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I've noticed that most Kingdom Halls--the meeting place for Jehovah's Witnesses--have no windows in the building. What is the reason for this? Is there a Biblical basis for it or does it come from a specific church teaching? If so, I would be interested in a citation of the official church position on this.

An example pic

Kris
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Narnian
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  • I've attended meetings for years in Gardnerville Nevada ,very beautiful in the Carson Valley, you can see the Sierra Nevada mountains splendidly through the windows along the walls and it's one of the most beautiful places to attend any biblical discussions and learn God's will being accomplished in the earth.. –  Sep 16 '13 at 00:10
  • I was driving through the Scottish island of Skye and saw a Kingdom Hall halfway up a slope in a small village (Sconser, I think) which overlooked a lovely bay on the eastern coast. There was a massive picture-window looking out to that beautiful view, but all the seats for the congregation had their backs to it! Only the speaker on the platform would see the view. I wonder if any speakers broke out into poetry while giving a talk? Maybe not... – Anne Mar 07 '19 at 18:06

3 Answers3

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It is not always the case with all Kingdom Halls. In fact there are many with windows. About as many as reasons for having no windows. A few common answers are found below:

  1. For security reasons. Normally they do not have a parish residence nearby to keep a watch on their belongings. This is a bigger problem in larger cities.

  2. Cost benefits. Windows are more expensive and time consuming to install. Plus they are not very well insulated raising heating and cooling costs.

  3. Volunteer labor. Kingdom Halls are built by volunteer Jehovah's Witnesses within a 3 day time-span: Friday thru Sunday. As mentioned above, windows are time consuming to install, and with a 3 day limit....

So, many people would answer "To save money", which is kind of a reason behind all the answers.

Edit: Thought I might as well just put in an image of a Kingdom Hall with windows (taken from this Wikipedia page): enter image description here

Byzantine
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    Not that I don't believe you, but do you have any references for your answers? – Flimzy Jul 25 '12 at 00:13
  • Wikipedia talks a little about it in the beginning of the Construction Section. Other places were just answers to this question, such as here, here, and here. One that's actually on a JW site is a little bit silly. – Byzantine Jul 25 '12 at 01:10
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    +1. Correct. Most Kingdom Halls around here (Ireland) have plenty of windows. In places where they don't, security is usually the main concern. Most meetings are in the evening anyway, so it really makes little difference. It's purely a practical decision. – TRiG Jul 26 '12 at 14:32
  • This may be true, but it sounds very odd. Why not just bars on the window like most buildings concerned about security? – Narnian Jul 26 '12 at 18:31
  • As I said @Narnian, not all Kingdom Halls do it; mostly in the states. And putting bars in front of a window, is more expensive than no window at all, which is negative for JW's who like to keep costs down. – Byzantine Jul 26 '12 at 19:13
  • What's wrong with the answer @Narnian? – Byzantine Aug 02 '12 at 00:05
  • @Byzantine It just seems strange. Virtually every other building has windows, even those that try to keep costs down. I mean, how much does a window really cost to put in? – Narnian Aug 02 '12 at 11:59
  • Well, @Narnian, for one thing, a blank wall is much cheaper than a window. Plus, if you think about it, a window is not that well insulated compared to a wall, making heating and cooling prices rise dramatically. But it is actually not an all-around practice to not have windows. Many do, especially in Europe. I think you should check out this link. – Byzantine Aug 02 '12 at 15:03
  • @Byzantine No problem. I believe you. All I'm saying is that virtually everyone else in the world values having a window in their homes worth the extra cost. So, it seems peculiar to me. That's all. – Narnian Aug 02 '12 at 15:34
  • @Byzantine. I do love the idea, presented in one of your links, that the idea is to drive all the window cleaners mad. Supplementary question: Why are so many Witnesses window cleaners? (I was, at one time.) – TRiG Sep 12 '12 at 17:56
  • They are built "within a 3 day time-span". Yes. It's really amazing to watch an entire building appear in such a short period of time. – Ray Butterworth Jan 14 '22 at 00:32
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I've been in many many Kingdom Halls in my time. Many in Ireland, a fair few in the UK, and some in France, one in Switzerland, one in Athens. Also a few in the USA, though I was 12 at the time and can't recall that holiday clearly. To the best of my recollection, every single one of them had windows.

TRiG
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0

Exactly this same question has been popping up on social media sites for over a decade. It's an old red herring, and Jehovah's Witnesses must find it tedious and tiresome to refute the idea that most Kingdom Halls don't have windows.

However, since I posted my comment here, nearly three years ago, the question is academic now that Covid-19 has effectively stopped all Kingdom Hall meetings for about two years. Zoom is the main method of Jehovah's Witnesses continuing their meetings. They stay at home, switch on their devices, and sit through their meetings as before, just not together in one hall. As far as I know, they never resumed meeting in their halls, even when Government restrictions were lifted, and, as of January 2022, they are still not using their Kingdom Halls for meetings.

Perhaps that will get questions such as this buried, once and for all.

Anne
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  • https://www.jw.org/en/news/jw/region/global/The-Governing-Body-Announces-That-Some-In-Person-Meetings-Will-Resume-in-Select-Areas/ – Kris Jan 12 '22 at 14:04
  • @Kris - thanks for the link and the up-date about a few select in-person meetings starting up at the end of October 2021. Hope you are keeping clear of Covid yourself! – Anne Jan 12 '22 at 14:26
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    Thanks Anne. My area is a hot spot in the USA but we are vaxed and try to be careful. Stay safe😊 – Kris Jan 12 '22 at 14:58
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    If meetings are held via Zoom, then you could say that the current meeting place frequently has Windows (the Microsoft variety). :) – Samuel Bradshaw Jan 12 '22 at 23:47