(Tuesday, September 7, 2022) – Don’t be surprise if you get an unexpected knock at the door in the coming days.  Jehovah’s Witnesses have resumed their trademark door-to-door ministry.  After a more than two-year hiatus because of the pandemic, Jehovah’s Witnesses began fanning out across the country again going into neighborhoods to knock on doors September 1st.  

The decision to resume their door-to-door ministry marks the complete restoration of all pre-pandemic in-person activities for the 1.3 million Jehovah’s Witnesses in the 13,000 congregations in the United States. Houses of worship (called Kingdom Halls) were reopened April 1, witnessing in public places resumed May 31 and in-person conventions are once again being planned for 2023. “I’m very excited to be able to go back out in the door-to-door ministry,” said Chynna Cole, who will be heading out to the Northwest D.C. neighborhood in the coming weeks.

“Although we never stopped preaching during the pandemic, meeting face-to-face is the best way to familiarize ourselves with the needs of the community and offer practical assistance from the Bible.”
The suspension of the public ministry was a proactive response by the organization to keep communities and congregants safe.

The move was also unprecedented. Jehovah’s Witnesses had been preaching from house to house without interruption for more than 100 years through an economic depression, two world wars and global unrest. But COVID-19 demanded a different response. “We believe that the early decision to shut down all in-person activities for more than two years has saved many lives,” said Robert Hendriks, U.S. spokesperson for Jehovah’s Witnesses. “We’re now ready and eager to reconnect with our neighbors once again –person to person, face to face. It’s not the only way that we preach, but it has historically been the most effective way to deliver our message of comfort and hope.”The move coincides with a global campaign to distribute a new interactive Bible study program available in hundreds of languages at no cost.

The program comes in the form of a book, online publication or as an embedded feature within the organization’s free mobile application, JW Library. Released in late 2020, the interactive study platform
combines text, video, illustrations and digital worksheets to help learners of all ages.