I have been asked many times about the effectiveness of the method widely used by Jehovah's Witnesses; going door to door "cold turkey" or attempting to visit people in their homes without any invitation or prior relationship having been established. The organization is not very public about its membership data, so it has been difficult to give a direct answer. I was glad to find out today that a French scholar has gained access to the data and has published some clear evidence on this question.
The worldwide growth rate for Jehovah's Witnesses last year (2008) was 2.1 percent, a decent growth rate although significantly short of the seven percent among the Assemblies of God, or the five percent among Evangelical Christians in sub-Saharan Africa or the 3.6 percent of the worldwide Seventh-day Adventist Church. More to the point is data on how many hours of evangelistic activity (going door to door or standing with literature on city street corners or in subway stations) must be invested per new convert.
It requires twice as many hours per convert in the U.S. and Europe as it does in Africa, Latin America and Eastern Europe. Even more to the point is the change in these data over recent decades. In 1980 in the U.S. it took 2,915 hours of evangelistic labor per convert, and by 2008 that had more than doubled to 6,120 hours per convert. In Canada it went from 3,342 hours to 9,082 hours per convert over the same period. In the United Kingdom it went from 3,511 hours to 7,074 hours per convert. In Italy it went from 2,540 hours to 10,121 hours per convert.
Clearly the "population seems to be more resistant to Witnesses' proselytism than used to be the case," comments Religion Watch in reporting this research. But even at the lowest rate (2,540 hours per convert in Italy in 1980) this seems a very inefficient approach. A key theological consideration: Is it good stewardship of the time and talent that God has placed in the church to use such an inefficient method? Jehovah's Witnesses believe it is an exercise necessary to salvation, so they may not be very concerned about the efficiency or effectiveness of the method. Most Christians do not believe that you can work your way into salvation in this way, so the stewardship issues become more pronounced when considering this or any methodology.
An argument could be made that perhaps this method should be used in the southern hemisphere, where it has a more effective rate. In churches with large numbers of people and small resources of other kinds, a labor intensive approach to evangelism makes more sense that in the context of the U.S. and Europe. But remember that the current data in these fast-growing areas is near the 3,000 hours per convert mark. How long will that continue to be good stewardship? Italy was at this level in 1980 and now it has one of the highest rates in the world. Does this method actually create resistance and eventually burn out its effectiveness?
My thanks to the staff at Religion Watch for picking up this research by Bernard Blandre in a French-language journal, Mouvements Religieux. I do not read French well enough to have found this unaided.
Maybe this study will prompt us to diversify our means of outreach.
I affirm your efforts over the years to present new innovation means to the US space.
I cringed each time I see a US leader in some village in Africa or India picking the harvest of some foreign land, while leaving his/her field unplowed.
Maybe we will prayerful consider how we can partner with the Spirit to share the Good News right here, right now!
Posted by: Chris | August 08, 2009 at 06:16 AM
Great insights into Door to Door. Ed Stetzer has also done some research on this issue and reports that in best situation, "Only 39 percent of those
surveyed who attend church rarely, on holidays, or never would be okay with someone coming to their door and inviting them to church, according to the survey." This number goes down when we go to non-protestant, middle class or politically liberal communities, according to Ed's research. We counsel new churches to use a completely different approach that starts with needs assessment. More info on this at http://www.compassionbydesign.org.wordpress.
Posted by: David MIlls | August 09, 2009 at 05:51 AM
I met today with the annual professional meeting of congregational studies researchers and Ed is supposed to join us tomorrow. I agree with him 100 percent on this one. In fact, the major use of my time these days is helping congregations with needs assessments that lead to the most effective strategy for each congregation, according to its unique context, gifts and mission.
Posted by: Monte Sahlin | August 10, 2009 at 08:50 PM
I became a baptized evangelical Christian through the door to door efforts of a fine Seventh-day Adventist gentleman who was giving out gospel literature each week. He merely left a tract at our home each Saturday and then after about four weeks he knocked on our door. I had been enjoying reading the tracts and so I invited him in. He had a flip chart with him which explained why Christ died on the cross and told me about the forgiveness of sin. I aske him if I could visit his church with him and then I joined the Seventh-day Adventist Church six months later. I praise the Lord that He found me and lead me to join a bible believing church group. Bill Diehl
Posted by: Bill Diehl | August 17, 2009 at 02:37 PM
Bill, what year did this happen?
Posted by: Monte Sahlin | August 23, 2009 at 03:41 PM
Jehovahs' witnesses statistics are freely available on www.watchtower.org
House to house ministry by JW's is based on Acts 20:20. Also Matthew 24:14 indicates that global preaching of the kingdom is a sign to be seen during the last days hence even if Jw's make not one convert they will continue to preach. They note that Noah saved only himself and 7 others, Jeremiah zero response, Jesus only had 70 to 120 active disciples.
Another comparison to note is that JW's study a lot more with an interested person before they are baptised and highlight God's high moral standards which many tday are unwilling to accept.
Posted by: James Howe | October 25, 2009 at 03:56 PM
Jehovah's Christian Witnesses do not believe that one earns salvation by preaching...but believe that one who has true faith will obey the command of Jesus to "go and make disciples" as he said in Matt. 28:18-20. One who really believes will be moved by his or her faith in their heart to confess or make public declaration of the good news of the Bible, including that God raised Jesus from the grave as Romans 10:12-18 says.
Posted by: David | July 02, 2012 at 07:20 PM