The church requires its 8 million followers to actively spread the good news about God and Armageddon – and they say that loitering in shopping centers, stations and parks is the way to find new believers..
They take up position outside train and underground stations in all weather, smartly dressed, courteous and smiling. They are sometimes called God-botherers or Bible-bashers – but this army of polite, freshly-laundered missionaries neither bother nor bash. They may stretch out a hand to offer a pamphlet to commuters streaming past, but they rarely accost anyone.
In fact, on the rare occasions when a passer-by does show interest, the proselytisers seem faintly surprised. “Could I have one of your pamphlets,” I ask a young woman outside a London railway station. “Of course,” she replies – but I have to make a further request for a second title, and at no point does she try to engage me in conversation.
Jehovah’s Witnesses – for indeed, it is they – are stepping up their presence in city centres across the UK in an effort to attract converts to a church that claims more than 8 million adherents worldwide. Best known for door-to-door evangelism and persistent attempts to engage householders in conversation about God, Witnesses are increasingly to be found in shopping centres, stations, parks and squares in at least 13 cities in England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland. In London, more than 1,000 people regularly participate in “public witnessing”, handing out 6,000 brochures, 20,000 books and 100,000 magazines each month. In other cities, the number of volunteers averages around 200. MORE