers exceed 500,000 thousand. The highest proportion of Witnesses in a country of substantial size is in Zambia, where 1% are active Witness publishers. Growth in most developed countries is slow or negative in recent years but is offset by rapid growth in less developed lands, particularly the former Communist bloc and Latin America. It appears that membership distribution is gradually shifting from the Western world to Non-Western regions.

Jehovah's Witnesses commemorate the Memorial of Christ's death (also known as the Lord's Evening Meal) annually. According to the February 1, 2006 Watchtower, worldwide attendance at the 2005 celebration of the Memorial was 16,383,333, slightly lower than the 2004 attendance of 16,760,607. This figure includes not only publishers, but inactive members, relatives, visitors and interested persons. In the U.S., 2.3 million people were present. In Zambia 570,000 attended, or 1 person for every 20 in the population. Of over 16 million in attendance worldwide, only 8,524 persons partook of the memorial emblems of unleavened bread and wine. These are those who profess to be anointed ones based on their interpretation of Revelation 14:1. ^[6] It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Doctrines and practices of Jehovahs Witnesses. ... The Lords Evening Meal is a term used by Jehovahs Witnesses to describe the observance of the death of Jesus as so ordered by the Christ himself on the night of the passover in the Bible book of Matthew 26:17-19; 26-28. ... Jehovahs Witnesses offer copies of The Watchtower from door to door or, when approval is given, wherever people might read them. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Doctrines and practices of Jehovahs Witnesses. ...

References

December 4 is the 338th day (339th on leap years) of the Gregorian calendar. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

External links

• Interactive map showing JW numbers in individual lands