Jehovah’s Witnesses will host their first convention this summer in Farmington, after waiting three years to ensure safety after the COVID-19 pandemic. The convention will take place from Aug. 26 to 28 at the Farmington Civic Center.
“This is a big deal for us because we are back with our conventions after pausing them for so long,” said Joe H. Bembnowski, local spokesman for the Jehovah’s Witnesses. “We are the largest convention organizers in the world.”
The Jehovah’s Witnesses have hosted public conventions in stadiums, arenas, convention centers and theaters across the globe for the past 100 years. This changed during the pandemic, as the large conventions became virtual events, Bembnowski said, adding they “wanted to ensure everybody was safe.”
He said it has been difficult for the Jehovah’s Witnesses, because they enjoy gathering together, just as “the Navajo People love gathering with people, family and friends.”
The conference will be unique in the Four Corners region, because it will feature a hybrid program, which is “specific to the Navajo language,” he said, adding it will be both in English and Navajo.
The theme is “Exercise Patience,” and it will include 19 programs on the first day and 14 programs on the second day. Six convention sessions will look at the quality of patience, using Scripture to highlight it’s relevance in modern times.
There will also be a “live baptism” on Saturday morning and a prerecorded drama, which Bembnowski said is “a modern-day feature film showing how exercising patience can even protect us.”
The Jehovah’s Witnesses chose patience as a theme, because it can be linked to joy and happiness in life. “It improves our relationships with others and gives us inner peace,” Bembnowski said.
“It seems like today our patience is tested all the time, whether you’re getting in the car trying to drive to the grocery store and, unfortunately, at work and with family and friends,” Bembnowski added. “It’s just something that is so needed today. In today’s world we have so many individuals that are looking for calmness in their life – peace in their life - patience really helps us attain that.”
The conference is open to the public, according to Bembnowski. “We are just inviting everyone in the community to come out and enjoy the program. It’s someplace that you can feel safe, and there is no charge.”
The conference begins each day at 9:20 a.m. with a music video to allow everyone time to gather in their seats. Then the day’s program will start at 9:30 a.m., Bembnowski said.
For more information, visit jw.org.
