Engagement Project 2025

For my engagement project, I attended the mid-week service at the local Kingdom Hall to observe their practices. My initial impression upon entering was that the environment was incredibly reminiscent of the Fundamentalist Baptist church I grew up in. The entire congregation dressed in formal attire and the interactions between members seemed to imply a tight-knit community, with about 30-40 members in attendance.¹

The meeting itself was highly structured, following a set formula used by all Kingdom Halls.² It began with a song,³ then the “Treasures from God’s Word”⁴ section with a discussion questions section called “Spiritual Gems” where members shared their insights with the entire congregation.⁵ Next, the meeting transitioned to the “Apply Yourself” section with three skits on “informal witnessing”⁶ and “public witnessing.”⁷ Afterwards, there was a second song⁸ marking the transition to the “Living as Christians” section, with a video illustrating the catastrophic effects of poor speech,⁹ and another discussion. The meeting ended with a Bible study¹⁰ on Paul’s testimony before Agrippa¹¹ and a final song.¹²

For me, the biggest surprise in attending the Kingdom Hall meeting was how similar it was to a Christian gathering. The meeting focused on biblical principles with only one quote from Watchtower,¹³ and there were no direct references to doctrines that contradict orthodox Christianity.¹⁴ Materials from the Watchtower Society had a similar appearance to evangelical Christian resources, such as the Bible Project, with video resources and a study booklet both from the Watchtower Society,¹⁵ but no direct mention of their view of the Society as the ultimate authority.

During and after the service, multiple Witnesses went out of their way to speak with me. A girl noticed me taking notes during the sermon, moved to sit next to me, and offered for me to use her Watchtower study materials to take notes. After the meeting ended, she introduced herself to me, asking for my name, if it was my first time, and most notably- where I lived. She was very friendly, encouraging me to come back. And when I went to leave, I was stopped by two Witnesses who were elders of the congregation.¹⁶ They asked if I was a baptized member of the Witnesses; I replied that I was a protestant Christian researching Jehovah’s Witnesses. They spoke with me at length about Jehovah as the personal name of God,¹⁷ citing John 17:26 as an example of the importance of making Jehovah’s “name known.”¹⁸ They also explained to me how the name was removed from the Hebrew and Greek scriptures, using Psalm 110 as an example where the word “LORD”¹⁹ is used, while in the original Hebrew, the word is the name, Jehovah.²⁰

As a whole, the experience was eye-opening. The Witnesses’ dedication to the study of Scripture was admirable,²¹ along with their commitment to witness and their prioritization of congregational participation.²² There are many good qualities that Jehovah’s Witnesses embody which Christians should learn from, and after visiting I feel especially convicted to fast and pray for them to find the light of the true God.

