Just as knowing why a person stopped being a Jehovah’s Witness can be helpful to you in getting through to them with the real gospel, so knowing how they left the Watchtower can help you understand their spiritual journey and current spiritual needs.

There are a number of different methods by which Jehovah’s Witnesses leave the Watchtower religion.

  1. By letter of disassociation given to the elders.

 This method is similar to a letter of resignation from a job.

Some such letters are short and to the point: “Dear Brothers, I no longer want to be considered one of Jehovah’s Witnesses. Sincerely yours…”

Some disassociation letters are much longer. The departing Witness writes a long letter detailing all of his reasons for leaving. Often the elders don’t read the reasons because they consider them to be based on satanic deceptions. All they care about is the statement that the person is leaving the Watchtower religion.

Some departing Witnesses send detailed explanations to Witness friends in the hope that they too will acknowledge the problems and leave the Watchtower religion themselves. Needless to say, this is frowned upon by the elders and by many—if not most—of the recipients.

  1. By terminating Witness meetings and witnessing cold turkey.

With this approach, the departing Witness stops all Watchtower activities abruptly.

This method is relatively rare, because it practically invites the elders to seek to have an unpleasant meeting with them where they will be asked for an explanation and their reasoning will be challenged.

The “cold turkey” departure is sometimes employed with less conflict when the departing Witness moves outside the territory of the congregation. They simply avoid all Watchtower activity in their new location and hope they will simply drop off the organization’s radar.

  1. By “fading.”

This method doesn’t involve an abrupt departure.

Rather, the departing Witness gradually has less and less involvement in the religion. They start by missing a few meetings and witnessing activities here and there. As time goes on, they miss more and more.

If the elders or other Witnesses ask why they are missing meetings and witnessing opportunities, people who are fading often give several explanations:

  • Illness
  • Stress
  • Increased work responsibilities
  • Increased family responsibilities
  • Unspecified “personal issues” they need time to work through
  1. By behavior the elders will deem disassociation.

 This might include things like joining another religious organization or even just attending one or more of its meetings.

It might involve engaging in activities which the Watchtower forbids such as openly celebrating holidays or participating in political campaigns.

One Witness couple I know left simply by putting up a Christmas tree (the Watchtower forbids participation in holiday celebrations).

  1. By getting disfellowshipped.

Disfellowshipping is the Watchtower version of excommunication, imposed due to things Watchtower considers to be serious misconduct.

A hearing is held by a 3-person “judicial committee” of elders and a formal decision is made.

Most Witnesses who are disfellowshipped undergo this discipline involuntarily, much as a criminal defendant is brought before a judge and punished.

Some Witnesses who have decided to leave actually invite disfellowshipping by their conduct. It’s a way of cutting ties with the religion completely without having to give excuses or explanations.

What happens when they depart

 When a person stops being a Jehovah’s Witness (whether voluntarily or involuntarily), a brief announcement is made at their Kingdom Hall: “Joe Bloggs is no longer one of Jehovah’s Witnesses.”

The congregation isn’t officially told why this happened, but the word is generally passed along through the rumor mill.

From that time forward, the departing Witness is to be shunned. That means that active Jehovah’s Witnesses will not acknowledge them. They will treat them as if they have died, even to the point of walking past them and pretending they aren’t there.

Exceptions are made for contact required by jobs or by family necessity.

“Family necessity” can be broadly or narrowly defined. For example, there are a number of ex-Witnesses who were never informed by their families that a loved one (even a parent or a child) had died.

Most departures from the Watchtower are followed by “shepherding calls” from the elders to see what is wrong and to try to win the departing Witnesses back.

Disfellowshipped Witnesses often don’t receive such calls because they have already gone before the judicial committee. But even in those situations, elders may contact them periodically to try to persuade them to repent and seek reinstatement.

Leaving the Watchtower is often a very traumatic experience for a Witness, even when it is voluntary. The pressures and changes of leaving frequently cause Witnesses to stay in the organization even when they no longer believe its doctrines.

We will discuss the various combinations of mental leaving and physical leaving in the next set of posts.

 

 

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