Wikipedia:WikiProject Jehovah's Witnesses

Welcome to the WikiProject Jehovah's Witnesses! The project helps editors working on Jehovah's Witnesses-related articles by providing a repository of information and resources, and providing a place for discussions that affect more than one article.

Key goals

 * To make the Wikipedia articles about Jehovah's Witnesses the most comprehensive and highest quality on the web.
 * To establish some guidelines to allow uniformity across articles about Jehovah's Witnesses.
 * To improve the main Jehovah's Witnesses article to featured article quality.

How to help

 * 1) Put your name in the alphabetical Participants list.
 * 2) Read the editing guidelines.
 * 3) Help with the open tasks.
 * 4) Help ensure that the more essential content relating to the Jehovah's Witnesses is at high quality. A list of topics related to the Jehovah's Witnesses which are to be found in other reference works, presumably indicating they are among the most important topics related to the JW's, can be found at WikiProject Jehovah's Witnesses/Prospectus.

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Good articles

 * Jehovah's Witnesses

Version 1.0 Editorial Team selections

 * Jehovah's Witnesses

Editing guidelines
When describing teachings of Jehovah's Witnesses that may be controversial, it is preferable to state that the Watch Tower Society teaches... or Jehovah's Witnesses are taught... rather than Jehovah's Witnesses believe..., unless a secondary source can be provided that indicates that the specific teaching is broadly accepted by members. For uncontroversial beliefs, it may be acceptable to use either phrase.

Cite sources
All Wikipedia articles should cite sources to allow for verification. A third party must be able to check the source and ensure the statement is correct. Statements about what Jehovah's Witnesses believe may cite Watch Tower Society publications, but should ideally be supported by secondary sources, particularly if controversial. Statements about practices could cite Watch Tower Society publications, media reports and other publications. Wikipedians' own first-hand knowledge or personal experiences are not eligible sources. Use the newest available reference when stating what Jehovah's Witnesses currently believe.

Use a footnote to quote the source when explaining Jehovah's Witness teachings to allow for immediate verification by readers and editors, by using and tags.


 * This is an example of a whole document in wiki format.
 * ==References==

Do not use the Watch Tower Society's reference format (e.g. g 5/10 pp. 24-25). Using Wikipedia's reference style enables non-Jehovah's Witnesses to interpret the references and maintains consistency across Wikipedia articles. If known, give full reference including title, author, and ISBN. Citation templates can be used so that references are presented in a consistent fashion. For the periodicals, The Watchtower and Awake!, use the cite magazine template. For example:
 * Jehovah's Witnesses believe that God has always dealt with his people as an organized group, and that he continues to do so today.
 * References
 * "Should You Belong to a Church?. The Watchtower. June 1, 2004. pp. 3–4. ISSN 2325-5838. "These examples clearly show that in the past God has always dealt with his people as an organized group. The few individuals with whom God had dealings personally—Noah, Moses, Jesus, and others—were, in fact, used by Him to communicate with a closely associated group. There is no reason to believe that God deals any differently with his servants today."
 * "Should You Belong to a Church?. The Watchtower. June 1, 2004. pp. 3–4. ISSN 2325-5838. "These examples clearly show that in the past God has always dealt with his people as an organized group. The few individuals with whom God had dealings personally—Noah, Moses, Jesus, and others—were, in fact, used by Him to communicate with a closely associated group. There is no reason to believe that God deals any differently with his servants today."

This can be rendered using the cite magazine template as follows:

Use of scriptures
Do not cite supporting scriptures when explaining doctrines or practices. Instead, cite a publication that provides the Watch Tower Society's interpretation of the verse. Do not write like this:
 * Jehovah's Witnesses believe that Christians are required to 'speak in agreement'. (1 Corinthians 1:10)

Instead, write like this:
 * Jehovah's Witnesses believe that Christians are required to obey the command at 1 Corinthians 1:10 to "speak in agreement".

Watchtower Society versus Governing Body
When referring to the leadership of Jehovah's Witnesses or those that set policy or doctrine, do not use the terms "the Watchtower Society" or "the Society". Refer specifically to the Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses, or the Governing Body if the context is already clear.

Watchtower Society versus Watch Tower Society
The Watch Tower Society is a corporation incorporated in Pennsylvania that oversees the activities of subsidiary corporations used by Jehovah's Witnesses worldwide. The Watchtower Society is a New York based corporation responsible for administrative functions primarily within the United States. When referring to the Watch Tower Society or the Watchtower Society, take note of how the terms should be used.

Watch Tower Society should be used when referring to evangelical functions, including:
 * Donations to the Watch Tower Society (insurance policies, bank accounts, stocks & bonds, real estate, wills, trusts.) Note however that the Watch Tower Society instructs that annuities be directed to the Watchtower Society
 * Branch Offices
 * Construction work
 * Teaching programs
 * Writing of literature
 * Organizing conventions, including renting of facilities
 * Operation of Watch Tower Society facilities

Watchtower Society should be used when referring to administrative functions, including:
 * Assets (including facilities and real estate) owned by the Watchtower Society
 * The Watchtower Society's legal department
 * International corporations overseen by the Watchtower Society
 * Hosting Gilead/Missionary Schools
 * Production and shipping of literature

When referring to the following, context determines which should be used:
 * Headquarters
 * President (or secretary, etc.)

