Spreading the word: Jehovah’s Witnesses
By Gwyn McAllister
There are many people who are only familiar with Jehovah’s Witnesses through their evangelical efforts, the door-to-door visits offering information and pamphlets about their religion. But while Martha’s Vineyard’s close-knit Jehovah’s Witness community is relatively compact – close to 95 congregants – they have kept a record of their 70-year long and interesting history on Martha’s Vineyard.
It was Eugene Gale from Edgartown, who in 1939 spread the word to his brother, Leon, and sister-in-law, Elva, who in turn introduced the Jehovah’s Witness religion to Wampanoag Chief Harrison Vanderhoop of Gay Head. In those years, it was no small matter to travel the distance from Aquinnah to Tisbury, where the meetings were held. In the early 1940s, a couple, the Skwarlos, were assigned to Martha’s Vineyard as Special Pioneers to advance the door-to-door ministry. According to the written history, “For an entire year Brother Skwarlo gave the public talk on Sunday to his wife only, until one day they heard footsteps on the stairs and in came the old retired Indian chief.”
Bob Eldredge, one of nine elders of the Martha’s Vineyard community of Jehovah’s Witnesses, says he and his wife, Georgette, became involved with the Jehovah’s Witnesses in the 1970s. “We liked the way that everything was laid out in accordance with the Bible,” he says. “We saw why others would want to share their knowledge. Love for God and our neighbors motivates us to talk to others,” he adds, explaining that especially in times of uncertainty, many find solace in the teaching of the Witnesses and in the biblical prophecies they share.
Kingdom Hall
Through the 1950s and 60s, as numbers increased, meetings were held first in member’s homes, and then in small rented spaces at various locations around Vineyard Haven. Membership reached about 120 in the 80s in response to the increasing Brazilian population. For the last decade, the church has offered most of the weekly meetings in English and Portuguese.
The first Kingdom Hall was built in 1974 across from the cemetery in Vineyard Haven. Eventually a bigger space and more parking became necessary, and the original building was sold to the Brazilian Growing Church (A Igreja que Cresce). Volunteers constructed the new hall on State Road in West Tisbury, completed in 2003.
Mr. Eldredge notes that most outsiders are surprised when first visiting the Kingdom Hall because it appears more like a lecture hall than a place of worship. “There are no icons or images,” he explains.
The unadorned main hall, which accommodates about 200 people, is appropriate for teaching, the basis of the Witnesses’ practice, rather than preaching.
The final Sunday meeting is a question-and-answer discussion. Says Mr. Eldredge, “The whole congregation participates in that, even little kids and infants. There’s no Sunday School.”
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