Jehovah's Witnesses kick off annual convention this weekend

http://www2.timesdispatch.com/news/2012/jun/21/tdmet02-jehovahs-witnesses-kick-off-annual-convent-ar-2002853/

RICHMOND, Va. --"Safeguard Your Heart!" is the theme of this year's annual five-week convention the Jehovah's Witnesses hold at the Richmond Coliseum.

The convention lasts for five weekends, beginning Friday at 9:20 a.m.

The theme is taken from Proverbs 4:23. "The Bible mentions the word 'heart' over 1,000 times," said convention spokesman Donovan Greer. "The convention focuses on some of those biblical statements."

Each weekend, different congregations from Virginia, Washington and Maryland are scheduled to attend the convention. Thus, the structure for each weekend is the same, but with new attendees.

Around 32,000 people are expected over the five weekends. "Jehovah's Witnesses take their conventions very seriously," said Greer.

The convention is Richmond's largest, and in previous years more than 30,000 people have attended the event.

"We call each other brother and sister and while we're at the convention, and the atmosphere makes us feel almost like we actually are brothers and sisters," said Greer.

Over the last few years, the convention has set aside the third weekend specifically for Hispanic Jehovah's Witnesses. The Spanish-speaking weekend begins July 6 and ends July 8.

"What we're finding when we go door to door is that people are in crisis," said John Stevens, media contact for the Hispanic weekend. "So this convention helps people focus on what their real intentions are."

Sixty-six Spanish-speaking Jehovah's Witnesses congregations will be attending the convention.