Regarding publications of Jehovah's Witnesses, though there is some variation (mostly in first-person accounts):
 * Literature published prior to 1986 is "published by the Watch Tower [Bible and Tract] Society [of New York]"
 * Literature published from 1986 to 2000 is "published by the Watchtower [Bible and Tract] Society [of New York]"
 * Literature since 2001 is "published by Jehovah's Witnesses"

Readability for non-Jehovah's Witnesses
Wikipedia articles are for the general public, and as such, the articles about Jehovah's Witnesses should not require familiarity with Jehovah's Witnesses, the Bible or Christian beliefs. Avoid phrases that are unique to Jehovah's Witnesses that haven't been defined within the article. Generally avoid colloquialisms unique to Jehovah's Witnesses unless quoting directly from a source.

Referring to Jehovah's Witnesses
It is common for Jehovah's Witness adherents to refer to the name "Jehovah's Witnesses" with the intended meaning that the term describes people who are literally witnesses of (or for) Jehovah. However, to maintain a neutral tone, articles should use the terms "Jehovah's Witness" and "Jehovah's Witnesses" as proper nouns (consistent with the manner in which the name of the denomination is generally registered officially) rather than a simple possessive (except when directly quoting cited text): When referring to the denomination as a whole, Jehovah's Witnesses is a singular proper noun (in the same manner as any other organisation or product name containing a plural form):
 * Jane is one of Jehovah's Witnesses
 * John and Jane are Witnesses of Jehovah
 * John and Jane are members of Jehovah's Witnesses
 * According to the Watch Tower Society, "Jehovah's Witnesses are Witnesses for Jehovah"


 * Jehovah's Witnesses is a religious denomination (the verb is agrees with the singular proper noun Jehovah's Witnesses and the singular noun denomination)
 * Jehovah's Witnesses are a religious denomination (the verb are disagrees with the singular noun denomination)

When referring to members of the denomination, Jehovah's Witness is singular and Jehovah's Witnesses is plural:
 * Jane is a Jehovah's Witness
 * John and Jane are Jehovah's Witnesses

Where it is unclear whether the entire denomination or a group of members is indicated, it is generally preferable to use the plural form: Members should not be referred to using the informal term "a Jehovah":
 * Jehovah's Witnesses are holding a convention


 * Jane is a Jehovah
 * the Jehovahs are holding a convention

Wikilinks


When wikilinking a generic term, JW-related articles should link to the article about the generic term rather than JW-specific terms. For example, "hymns" should be linked to hymn, not Kingdom songs. Where it may be helpful to link to the JW-specific term, rephrase to include a link to both terms, e.g.:
 * Meetings of Jehovah's Witnesses are opened with the singing of hymns, which they refer to as Kingdom songs.

Contradictions
Editors should not attempt to reconcile contradictory statements in Watch Tower Society publications, as this is original research. Simply state both statements, and allow the reader to determine how to reconcile them. For example:
 * Jehovah's Witnesses publications vary on who will survive Armageddon. While The Watchtower has often stated that Jehovah's Witnesses cannot speculate on who will survive Armageddon[1][2], it has also indicated that ...[3][4].

Navboxes
A vertical 'Part of a series...' template can be added to JW-related articles using the Jehovah's Witnesses template.

Alternatively, a horizontal navbox can be included using the Jehovah's Witnesses navbox template. This template should be used where the article is too short to justify the vertical template, or if other layout issues make the vertical template impractical. The horizontal template may also be used where the article is only of secondary importance to Jehovah's Witnesses.

Talk page notice
Please tag the Talk pages of articles which are about Jehovah's Witnesses with the template, which expands to the following:

Stub
Please tag JW-related stubs with JehovahsWitnesses-stub to help monitor them.

Categories

 * (Category:Bible Student movement)
 * Category:Jehovah's Witnesses
 * Category:Beliefs and practices of Jehovah's Witnesses
 * Category:Criticism of Jehovah's Witnesses
 * Category:Jehovah's Witnesses literature
 * Category:Jehovah's Witnesses litigation
 * Category:Organizational structure of Jehovah's Witnesses
 * Category:Jehovah's Witnesses people
 * Category:Jehovah's Witnesses stubs

For the full category list, see WikiProject Jehovah's Witnesses/Categories

Articles related to Jehovah's Witnesses

 * Jehovah's Witnesses


 * About Jehovah's Witnesses
 * History of Jehovah's Witnesses
 * Beth Sarim
 * Jehovah's Witnesses splinter groups
 * Watch Tower Society presidency dispute of 1917
 * Jehovah's Witnesses beliefs
 * Development of Jehovah's Witnesses doctrine
 * Eschatology of Jehovah's Witnesses
 * Faithful and discreet slave
 * Jehovah's Witnesses and blood transfusions
 * Jehovah's Witnesses and congregational discipline
 * Jehovah's Witnesses and salvation
 * Jehovah's Witnesses and the United Nations
 * Unfulfilled Watch Tower Society predictions
 * Jehovah's Witnesses practices
 * Organizational structure of Jehovah's Witnesses
 * Corporations of Jehovah's Witnesses
 * Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania
 * Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses
 * Demographics of Jehovah's Witnesses
 * Jehovah's Witnesses by country
 * Jehovah's Witnesses Association of Romania
 * Criticism of Jehovah's Witnesses


