The 1.3 million U.S. members of Jehovah’s Witnesses are returning to street-corner evangelism this week after more than two years of pandemic-enforced isolation, including literature displays near The White House and in New York City’s subways.
Their familiar door-to-door canvassing won’t resume immediately, a spokesman added, but Witnesses will visit those who request contact in their homes. The group is evaluating a return to widespread doorknocking, however.
The group shut down in-person contact on March 23, 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic gripped the world, Witnesses’ spokesman Robert Hendriks said in a telephone interview.
While proper masking and vaccinations make it safer to approach people, he said the group is taking a cautious approach.