Today’s shooting at LDS church was right beside Kingdom Hall

[Brandon]

8 hours ago, booboo said:

just plugged in our congregation

There is currently no way to search for your cong’s assembly. It will simply show you the very next assembly(ies) according to your location and language. 

[Ishaya]

On 9/29/2025 at 1:46 PM, booboo said:

Our Kingdom Hall sits between two churches!  

 

I really feel that our organization should consider selling that property and getting another place that is more distinct.

 

What if you invite someone to the KH and they end up going to the churches close to the KH instead.

I can only imagine how challenging it will be for the brothers to look different from the other churches so close by.

[JBee]

11 minutes ago, Ishaya said:

 

I really feel that our organization should consider selling that property and getting another place that is more distinct.

 

What if you invite someone to the KH and they end up going to the churches close to the KH instead.

I can only imagine how challenging it will be for the brothers to look different from the other churches so close by.

It's very common in North America to be near other churches, due to zoning regulations like mentioned before. Less so where I live, but still common enough.

Our Hall shares a fence with a Reformed Church and there's a United Church across the street.

We are definitely distinguished by our lack of a cross on the front and LDS churches tend to have a very large pole/stake in front of their churches, they are even called stake centres, so they stand out.

[just1-4all]

Interesting the United Nations nor the United States have standardized definitions for "mass shootings"? My goodness! One would think that would be helpful to assess trends and roots of the problem to an individual level. 

 

 

[just1-4all]

I posed that question to AI because we so often hear in the news after tragedies like this: 'It's a mental health issue ... we need more mental health resources'

 

Experts don't actually go so as saying it is just a mental health issue, but it lumps in all who've ever sought professional health for depression/anxiety, etc. as if they are violent raving mad lunatics.

 

We know the world is desperately spiritually sick—far more than crazy or mad—when we see these things happening. People are at least primed for answers when they keep hearing: 'Our thoughts and prayers are with the family' and 'need more mental health' resources.

[booboo]

49 minutes ago, Ishaya said:

What if you invite someone to the KH and they end up going to the churches close to the KH instead

We have a big sign out front that says Kingdom Hall of Jehovahs Witnesses. If they are sheep they will arrive .  😛

PS. The Kingdom Hall has been in this location since the mid 80’s. 

[Qapla]

1 hour ago, Ishaya said:

I really feel that our organization should consider selling that property and getting another place that is more distinct.

 

As others have mentioned, due to many reasons, it is not practical in the US for a KH to always be "by itself" or even to choose its neighbors.

 

Let's say this KH is sold and a new one is built on a road street has no other buildings on it, just vacant lots. Then, After the new KH is built, other churches buy the neighboring properties and build churches. Do we sell and build elsewhere again? Do we do this every time a church builds next to a KH?

 

It would not be a wise use of dedicated funds to relocate every KH in the world that gets a church built next to it.

 

Let's trust in Jehovah that His sheep will find the KH even if it is surrounded by other churches.

 

 

Now, back to discussing the tragedy that occurred right next door to the KH.

 

Perhaps this event will provide opportunities for discussing the only way this world will ever have peace and an end to violence.

Edited September 30 by Qapla

[Brandon]

3 hours ago, Ishaya said:

What if you invite someone to the KH and they end up going to the churches close to the KH instead.

It has happened before. But in one case it gave a good witness because when the person later went to the KH, they saw a stark contrast!

 

also, you need to travel more 🙊

[grain of mustard]

If we consider random possibilities, it could also happen that the organization sells the building and another church takes over. In this case, could an interested visitor be misled and enter the church thinking it is the kingdom hall? Conclusion: trust the organization, they know what they are doing, if it is necessary to change, they will do it. But from what has already been said, there is no need for that. 

[Lance]

We are not immune to attacks .. There is no safe place, out in the middle of nowhere to church ally.
Just think of the shooting Germany or the bombing in Australia many years ago.. my friend had his Kingdom Hall broken into by a person in a pickup truck they drove through the front doors and spun around in the main auditorium all by a disgruntled man.. The Seattle area had numerous Kingdom Halls attacked by an arsonist…

 

We try to make our Kingdom Halls safe with locked doors and attendants.. on my KH we have put large cement benches near the front entrance so no vehicle can drive through.

We have considered roll shutters as another protection… We are living in dangerous times. Critical times hard to deal with.

Edited September 30 by Lance

[Cool.As.Ice]

I’ve actually seen people get shot and killed in front of my hall before. I once lived in a very dangerous neighborhood.

 

We had no windows, security cameras watching every angle, and our metal fences had spikes on top to discourage anyone hopping over the fence.

 

People sometimes would steal/tamper with our HVAC equipment, so metal bars were placed over the enclosure to discourage theft and vandalism.

 

We’ve also dealt with random people who would try to charge inside the hall, and would immediately be subdued by the attendants.

Some might be shocked that these things happen, but this is Satan’s world; we just live in it.

 

Now imagine what it will be like during the attack on BTG 😳…

[LeolaRootStew]

14 hours ago, Cool.As.Ice said:

Now imagine what it will be like during the attack on BTG 😳…

 

I think we'd go back to Zoom fairly quickly.

[-Chris-]

16 hours ago, Cool.As.Ice said:

We had no windows, security cameras watching every angle, and our metal fences had spikes on top to discourage anyone hopping over the fence.

 

During the pandemic I took some virtual Kingdom Hall tours by searching Google Earth for Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses (sometimes translating to the local language) and then taking a street view walk around the city trying to imagine preaching there. Many of these Kingdom Halls were as described, clearly in rougher neighborhoods with people experiencing critical times. 

Our old Kingdom Hall was thoroughly vandalized about 20 years ago, leading to the windows being bricked up. Since then we have built one of the new Kingdom Halls with the LDC with nice big windows.

My old KH in Las Vegas was also vandalized a few years ago.

https://www.ktnv.com/news/lvmpd-search-for-suspect-who-vandalized-church-on-east-pebble-road

[lsg59]

a sister from Michigan sent me this....

Jehovah’s Witnesses worldwide had a special talk today titled “An End to War - How?”

Our local congregation was at the end of the talk watching a video on the promised new world when someone drove into the Mormon church less than a football field from our Kingdom Hall, went into the church and open-fired an assault weapon before setting the building on fire. We see these people every week when we are coming and going from our meetings. It is absolutely heartbreaking and inconceivable act. My heart is broken for everyone that was affected. I will not soon forget the sound of gunfire going off so close to people I know and love like the family we are. I will never forget the scene that awaited us as we exited our Kingdom Hall to find the building next door completely engulfed, police with assult rifles, and people running through our parking lot screaming looking for their loved ones. I will also never forget the amount of first responders, police, and fire trucks lined up and down the road while we were being directed to leave our Kingdom Hall. It looked like a war-zone and not the peaceful place I have gone to multiple times a week for over 15 years.

You never know when or how close senseless acts of violence are going to happen. Our message as Jehovah’s Witnesses has always been that God promises to put an end to violence and bring about a peaceful new world where mankind can live in peace and harmony for eternity.

It is a traumatic event that will not soon be forgotten by the entire community. Our hearts are so heavy tonight. Hug your loved ones.