It was never really as great as we remember it, but I think back fondly on the late 80s and early 90s, before the first generation change of 1995. The 1975 debacle was somewhat over, and changes in the world scene really made it feel like this religion might be right after all and that Armageddon might truly be imminent.
There was this thought that the 1914 generation was really getting up there in years, and 80 years seemed like the top-end for what a generation could be, so a lot of Witnesses thought that the early to mid 1990s was going to be it. And the Watchtower backed it up, in the 1/1/89 issue when they proclaimed that the preaching work would be finished “in our 20th century.” They realized their goof, though, and changed it to “in our day” when they printed the bound volume that year.
I remember Samuel Herd was our DO at the time, and he mentioned that there was a chance we might see the year 2000 in this old system. But that we didn’t know. There really was a sense of urgency, especially after the Soviet Union fell, and we heard of wild increases happening over there. A lot of us thought the cry of “peace and security” was imminent.
Different times, indeed. The organization, in many ways, is just a shell of what it was then. Now I know it was all a bunch of crap, but at least it felt like we were really part of something.
The 80's and early 90's were pretty ok as a JW.
The assemblies had free hoagies, chips and cheese danishes, and frozen oj.
Going in service and stopping at gas stations for drinks and fried chicken, potatoe wedges. The gas station we always stopped at had a street fighter 2 arcade and me and my friends would play against each other.
Every Sunday in the summertime, the entire congregation would go the park after meetings and play softball, and all the sisters would bring homemade dishes. It was actually very fun.
NONE of any of this exists anymore.
You didn’t have to buy tickets to pay for food? Was it free because your folks bought it for you? Those tickets were such a pain in the ass and a big scam.
I was a kid when they had food tickets. My friend and I would walk around looking for dropped tickets. We found a few and were buzzing with excitement as we cashed them in for a chocolate milk and pudding. Reveling like we had won the lottery, we slugged down our chocolate milk.
The heyday for most JW's would be whenever they were young.
You don't care about prophecy, talks or anything, it was all about your friends, holidays with large groups of people, in and out of each other houses etc.
The heyday for the religion itself would be the 80's & 90's.(Which also coincides with me being young)
It started going downhill from the 2,000's.
Growth was pitiful, the midweek meeting was dropped, literature was dumbed down and then finally JW. org was launched, the broadcast and the decline was unstoppable.
'03-'04 was right around the time I was pushed out of the religion, so *definitely* not that time period for me.
My best years as a JW came in the late '90s as a preteen. Walking around finding all my friends at conventions held at an NFL stadium, taking goofy notes at the meetings tallying the number of times Brother Whoever used the word, "certainly," as a linguistic crutch...
Of course, I think, deep down, I even knew back then that I didn't enjoy being a JW. The politicking I had to do *as a literal child* to have the image everybody expected me to have was appalling, in retrospect.
I think back and it all sucked. I’ve been in 4 congregations and the 2 I liked had elders who were on the kinder side, more open minded people. Both of those have been dissolved. The two that are still around are run by tyrants with ignorant mean people.
As a child in the 90’s and early 00’s. We always had a large friend group, we would go out to eat weekly with our friends, had constant play dates. It was really fun to grow up around.
never. my childhood wasn't miserable the whole time, but that was because i did the best i could with what i had to work with.
there was NEVER a time i wanted to be different from everyone else, that i didn't wish I could just celebrate holidays, spend my saturdays watching cartoons, go to normal (worldly) functions, have time with normal (worldly) friends, and live my fuckin' life.
the "heyday" for me was when i was seeing the borg in the rearview mirror.
Prob the 90s and right after 9/11.
In the70-90s ppl in USA were still having 3-4 kids per household , so by the 90s, the halls were usually packed.
Now ppl are opting for 0-1 kids and it’s just elderly ppl in attendance.
This religion is mostly born-ins. And now ppl aren’t having kids
When there was the bagels and cream cheese and jam and all the other fun food at the conventions. I loved going to those. Loved the dramas. Loved listening to the dramas on tape. Late 80s, early 90s.
Good question! I'm thinking later 1980s to early 2000's .. Then things started to unravel slowly and now it a wipeout .. I still like the message for the most part , and 80% of the witnesses were amazing but the GB have ruined it over the last 15 years ..Like having 9 Pharisees dictating everything... sad .They need to go .