 * Jehovah
 * Tetragrammaton
 * Tetragrammaton in the New Testament


 * Literature of Jehovah's Witnesses
 * List of Watch Tower Society publications
 * Jehovah's Witnesses publications
 * Articles about publications
 * Awake!
 * New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures
 * The Watchtower
 * Articles on people related to Jehovah's Witnesses
 * Members
 * Don Alden Adams
 * Frederick William Franz
 * Rolf Furuli
 * Milton George Henschel
 * Nathan Homer Knorr
 * Alexander Hugh Macmillan
 * Joseph Franklin Rutherford
 * Bible Students
 * Charles Taze Russell
 * William Henry Conley
 * Ex-members and critics
 * Raymond Franz
 * Olin R. Moyle


 * JW-focused articles
 * Jehovah's Witnesses and child sex abuse
 * Jehovah's Witnesses and governments
 * Supreme Court cases involving Jehovah's Witnesses by country
 * Adelaide Company of Jehovah's Witnesses v Commonwealth
 * Minersville School District v. Gobitis
 * Watchtower Society v. Village of Stratton
 * Kingdom Hall
 * Kingdom songs
 * Persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses
 * Persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses in the United States
 * Persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses in Canada
 * Persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses in Nazi Germany
 * Purple triangle
 * Declaration of Facts
 * Watchtower Bible School of Gilead

Articles referring to Jehovah's Witnesses

 * Articles with sections on Jehovah's Witnesses
 * 144000 (number)
 * Bible Student movement
 * Christian cross
 * Elder (Christianity)
 * Excommunication
 * Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment
 * Holy Spirit
 * Jehonadab
 * New Jerusalem
 * Prophecy of Seventy Weeks
 * Restorationism (Christian primitivism)
 * Shunning
 * Unfulfilled Christian religious predictions
 * Whore of Babylon
 * Articles with references to Jehovah's Witnesses
 * Allegheny, Pennsylvania
 * Bloodless surgery
 * Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire
 * Dispute about Jesus' execution method
 * Forced settlements in the Soviet Union
 * Freedom of religion in Germany
 * Human rights in Turkmenistan
 * Laymen's Home Missionary Movement
 * List of Christian denominations by number of members
 * Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp
 * Nazi concentration camp badges
 * Padlock Law
 * Studies in the Scriptures
 * Ten Commandments
 * Tetragrammaton in the New Testament

Deleted articles
An article alerts page for this WikiProject was created in September 2017. Refer to WikiProject Jehovah's Witnesses/Article alerts (and its History page) for more recent information. The list below indicates articles deleted prior to the creation of the Alerts page, or that were not captured there for other reasons.


 * Anthony Morris III&mdash;(see Articles for deletion/Geoffrey W. Jackson) - article about Governing Body member&mdash;redirected to Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses.
 * Jehovah's Witnesses in Mozambique&mdash;Articles for deletion/Jehovah's Witnesses in Mozambique - nationality-based article based on primary sources and original research (a Word document uploaded in cloud storage)&mdash;redirected to Religion in Mozambique.
 * Jehovah's Witnesses teaching programs&mdash;Articles for deletion/Jehovah's Witnesses teaching programs - article about in-house teaching programs with little notability outside the group.
 * Kingdom Hall (disambiguation)&mdash;Articles for deletion/Kingdom Hall (disambiguation) - orphaned disambiguation page.
 * Man's Search for God&mdash;Articles for deletion/Man's Search for God - badly titled article about non-notable publication.
 * Multilanguage Electronic Publishing System&mdash;Articles for deletion/Multilanguage Electronic Publishing System - article about internal proprietary system supported only by primary sources.
 * Robert Ciranko&mdash;Articles for deletion/Robert Ciranko - article about a Watch Tower Society president lacking suitable coverage in secondary sources.
 * Wikipedia:WikiProject Jehovah's Witnesses/Links: jw-media.org to jw.org&mdash;Wikipedia:Miscellany for deletion/Wikipedia:WikiProject Jehovah's Witnesses/Links: jw-media.org to jw.org - stale page for cleanup of links to jw-media.org website, apparently abandoned by subpage creator.
 * Wikipedia:WikiProject Jehovah's Witnesses/Links: watchtower.org to jw.org&mdash;Wikipedia:Miscellany for deletion/Wikipedia:WikiProject Jehovah's Witnesses/Links: watchtower.org to jw.org - stale page for cleanup of links to watchtower.org website, apparently abandoned by subpage creator.

Members
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