This paper discusses the initial phase of a research project that seeks to fill an important research gap by analyzing self-reports by individuals who interrupted and later resumed their religious journey as Jehovah’s Witnesses.
Considering the high-profile nature of the evangelization efforts by the Jehovah’s Witness community, relatively few studies have examined conversion patterns among the community (Beckford 1975; Wilson 1973; Wilson 1977; Dobbelaere & Wilson 1980; Di Marzio 2020). Recent quantitative studies in Japan (Hu & Murata 2025), Kazakhstan (Auyezbek & Beissembayev 2023), and Rwanda (Nkurikiyinka & Chu 2025) with large data sets have contributed to the cross-cultural evidence of strong individual and group religious identity as a prevailing characteristic of the community. These latter studies have also investigated leading motivations for affiliating with the Witness community, relational changes after conversion, individual levels of religious commitment, and perceptions of social cohesion in congregation life.
On the other end of the spectrum, a small body of literature based largely on convenience samples has focused on disaffiliation from Jehovah’s Witnesses (Ransom 2020; Luther 2022). These studies tend to begin at the juncture of individuals’ separation from the Witness community as a springboard for asserting the generally negative psychological and sociological consequences of leaving the Witnesses. One serious omission of such studies, particularly those about individuals who were involuntarily removed from the congregation, is a consideration of the precipitating actions, attitudes, and circumstances that led to removal, a highly influential factor in the subsequent trajectory of disaffiliates (cf. Graham 2017; Pink 2022).
However, a substantial proportion of those who have left the Witness faith have also returned. The perspectives of those who have passed through all three stages of the process of affiliation, disaffiliation, and reaffiliation can add much to understanding of the range of individual narratives and lived experiences within the Witness religion.
This paper explores the rarely researched and little understood process of reaffiliation among Jehovah’s Witnesses. Among the few studies on reaffiliation with religious communities (Finke & Stark 2001; Uhlmann 2015), virtually no reference is made to Witnesses. The research potential is promising, however, with anecdotal evidence indicating that a large cohort, perhaps up to half, of Witnesses who have been formally removed from the congregation, later become reintegrated in congregation life and choose to resume their religious identity as Jehovah’s Witnesses.
The paper draws on in-depth interviews of those who involuntarily left the faith community due to unrepentant transgression of moral or doctrinal norms, and who later desired and qualified to be reinstated to the community. It argues that a study of reaffiliation cannot be examined in isolation from the wider landscape of individuals’ religious journey, any more than disaffiliation can be adequately studied by starting at the point of rupture of religious ties. Rather, reaffiliation would best be understood in consideration of factors such as religious attraction, commitment, individual and group identity, and orientation, as well as factors involved in loss of commitment, breach of group norms, and so forth.
The role of the religious community is also relevant, including the ecclesiastical policy and pastoral process for those removed and returning. From the perspective of reaffiliates, how was the congregation involved in trying to facilitate the path back to the community? How was the congregation expected to deal with those who wish to reaffiliate with their former faith? The paper summarizes the relevant organizational guidelines related to the process or reaffiliation.
The narratives of reinstated Witnesses also contain post-reaffiliation perspectives, reflecting on the role of the community in their spiritual restoration and well-being, the effects of the removal and reinstatement process, prevailing attitudes of fellow congregants toward them, and their current state of spiritual renewal. This first research phase will gain a comprehensive view from the vantage point of reaffiliates, which will in turn help to frame subsequent systematic analysis. The study of those who have been removed from the congregation and later returned to the congregation as active Witnesses will be an important addition to scholarly investigations about the processes of religious conversion, deconversion, and reconversion.
A modest body of research exists on affiliation with and disaffiliation from the religion of Jehovah’s Witnesses. However, no systematic study has yet been done on those who have departed and then reaffiliated with the Witness community. This paper argues that the religious stages of affiliation and disaffiliation cannot be understood in isolation from the larger context of individuals’ spiritual journey. Similarly, the insights of those who have initially identified as Witnesses, interrupted their association, and then chosen to renew their identity as Jehovah’s Witnesses have much offer in understanding specific attractions to the Witness religion, individual and group identity, the social network of Witness congregations, and the effects of separation and return to the faith.