Was baptized in 78 at 19. I surrounded myself with some odd bubbles amongst the JWs. I was always for the underdog and very kind to everyone. I really thought it was a relevant religion until about 85-88. I began to wake up. I didn't know I was waking up. I saw some pretty hypocritical stuff amongst the JWs. I married a nice young sister in 83. Had a child with her in 90. Our daughter was a handful with special needs. We obtained a lot of outside medical opinions much to the dismay of the congregation. My wife and I threw ourselves into raising our daughter as we saw fit. We left the ideas about JW child rearing at the Kingdom Hall and didn't let the Hall door hit us in the ass! We faded for a decade. Finally, a body of elders decided to deal with us and we resigned instead of meeting with them. We raised our daughter, sent her to college where she got medical degrees and is married happily and has a great career.
We never looked back. Yeah, the glory years were from 77-about 85.
We've been in sincce the late '70s. It was all good until "the great dumbing down" started...new Bible, reduced total magazine pages/month, no more hardcover books, no more home book study meetings, loss of the original Theoratic Ministry School, WT Study sounding like 4th grade reading retention, etc. I'm not really thrilled with JW Broadcasting, either, but I know it had to happen in this day and age. Some parts of it are better than others.
That’s a 3 year window 😂.
I was always getting congregation picnics together, other gatherings, was extroverted, got spartan races with the Hall set up. For me it was always ok but I was making it ok for me and everyone else. In every hall we had abysmal teaching, no shepherding, elder infighting. I was in 7 congregations in 3 languages and it was always the same shit.
My heyday was when I left. 2015 at the district convention I dressed in an aloha shirt (in NJ, not Hawaii), khakis and flip flops with a light beard. Last meeting I was at. Ever. The only time after that that I set foot in a KH was for my FIL's funeral. That was interesting.
Anything before that was pretty much same old, same old. Nothing stands out.
1986-1989 still on the cusp of the 21st century, still barely able to believe in 1914, had the UN Year of Peace and the USSR falling, still trying to use 'reasoning'.
Yes, having witnessed this period I confirm all of this, yes, yes, it felt real and I didn't (and couldn't) differentiate between world events and JW theology. It felt like humanity imminently was on the cusp of something big. I still left in 1991, thinking I'd be destroyed in the imminent Armageddon. But at the back of my mind, rating my chances nothing would actually happen.
I remember in the early 2000's just before I left being proud of the austerity of the whole thing. Just before the internet took off in a big way and before the rise of smart phones, it was almost possible to not be exposed to contrary information.
When I was a kid and saw televangelists on TV it was so clear to me how weirdly manipulative they were, and clearly couldn't have possibly had god's favor.
I was shocked years later to see the rise of JW broadcasting, and the rebranding and discontinuation of most literature in favor the app and website. Especially when they started doing children's programming and it looked like Pixar. Just totally mind blowing to see how radically it's all changed. They really boiled the frog with that one.
Back before the governing body were celebrities and public figures, and just some mysterious faces in the Insight book, the whole thing was much realer to me. Now that hundreds of videos of them being weird creepy grandpa's and seeing the men behind the curtain, if I knew what they were like when I was a kid I would have been totally embarrassed to call them my leaders.
In the modern media landscape the whole thing is revealed to be such a farce that it pains me that my brother and entire extended family is still deeply PIMI.
1985-2005 were peak JW before the changes started getting weirder and dumber. The stain of ‘75 was mostly forgotten, as was the Franz debacle. Growth was steady, and the “new light” of Generations was barely noticed by most. Shortly after that, the changes started, Bye bye Book Study meeting, fewer mags, another “new light” understanding of Generations, Go-Kart witnessing, etc.
Definitely the late ‘80s - early / mid-90s. Org was at its height— exciting growth around the world, lots of young families from the non-born-in wave of the early 80s. Still plenty of cash flowing in, so conventions still had the nostalgia-inducing food.
