When was the church of Jehovah's Witnesses established?
History of Jehovah's Witnesses
Jehovah's Witnesses originated as a branch of the Bible Student movement, which developed in the United States in the 1870s among followers of Christian Restorationist minister Charles Taze Russell. Bible Student missionaries were sent to England in 1881 and the first overseas branch was opened in London in 1900. The group took on the name International Bible Students Association and by 1914 it was also active in Canada, Germany, Australia and other countries.[1] The movement split into several rival organizations after Russell's death in 1916, with one—led by Russell's successor, Joseph "Judge" Rutherford—retaining control of both his magazine, The Watch Tower, and his legal and publishing corporation, the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania.
Jehovah's Witnesses
For 2018, Jehovah's Witnesses reported approximately 8.58 million "publishers"—the term they use for members actively involved in preaching—in about 120,000 congregations. For the same year, they reported over 2 billion hours spent in preaching activity, and conducted Bible studies with more than 10 million individuals (including those conducted by Witness parents with their children). Jehovah's Witnesses estimate their worldwide annual growth since 2016 to be 1.4%.