Working, watching, waiting

During the opening session of a regional 2023 Convention of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Holt, which ran from June 30 through July 2, patience was defined as being different from simply putting up with something. Speakers remarked that we live in an impatient world, rife with instant gratification, and described patience as both “deliberate restraint” and “calm endurance.” It’s waiting with a purpose.

The convention, as a whole, includes more than 700 three-day events across the United States from May through September, all with the theme “Exercise Patience.” I found the program to be a meditative exploration of this important virtue.

You won’t find Jehovah’s Witnesses with big signs at Pride events or abortion clinics. You won’t find them using language like “saving souls.” During this convention, ministry was introduced as an activity that encourages patience — something to do while you’re waiting around for the end of the world.

Chris Ebersole is a member of one of seven Jehovah’s Witness congregations in Lansing. He volunteers as a public information officer for the organization on top of working a full-time job. When asked what prompted him to join the organization, he said, in part, “The Bible talks about a time that it refers to as the last days and what that would bring. So, by studying Bible prophecy — looking into it for myself — I became convinced that it was referencing the time that we’re living in now.”

According to a 2022 Pew Research Center poll, 39% of all United States Christians believe we’re living in the end times. Jehovah’s Witnesses are no different, believing that Jesus will return and, according to Song 143, they should, “Keep on working and watching and waiting, joyfully anticipating life as God meant it to be.”

According to Pew, Jehovah’s Witnesses make up less than 1% of the U.S. population and are “highly religious” compared to other Christian denominations. Although they live and work alongside mainstream society, sharing in the joys and pains of modern life, they hold beliefs that are uncommon in the secular world. For example, they subscribe to biblical interpretations of gender roles, refuse blood for medical purposes and shun members who deviate from the group’s norms.

On its website, the organization defines a cult as a new or unorthodox religion or a dangerous religious sect with a human leader. Because Jehovah’s Witnesses pattern their worship after traditional Christians and do not have a charismatic leader, the website states, “No, Jehovah’s Witnesses are not a cult.”

Some religious scholars and ex-Jehovah’s Witnesses use the term “high control” to describe the dynamics of the group and contextualize its practices, which, these scholars say, encourage high levels of social control such as working long hours volunteering for activities that empower the group rather than the individual.

While listening to the program, I heard leaders offer advice that refuted these popular criticisms of the religion’s practices. Leaders cautioned that it’s important not to make decisions for other members of the group and that it’s important to build conviction slowly, as opposed to broadly applying doctrine. I watched three teens being baptized, all older than I was when I was confirmed at 13.

Chelsea Lake Roberts for City Pulse Beth Ebersole (left) and Taelor Reese outside the 2023 Convention of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Holt.

But the group’s stricter ideologies were also represented. No women addressed the group, and all the women wore dresses or skirts. During one sermon, a leader seemed to encourage members to reduce their work hours in order to spend more time volunteering. The leader said that even if you’re uncertain of how you will pay your bills, you shouldn’t become overwhelmed by fear, and you should pursue your spiritual goals with confidence.

Taelor Reece grew up in Lansing and works as an X-ray technician. She told me she likes to play the piano and go shopping, “Just like every other 20-year-old girl.”

About her profession, she said, “It doesn’t keep me too busy, so I can still do both.” Reece was baptized about seven years ago after studying the Bible, and consulting her parents helped her see that, “There’s a hope for the future, and if I want to be a part of that hope, then these are the steps that I need to take to show my love for Jehovah and the organization.”

Beth Ebersole has been baptized for 32 years. Her parents were also Jehovah’s Witnesses. About a woman’s role in the church, she stated, “My role within my family — within the congregation — is based on scriptural standards as a whole. Just like a role for a man, a parent, a child. My role is very clear. It’s very dignified. It’s very valuable. And I am confident that it adds to the harmony and peace of a worldwide brother and sisterhood.”

This year’s events are the organization’s first in-person conventions since 2019. Jehovah’s Witnesses adapted to phone banking and letter-writing during COVID-19 lockdowns and resumed their trademark door-to-door canvassing last fall.

Approximately 1,200 people attended the first day of the Holt convention, organizers reported. Conventions running Friday (July 14) through Sunday (July 16) and July 21 through 23 in Holt will offer the exact same program in Spanish. No collections are taken, and the event is free and open to the public.

When I asked Ebersole about the sameness of the program throughout the country, he responded, “When Jesus was asked, ‘What will identify your followers?’ he said, ‘It’s the love they’ll have amongst themselves.’ And so, unity promotes love.”

News of the conventions is being published alongside headlines from a Pennsylvania grand jury, which has now charged a total of fourteen men in its probe into child sexual abuse within the Jehovah’s Witnesses. This comes after a 2018 report that experts say has some parallels to the Catholic Church sexual abuse scandal of the early 2000s.

The website silentlambs.org has chronicled child sexual abuse within the Jehovah’s Witnesses since 2001 and maintains a registry of towns where offenses are alleged to have occurred. The ten Michigan cities listed include Detroit, Grand Rapids and Flint. Lansing is not listed.

Church spokesman Jarrod Lopes told the Associated Press, “Anyone who has been victimized has the full support of the congregation to report the matter to the authorities.”

Local faith groups looking for advice on child sexual abuse prevention policies should contact Small Talk Children’s Advocacy Center, a nonprofit that responds to child sexual abuse in mid-Michigan.