On the Road Again: Initial Steps in the Study of Reaffiliation with Jehovah’s Witnesses

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.