"I think it made them listen even closer," he said. Gomas and his wife and two daughters have all learned Hmong in order to better reach out to members of that community, and residents are often pleasantly surprised to open their doors to fluent speakers of their language. It feels like we've all become more distant and polarized." "We haven't had that close feeling with the community for more than two years now. "When you're out in the community, you have your hand on the pulse," he said. The denomination has cautiously been rebooting other activities: In April it reopened congregations for in-person gatherings, and in June it resumed public ministry where members set up carts in locations such as subway stations and hand out literature.īut getting back to door-knocking, considered not just a core belief but also an effective ministry, is a big step toward "a return to normal," Hendriks said.Īmong those eager to pound the pavement again was Jonathan Gomas of Milwaukee, who started door-knocking with his parents when he was "big enough to ring a doorbell." Dan Sideris said he had been apprehensive about evangelizing in person in "a changed world," but the experience erased any traces of doubt. "It's going to take an additional level of courage," Hendriks said.ĭan Sideris, center, talks with a resident on a front porch Thursday accompanied by his wife, Carrie Sideris, as the couple returns to door-to-door visits as Jehovah's Witnesses in Boston. In 2022 that's even more the case, and evangelizers are being advised to be mindful that lives and attitudes have changed. "We go to everyone and let them choose whether they want to hear us or not."Įven in pre-pandemic times, door-knocking ministry came with anxiety because Witnesses never knew how they would be received at any given home. "To us, going door to door is an expression of our God's impartiality," he said. Witnesses continued their ministry by writing letters and making phone calls, but it wasn't the same because it lacked a personal touch, said Robert Hendriks, national spokesperson for the denomination. The organization also ended all public meetings at its 13,000 congregations nationwide and canceled 5,600 annual gatherings worldwide - an unprecedented move not taken even during the Spanish Flu pandemic in 1918, which killed 50 million people worldwide. Jehovah's Witnesses suspended door-knocking in the early days of the pandemic's onset in the United States, just as much of the rest of society went into lockdown too. "When I rang the first doorbell this morning, a total calm came over me. "I've been looking forward to this day," she said. "We try to engage with people about what's in their heart, and what we say comes from our hearts." "It all came back quite naturally because we don't have a canned speech," he said. In the Jamaica Plain neighborhood on the south side of Boston, Dan and Carrie Sideris spent a balmy morning walking around knocking on doors and ringing bells. Jehovah's Witnesses have restarted their door-to-door ministry after more than two and a half years on hiatus due to the coronavirus pandemic, reviving a religious practice that the faith considers crucial and cherished.įrom coast to coast, members of the Christian denomination fanned out in cities and towns Thursday to share literature and converse about God for the first time since March 2020. After more than two and a half years on hiatus due to the coronavirus pandemic, members are reviving a religious practice that the faith considers crucial and cherished. Dan Sideris is reflected in a front storm door Thursday as he and his wife, Carrie Sideris, of Newton, Mass., return to door-to-door visits as Jehovah's Witnesses in Boston.
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