Additionally, a few families were listening in on Zoom. ↩︎
All Jehovah’s Witness congregations across the world follow the same curriculum and material. The entire meeting (teaching text, worship songs, etc.) is outlined in the “Life and Ministry Meeting Workbook” along with past and future meetings. The outline for the meeting I attended can be found at, “JW: Life and Ministry Meeting Schedule April 28–May 4, 2025,” JW.ORG, 2024, https://www.jw.org/en/library/jw-meeting-workbook/march-april-2025-mwb/Life-and-Ministry-Meeting-Schedule-for-April-28-May-4-2025/. ↩︎
The song, titled, “Encourage One Another,” and can be found at, “Song 90: Encourage One Another,” JW.ORG, 2016, https://www.jw.org/en/library/music-songs/sing-out-joyfully/90-encourage-one-another/?media=sjjm. ↩︎
This section served as an equivalent to a 10 minute sermon, titled “Don’t Say It.” It was preached by one of the congregation’s elders on the destructive power of the tongue, based on Proverbs 11:1-20.
Notably, the elder preaching did not cite Watchtower materials, despite Watchtower materials being cited in the meeting’s outline as previously mentioned in footnote #1. Instead, the elder cited Hebrews 12:15, Luke 6:45, and referenced Colossians 3:8. ↩︎
These reflections were based on study materials assigned by Watchtower prior to the mid-week meeting, and they were referred to as the “weekly study.” The Witnesses (both in this congregation and all other congregations around the world) were going through the book of Proverbs, one chapter a week. ↩︎
The second skit on informal witnessing was especially interesting. It demonstrated the power of “following up,” with a story about two women. They had previously bonded over training dogs, and the Witness had sent an article to the non-believer on dog training.
Notably, the article in question was sourced from JW.org.
The Witness in the skit proceeded to describe how JW.org has articles on all kinds of topics, such as anxiety, family, and other articles on training animals. The skit ended with the Witness persuading the non-believer to watch a quick video with her that introduced Jehovah’s Witnesses. ↩︎
All of the skits for this meeting were based on principles found in the “Love People” brochure which can be found at, “Love People: Make Disciples,” JW.ORG, 2023, https://www.jw.org/en/library/books/love-people-make-disciples/. ↩︎
The song, titled, “Peace at Last,” and can be found at, “Song 157: Peace at Last!,” JW.ORG, 2025, https://www.jw.org/en/library/music-songs/sing-out-joyfully/157-peace-at-last/?media=sjjm. ↩︎
The video can be found at, “‘Put Away’ Peace Wreckers: Excerpt,” JW.ORG, 2025, https://www.jw.org/en/library/videos/#en/mediaitems/VODBiblePrinciples/pub-mwbv_202503_4_VIDEO. ↩︎
Currently, all Jehovah’s Witnesses are going through a study in the book of Acts (in addition to the sermon series on Proverbs mentioned in footnote #5) titled, “Bearing Through Witness: About God’s Kingdom.” The chapter that was studied: chapter 25, paragraphs 14-21, can be found at, “‘I Appeal to Caesar!’ (Acts 25:11),” JW.ORG, 2025, https://www.jw.org/en/library/books/bearing-thorough-witness/preaching/appeal-to-caesar/#p20-p28. ↩︎
Once again, there were discussion questions where the congregation shared insights from the reading and reflections on its contemporary significance and application. ↩︎
Titled, “To Do Your Will is My Delight,” the song can be found at, “Song 161: To Do Your Will Is My Delight,” JW.ORG, 2025, https://www.jw.org/en/library/music-songs/sing-out-joyfully/161-to-do-your-will-is-my-delight/?media=sjjm. ↩︎
The chairman, seemingly a leadership position within the congregation, quoted from the October 15th, 1989, issue of Watchtower 10/15, 1989, “Guard against Harmful Gossip!,” JW.org (Watchtower Online Library, 2025), https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/1989763?q=slander&p=par#h=23. ↩︎
I only noticed one indirect reference to a doctrine which contradicts orthodox Christianity, found in the song, “To Do Your Will is My Delight.” In the first verse, the lyrics are as follows:
“As your Son rose up from the Jordan and your precious words filled his heart. He was deeply moved by your purpose, and he longed to play his part… He gave ev’rything he could give you, and I long to do the same.”
There is an implied separation between Jehovah God and Jesus, with Jesus being moved by Jehovah’s purpose and longing to play his part in Jehovah’s plan, rather than being a co-author of this plan as God;
“Song 161: To Do Your Will Is My Delight,” https://www.jw.org/en/library/music-songs/sing-out-joyfully/161-to-do-your-will-is-my-delight/?media=sjjm. ↩︎
However, it should be noted that all PowerPoint slides, worship songs (they played lyric videos directly from JW.org), and study materials were directly sourced from Watch Tower. However, to one who is not actively looking, I could imagine it being easy not to realize the overwhelming prevalent presence of Watch Tower materials. ↩︎
One of the elders who I spoke with had preached the sermon. Several others were there as well, but there were primarily two Witnesses who spoke to me. ↩︎
One example they used to explain the importance of using the name Jehovah was along the lines of, “God has a personal name that has been erased from Scripture. If someone wrote about you, but didn’t use your name, wouldn’t that frustrate you?” ↩︎
John 17:26 [New World Translation]; their argument was that since Jesus prioritized making Jehovah’s name known, we as believers should as well. ↩︎
Psalm 110:1 [King James Version]. ↩︎
Or rather, Yahweh. ↩︎
If not significantly more than I have seen in many evangelical churches. ↩︎
As opposed to the reliance on a lead pastor or ordained ministers. ↩︎