By the late 90s, growth in developed countries had essentially stopped, cash flow was clearly becoming an issue, the Internet started to creep in, and the rank-and-file started to sense that as 2000 approached, there was something “off”:
- absolutely zero signs of a “great tribulation” starting
- no governments attacking false religion
- “anointed” had just about all died out
It was never really as great as we remember it, but I think back fondly on the late 80s and early 90s, before the first generation change of 1995. The 1975 debacle was somewhat over, and changes in the world scene really made it feel like this religion might be right after all and that Armageddon might truly be imminent. There was this thought that the 1914 generation was really getting up there in years, and 80 years seemed like the top-end for what a generation could be, so a lot of Witnesses thought that the early to mid 1990s was going to be it. And the Watchtower backed it up, in the 1/1/89 issue when they proclaimed that the preaching work would be finished “in our 20th century.” They realized their goof, though, and changed it to “in our day” when they printed the bound volume that year. I remember Samuel Herd was our DO at the time, and he mentioned that there was a chance we might see the year 2000 in this old system. But that we didn’t know. There really was a sense of urgency, especially after the Soviet Union fell, and we heard of wild increases happening over there. A lot of us thought the cry of “peace and security” was imminent. Different times, indeed. The organization, in many ways, is just a shell of what it was then. Now I know it was all a bunch of crap, but at least it felt like we were really part of something.
The 80's and early 90's were pretty ok as a JW. The assemblies had free hoagies, chips and cheese danishes, and frozen oj. Going in service and stopping at gas stations for drinks and fried chicken, potatoe wedges. The gas station we always stopped at had a street fighter 2 arcade and me and my friends would play against each other. Every Sunday in the summertime, the entire congregation would go the park after meetings and play softball, and all the sisters would bring homemade dishes. It was actually very fun. NONE of any of this exists anymore.
You didn’t have to buy tickets to pay for food? Was it free because your folks bought it for you? Those tickets were such a pain in the ass and a big scam.
I was a kid when they had food tickets. My friend and I would walk around looking for dropped tickets. We found a few and were buzzing with excitement as we cashed them in for a chocolate milk and pudding. Reveling like we had won the lottery, we slugged down our chocolate milk.
That’s awesome. I did the same thing.
I loved playing with the folding tickets during the program and making different shapes out of them. It was like an OG fidget toy.
The heyday for most JW's would be whenever they were young. You don't care about prophecy, talks or anything, it was all about your friends, holidays with large groups of people, in and out of each other houses etc. The heyday for the religion itself would be the 80's & 90's.(Which also coincides with me being young) It started going downhill from the 2,000's. Growth was pitiful, the midweek meeting was dropped, literature was dumbed down and then finally JW. org was launched, the broadcast and the decline was unstoppable.
yes, children with dreams of petting panda bears
'03-'04 was right around the time I was pushed out of the religion, so *definitely* not that time period for me. My best years as a JW came in the late '90s as a preteen. Walking around finding all my friends at conventions held at an NFL stadium, taking goofy notes at the meetings tallying the number of times Brother Whoever used the word, "certainly," as a linguistic crutch... Of course, I think, deep down, I even knew back then that I didn't enjoy being a JW. The politicking I had to do *as a literal child* to have the image everybody expected me to have was appalling, in retrospect.
I think back and it all sucked. I’ve been in 4 congregations and the 2 I liked had elders who were on the kinder side, more open minded people. Both of those have been dissolved. The two that are still around are run by tyrants with ignorant mean people.
As a child in the 90’s and early 00’s. We always had a large friend group, we would go out to eat weekly with our friends, had constant play dates. It was really fun to grow up around.
never. my childhood wasn't miserable the whole time, but that was because i did the best i could with what i had to work with. there was NEVER a time i wanted to be different from everyone else, that i didn't wish I could just celebrate holidays, spend my saturdays watching cartoons, go to normal (worldly) functions, have time with normal (worldly) friends, and live my fuckin' life. the "heyday" for me was when i was seeing the borg in the rearview mirror.
Late 80’s through 90’s. Steady growth. Mostly coherent theology. Growing and cohesive JW culture. Sense of excitement.
Prob the 90s and right after 9/11. In the70-90s ppl in USA were still having 3-4 kids per household , so by the 90s, the halls were usually packed. Now ppl are opting for 0-1 kids and it’s just elderly ppl in attendance. This religion is mostly born-ins. And now ppl aren’t having kids
When there was the bagels and cream cheese and jam and all the other fun food at the conventions. I loved going to those. Loved the dramas. Loved listening to the dramas on tape. Late 80s, early 90s.
Never.
Before I puberty when the world was watched through rose colored glasses. After that, i spiraled into depression, anger, and regret.
Good question! I'm thinking later 1980s to early 2000's .. Then things started to unravel slowly and now it a wipeout .. I still like the message for the most part , and 80% of the witnesses were amazing but the GB have ruined it over the last 15 years ..Like having 9 Pharisees dictating everything... sad .They need to go .
