United in Faith Worldwide!

Breaking a century-old tradition, the largest convention organization in the
world has moved its annual in-person event to a virtual format for
the second time in as many years, canceling nearly 6,000
conventions in 240 lands.

For 14 consecutive years, the summers in Bloomington,
Illinois, featured thousands of Jehovah’s Witnesses streaming into the
city to take over hotels and fill restaurants as they held their
conventions at the Grossinger Motors Arena.

In 2020, the pandemic unexpectedly interrupted that tradition,
moving the international religious organization to cancel in-person
conventions throughout the world and launch a global virtual event. This
was a first for Jehovah’s Witnesses, who have held public conventions in
stadiums, arenas, convention centers, and theaters around the world since
1897.

The Grossinger Motors Arena has been home to the Jehovah’s
Witnesses’ conventions since it was first built in 2006. Each summer, two
to four conventions were held at the facility, each with an average of
4,000 attendees, and a record peak of 8,000.

The economic boost to Bloomington from the conventions has been
tremendous, bringing in an estimated $116 million since 2006. “They really
appreciate our business, but not only our business — they appreciate the
quality of the people we're bringing into the city. We're law abiding,
we're honest, we're friendly, we create no issues, and they appreciate us very
much,” said Jon Feeny, a convention planner in Bloomington.

The Grossinger Motors Arena in Bloomington, Illinois, has hosted
conventions of Jehovah’s Witnesses every summer for over a
decade Rodney Hodge Sr., a fellow convention organizer from Springfield,
Illinois, elaborated: “When welcome into a facility, we will actually clean
that facility before we use it because it's our place of worship for the
event. And when we finish the convention, we'll leave that convention center
in as-clean or cleaner condition than how we found it.”

Each convention Hodge attended left him impressed by the unity
of the attendees. “Here you have a group of people from all nationalities
that truly demonstrate love for one another … just getting along, paying
attention to the program, being educated. And when you meet people for the
first time, it's like you've known them forever.”

“Powerful by Faith!” is the theme of the 2021 global event,
which will be delivered in more than 500 languages to households
throughout the globe over six weekends during July and August 2021,
uniting some 15-20 million people in 240 countries. Since the convention is
typically held from Friday through Sunday, the program will be available
in six installments corresponding to morning and afternoon
sessions. “Friday” morning’s session will be available for streaming
or download beginning June 28, 2021.

The planning and translation of a program of this magnitude
takes months of effort. With the uncertainty of whether it would be safe
to bring thousands of people together in cities around the world, the
organization opted for a virtual platform for the second consecutive year.

However, the move has not curbed the enthusiasm for the annual
event. Congregations around the world are inviting the public to join them
in this historic occasion.

“Faith has helped our global brotherhood to continue to thrive
even during a pandemic,” said Robert Hendriks, U.S. spokesman for
Jehovah’s Witnesses. “Our faith will continue to unite us in worship—even
virtually—as millions gather in private homes around the world to enjoy
a powerful and inspiring spiritual program.”

Jules Purvis of Peoria, Illinois, has been planning conventions
for over 50 years. Even though he will miss organizing an in-person
convention in Bloomington again this year, he stated how much he enjoyed
the virtual program last year and that he is eagerly anticipating this
year’s program as well. “The nice part of that is if you miss something,
you can back your video up. You can get great notes. The speakers were
just absolutely wonderful.”

All are invited to attend the event by going to jw.org on the
web or JW Broadcasting on the free JW Library app available for iOS or
Android, or on streaming platforms like ROKU TV, Apple TV, and others. The
program is free and accessible to all. The schedule for download and
global streaming is listed below.

For more information, please contact Jehovah’s Witnesses United
States at (718) 560-5600 or pid@jw.org

Please click here
to view a short video recap of our local assembly history: Jehovah's Witnesses Convention VNR
- Bloomington IL from JW PCR-4 on Vimeo