Is there a day of the week typical for services for Watchtower (Jehov Wit) & do they solicit $ from elderly...?

When we lived in the city we had visits from them at least 2 times a month. We never accepted their Watch Tower pamphlets and did not discuss religion with them. I knew a woman at work whose husband divorced her because she refused to let their son have a blood transfusion when he was badly injured. The hubby signed for his son as he was not a Jehovah Witness. This woman became very unpopular at work. No one wanted to have anything to do with her even though she kept trying to explain her beliefs and why she would not or could not sign those life saving papers for her son. Not only that, the court gave full custody of both their children to the father. Was the court bias? Maybe. I left not long after all this for another job, but was turned against the JW's simply because I was a young mother who would do anything to help her children live. Poppy

There are 7 million Jehovah's Witnesses worldwide and most people know we do NOT solicit for money or target the elderly for money.

We are a charitable organisation and accept VOLUNTARY contributions from anyone that wishes to offer them but never pressure people for money. Most anecdotal evidence from people that have had contact with Jehovah's Witnesses will affirm this. Even those that intensely hate Jehovah's Witnesses rarely if ever evoke pressuring for money as one of their "reasons".

The Jehovah's Witnesses organisation has never been found guilty of any financial scandal. You can bet your bottom dollar (no pun intended) that if we WERE associated with this kind of misconduct it would be splashed all over the internet before you could say "hide your wallet".

Regarding the nurse, as one of Jehovah's Witnesses I very much doubt that she was one of Jehovha's Witnesses. There have been a few cases of people POSING as JWs in order to gain entry to a person's home so I would point out that Witnesses carry (at least here in Europe where I live) a card identifying them with the local congregation (church). If in any doubt you can contact the local Kingdom Hall (church) to check the visitors are genuine Witnesses.

We do not ask for any percentage (10%) from our members (known as tithing). All our literature is given free of charge and home bible studies (home discussions) are also done without any charge whatsoever.

Our weekend services are usually conducted on a Sunday but some congregations do have Saturday meetings. We don't observe a weekly "sabbath" on a Saturday. There are no collection plates passed around during our services. Each individual congregation cares for their own expenses Jehovah's Witnesses never ask for outside help to pay for our local charges (gravel, electricity bill, etc).

That is terrible. People who do that should be visited by some big hungry dogs with an attitude problem. In this kind of case, I do not mind being a little vicious.

Jehovah's Witnesses do not charge for any part of our ministry. We have jobs and work to finance our own way in life and in the ministry. We obey Jesus at Matthew 10:8. Notice how much he said to charge for the powerful things they were to do. "Cure sick people, raise up dead persons, make lepers clean, expel demons. YOU received free, give free. "

We do not charge for visits, return visits, free home Bible studies, literature, etc. All our work is done by voluntary contributions. We do not ever pass any collection plate or bucket [I have seen on TV where TV preachers use buckets to pass instead of flat plates.] at any of our meetings or conventions. If someone wants to donate something for the literature we give for free, we will accept a SMALL donation. We have never set a bottom amount to accept and it is not a requirement to give anything.

We have a couple of contribution boxes set up in the back of each Kingdom Hall. No one knows who donates what or how much. Some are not able to give anything which is totally fine. No one will know anyway. This is the same way things are done at our conventions.

So I hope I have cleared that up for you.

I am Jehovah's Witness, and we do not solicit for funds from the people we visit. We are to care for spiritual needs or if the person has other problems we can help them with. If a brother or sister was getting huge amounts of money from this person, you could talk to any elder to have the problem stopped, or at least looked into to allay your fears. We are not all perfect but as a group believe in caring for the least. Taking this persons money is not being loving. Please talk to any elder just to get to the bottom of this. Thanks

also, if we need building material (gravel?) we get loans from our headquarters, we do not solicit members or anyone else

edit: Poppy is misinformed about transfusions - we take safe non-blood transfusions that are far safer, do not contain diseases or pathogens, is not dirty. They are called volume extenders and if a hospital does not offer this, they are behind the times, or as I have also seen a doctor pushing his own religious agenda just because the person is a Witness. Been there, seen that, it is disheartening and hurtful in this day and age.