Was baptized in 78 at 19. I surrounded myself with some odd bubbles amongst the JWs. I was always for the underdog and very kind to everyone. I really thought it was a relevant religion until about 85-88. I began to wake up. I didn't know I was waking up. I saw some pretty hypocritical stuff amongst the JWs. I married a nice young sister in 83. Had a child with her in 90. Our daughter was a handful with special needs. We obtained a lot of outside medical opinions much to the dismay of the congregation. My wife and I threw ourselves into raising our daughter as we saw fit. We left the ideas about JW child rearing at the Kingdom Hall and didn't let the Hall door hit us in the ass! We faded for a decade. Finally, a body of elders decided to deal with us and we resigned instead of meeting with them. We raised our daughter, sent her to college where she got medical degrees and is married happily and has a great career. We never looked back. Yeah, the glory years were from 77-about 85.
We've been in sincce the late '70s. It was all good until "the great dumbing down" started...new Bible, reduced total magazine pages/month, no more hardcover books, no more home book study meetings, loss of the original Theoratic Ministry School, WT Study sounding like 4th grade reading retention, etc. I'm not really thrilled with JW Broadcasting, either, but I know it had to happen in this day and age. Some parts of it are better than others.
Late 80s into the 90s it was lots of fun
That’s a 3 year window 😂. I was always getting congregation picnics together, other gatherings, was extroverted, got spartan races with the Hall set up. For me it was always ok but I was making it ok for me and everyone else. In every hall we had abysmal teaching, no shepherding, elder infighting. I was in 7 congregations in 3 languages and it was always the same shit.
2002-2004
My heyday was when I left. 2015 at the district convention I dressed in an aloha shirt (in NJ, not Hawaii), khakis and flip flops with a light beard. Last meeting I was at. Ever. The only time after that that I set foot in a KH was for my FIL's funeral. That was interesting. Anything before that was pretty much same old, same old. Nothing stands out.
1986-1989 still on the cusp of the 21st century, still barely able to believe in 1914, had the UN Year of Peace and the USSR falling, still trying to use 'reasoning'.
Yes, having witnessed this period I confirm all of this, yes, yes, it felt real and I didn't (and couldn't) differentiate between world events and JW theology. It felt like humanity imminently was on the cusp of something big. I still left in 1991, thinking I'd be destroyed in the imminent Armageddon. But at the back of my mind, rating my chances nothing would actually happen.
I remember in the early 2000's just before I left being proud of the austerity of the whole thing. Just before the internet took off in a big way and before the rise of smart phones, it was almost possible to not be exposed to contrary information. When I was a kid and saw televangelists on TV it was so clear to me how weirdly manipulative they were, and clearly couldn't have possibly had god's favor. I was shocked years later to see the rise of JW broadcasting, and the rebranding and discontinuation of most literature in favor the app and website. Especially when they started doing children's programming and it looked like Pixar. Just totally mind blowing to see how radically it's all changed. They really boiled the frog with that one. Back before the governing body were celebrities and public figures, and just some mysterious faces in the Insight book, the whole thing was much realer to me. Now that hundreds of videos of them being weird creepy grandpa's and seeing the men behind the curtain, if I knew what they were like when I was a kid I would have been totally embarrassed to call them my leaders. In the modern media landscape the whole thing is revealed to be such a farce that it pains me that my brother and entire extended family is still deeply PIMI.
The 80's was the cult at the height of its power and control.
I don’t remember a time when the food was free. I remember buying tickets.
80’s and 90’s.
1985-2005 were peak JW before the changes started getting weirder and dumber. The stain of ‘75 was mostly forgotten, as was the Franz debacle. Growth was steady, and the “new light” of Generations was barely noticed by most. Shortly after that, the changes started, Bye bye Book Study meeting, fewer mags, another “new light” understanding of Generations, Go-Kart witnessing, etc.
Definitely the late ‘80s - early / mid-90s. Org was at its height— exciting growth around the world, lots of young families from the non-born-in wave of the early 80s. Still plenty of cash flowing in, so conventions still had the nostalgia-inducing food. By the late 90s, growth in developed countries had essentially stopped, cash flow was clearly becoming an issue, the Internet started to creep in, and the rank-and-file started to sense that as 2000 approached, there was something “off”: - absolutely zero signs of a “great tribulation” starting - no governments attacking false religion - “anointed” had just about all died out
2009 definitely hit different.