Jehovah’s Witnesses To Resume In-Person Meetings At Kingdom Halls

Jehovah’s Witnesses in Ghana and globally will resume in-person meetings at their Kingdom Halls, from April 1, 2022.

This comes after two years of meeting exclusively via video and or telephone conferencing due to the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic.

A statement signed by Mr Daniel A. Adashie, Public Information Desk of the Jehovah’s Witnesses, Ghana Branch, and copied to the Ghana News Agency in Accra, said resumption of the in-person meetings was because of the current low incidents of COVID-19 infections and the wide availability of vaccines.

It said the meetings would be subjected to all Government directives and safety protocols.

The statement said the virtual meetings would be retained as a complement to the in-person meetings wherever possible.

It said, since Monday, March 16, 2020, even before government restrictions were announced to curb the spread of the COVID-19 virus, all in-person meetings of Jehovah’s Witnesses around the country and worldwide were suspended.

The statement said the decision was motivated by respect for life as a gift from God, Jehovah and love of neighbour.

It said Government directives that came later were considered as the minimum requirements and additional measures were added wherever it was needed to protect lives.

‘‘To care for the spiritual needs of over 212,000 of Jehovah’s Witnesses and others around the country who attended meetings each week, all spiritual programmes and public ministry were conducted via video and or telephone conferencing, such as Zoom,’’ it said.

The statement said in the last two years of virtual meetings and preaching ministry, over 220,000 people across the country now joined these virtual meetings with some of the new attendees sharing in the Christian commission of preaching the good news of God’s Kingdom.

It said the opening of the Kingdom Halls for in-person meetings coincided with the delivery of a Special Talk to be given worldwide, titled: “Where Can You Find Real Hope?”

The statement said it would be followed by the Memorial of Christ’s death on the evening of Friday, April 15, 2022.

‘‘Jehovah’s Witnesses invite you to join them at their Kingdom Halls or virtually for these truly faith-building programmes that give real hope for the future and to cope with the many challenges we all face today,’’ it said.