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As many vacationers head out for the July Fourth holiday, about 8,500 Jehovah’s Witnesses will gather in Columbia today for the last of three district conventions.
The convention, which centers on the theme of “Guided by God’s Spirit,” opens at 1:50 p.m. today and includes Bible study, Christian baptism and ordination of new members, and a full-costume Bible drama.
On Saturday, about 50 to 70 congregants will be baptized, said Patrick J. McIntyre, a spokesman for the Christian Congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses.
Believers participate in the ceremony only after understanding the Bible and answering a series of 100 questions that help them grow in their faith, he said.
Jehovah’s Witnesses are distinctive for their house-to-house visits, where they first introduce people to the faith founded by Charles Taze Russell in the 1870s.
Amid a faltering economy and worldwide crisis, “We are finding people are becoming more receptive,” said Rodney Thompson, a spokesman for the lay-driven faith.
Witnesses believe Jesus is the son of God, or Jehovah, but do not subscribe to the Trinity. They baptize by immersion and shun blood transfusions.
They believe the world is in the “end times” and that 144,000 will be taken up to heaven to rule with Christ over the kingdom. Then the Earth will be restored to paradise, where people of faith will live together.
The convention, which has drawn 25,000 to Columbia during the past three weeks, is open to the public.
Reach Click at (803) 771-8386.
