Jehovah’s Witness back in Rio Rancho for first time since 2019

This may have been the best-dressed crowd to ever enter the Rio Rancho Events Center.

Every woman wore a dress; every man, if not wearing a suit, wore a dress shirt and tie. There were no jeans with gaping holes, not tank tops, no muscle shirts or even T-shirts worn by attendees.

There were smiles and greetings everywhere, as a crowd estimated to reach more than 5,000 strolled into the Events Center for the start of the Jehovah Witnesses’ three-day regional convention, one of about 6,000 taking place worldwide, including two in the City of Vision for Witnesses living in Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico, this spring and summer.

In the U.S., where 708 conventions in 35 different languages are to be held in 144 host cities, sessions explored the quality of patience, highlighting its modern-day relevance through scriptural examples.

“Exercise Patience” is the theme of this year’s conventions. In Rio Rancho, the English version was held June 2-4; a Spanish language convention, expecting attendance of about 3,000, will be in the Events Center this week, June 9-11.

After resuming smaller in-person meetings and public ministry in 2022, this summer marks the first time they will gather at much larger regional events around the world since the lifting of pandemic restrictions, which led to conventions being held virtually.

Jehovah’s Witnesses have been holding public conventions in stadiums, arenas, convention centers and theaters around the world for more than 100 years.

Thousands of Jehovah’s Witnesses filled hotels and restaurants; they came from Arizona and Colorado, as well as from throughout New Mexico. Here, the convention had 600 volunteers last weekend, and their stay even included a daily deep, thorough cleaning of the arena.

“Providing the program in a virtual format helped us see how we can maintain our joy, build our faith and pursue peace despite conditions we face. The value also came by giving priority to the health and safety of our global brotherhood,” said Tory Jaramillo, spokesman for Jehovah’s Witnesses. “There is a deep feeling of unity when we come together in song that you can’t experience over a virtual platform.

“I look forward to being reunited with friends and to see their smiles,” Jaramillo added. He said he had 10 family members among the attendees; he came here from Las Vegas, Nevada, although he grew up in Santa Fe.

“The theme itself suggests to me that this quality of patience can be strengthened on a personal level,” Jaramillo said. “Today we see so much hatred and unrest because people are wanting real change to the issues we are all facing. If that desired change was guaranteed to become a reality, it would absolutely be worth it to exercise the needed patience to see it happen.”

Jehovah’s Witnesses (jw.org) are known for their door-to-door preaching, distributing literature such as “The Watchtower” and “Awake!,” and for refusing military service and blood transfusions. They consider the use of God’s name vital for proper worship.

Rio Rancho has two Jehovah’s Witnesses congregations, Congregation Mountain View and Congregation Idalia, and there are others in the metro area – on the West Side, as well as in Bernalillo, Moriarty and Los Lunas.

They hold meetings for worship twice each week. At the meetings, open to the public, they examine what the Bible says and how they can apply its teachings in our life. Jehovah’s Witnesses strive to adhere to the form of Christianity that Jesus taught and that his apostles practiced.

An estimate of the economic benefit for Rio Rancho during the convention would be about $80 per attendee for each day of the convention.

Why ‘Exercise Patience’?

That was the theme of the opening address, presented Friday morning by Rick White, the circuit overseer, or traveling minister.

Regardless of your religious orientation, and even for agnostics, everyone can sue more patience.

Using various scriptures from the Bible to illustrate his points, White explained how the convention would do a “deep dive” into the quality of patience.

“Everybody knows patience today is in short supply,” he said. “It’s a very important quality.”

A video shown on the screens showed a very basic example of patience: A farmer raising crops, unable to provide rain and needing to be patient as his crops grew and he could feed his family.

“It’s a challenge to exercise patience,” White said, saying you can’t run a marathon and then stop 100 yards from the finish line.

“We’ve all had our patience tried from time to time.”

In another video for all to see, Mark Sanderson of the governing body explained how the phrase “long-suffering” was changed from its origins in the 16th century to “patience.

“We must exercise patience in everyday situations,” Sanderson continued, with spouses, while shopping, while driving.

“We live in an impatient world,” he said, and who can deny that?

He said that convention symposiums would delve into the Bible for examples of patience, and as White soon added, “That’s a lot to discuss about patience, as you can see.”

How about a ‘Plus One’?

Nine-year-old Joel Mitchell was probably more than excited as anyone at Friday’s session; he was going to be baptized Saturday morning, during the convention.

Was he excited or nervous, he was asked.

“I’m a bit of both – nervous and excited,” he replied, “but mostly excited because I’m doing something for Jehovah.”

Joel lives in Durango, Colorado, where he is home-schooled and said his favorite subject is science.

Someday he hopes to be a video-game creator, he said.