That young mother was trying to save her sons life.

fireball does not know what she is talking about. we never ever ask for money that is soliciting. and we do not go after elderly people. if someone wants to give us money for the books or watchtower. we knock on everyone's door as we are commanded from Jesus Christ our leader at Matthew 28 verses 19 and 20

We do not tithe a percentage - 10% or any percent.

We do not pass a collection plate - I have been going to Kingdom Halls since 1952 and I have NEVER seen a collection plate in or near a Kingdom Hall.

The USA government requires for tax purposes that if anyone gives more than $250 in ANY ONE DAY to have a signed receipt issued from the congregation. An announcement to that effect is made at EACH of our conventions and is public knowledge at our local meetings.

So if there were LARGE donations coming in, this would be questioned so the letter of the law could be met. Even large checks are covered under this requirement.

We typically meet for Bible study on Sundays. But some congregations have so much growth that out of necessity they meet for their Bible study sessions on Saturdays. This is rare, and calling the local Kingdom Hall can verify if this is the case in your immediate area.

When I call on people at their homes, I do not make it a practice to even mention the donation arrangement, but rather choose to give my personal donation for the electric/water/operating expenses.

Any funds offered by advance Bible students is given directly to the Kingdom Hall for the world wide educational work. These would typically be in the $5 or $10 range.

Does he regularly have such large amounts of money at his home to give to others? Or do others have his bank account information? Is he writing this in the form of checks? Could it be checked to see who the checks are going to? If he has cash at home, who is getting this for him? Is he getting such large amounts on a monthly basis that he does not need this for living expenses? Does he have a lawyer or an accountant to follow up with? Does the nurse work for an agency? Or is she self employed?

I would begin to check some of these factors.

I am one of Jehovah's Witnesses. We do not solicit people that we visit ever. Sometimes I have seen my brothers asking for a small donation and have never received more than five dollars. Basically, it goes to the worldwide work and covers the costs of magazines. If someone is soliciting funds from this person, that to me is abuse of the elderly. What I would do is contact and elder at your nearest Kingdom Hall to talk to him about this. They may be able to help you and they would certainly be glad you contacted them about this.

I've been visited many times by the Jehovah's Witnesses in my area and i am always very pleased to talk with them because I think they are very admirable people--anyway more admirable than most religious people that I have been acquainted with. I always make it clear to them that I do not share all of their beliefs by any means, but they do not seem to mind that. Among the secular reasons that I appreciate their work: The way they are historically known for courageously standing up against Hitler's Nazi regime when many other religious people did not. Also their successful legal fight to secure the right of any person in the U.S. to refuse an unwanted blood transfusion (a good right to have for more than simply religious reasons). And their successful legal fight to permit any person, not merely the Witnesses, to proselytize their religious views.

The Witnesses have never asked me for money. Of course, like any religious organization, they require donations to do their work, but in my experience they do not press people for money in an aggressive way.

They worship on Sundays, not Saturdays. So there goes your theory about the nurse.

Jehovah's Witnesses do not solicit or ask for money. Ever since I became a JW noone approach me personally and ask for money. YOu can confirm it with other JWs/congregations near your area. We donate freely. We are not compelled to make a contribution. Besides, our elders do not visit a single house over and over again unless someone is sick and needs to be encourage spiritually. I am not saying you are lyng, but it's just very uncharacteristic to JWs. I have friends inside our congregation who are elders. I guarantee you, we do not solicit money.

There is no "typical day" for solicitations and I am sorry to hear about the senior who seems to be very gullible. They will make repeated requests for donations which is what a lot of fund raisers do. If the senior is your dad, you might consider seeing a lawyer to have a court declare him incompetent, but the fight can be very nasty and expensive. Or you could find a way for him to give you "Power of Attorney" and you would then have the ability to move funds out of his control (but he could always take it away from you). I do not consider the JWs to be true Christians bc in all of their long pamphlets, they do not stress or even mention the only way to salvation-- acceptance of Jesus as one's personal savior. I also cannot fathom how they would let a family member bleed to death bc some church elder told them not to allow legitimate blood transfusions. Ppl dying of incurable disease is one thing. Allowing someone to die when the cure is in the same bldg is another. Yes, there is freedom of religion which also gives me the freedom to say that the JWs are full of it.

Seventh Day Adventists are a denomination that go to church on Saturdays.