Jehovah’s Witness

They believe in Almighty God, Jehovah, Creator of the Heavens and earth. They regard Jesus Christ as the Son of God but not in the sense of being equal with God or one with God. They declare themselves to be Christian. They try to live their lives according to the commands of God as written in the New World Translation of the Old and New Testaments.
They await the end of the present “world system” which they believe will begin with the battle of Armageddon. Jehovah and his true witnesses (themselves) will be the only survivors. After Armageddon there will be 1000 years of peace and life under “favourable conditions”.
They are known for their door to door contact and believe in making a positive effort to reach the public, just as Jesus did when he went from town to town preaching and declaring the good news of the Kingdom of God.
Their worship centres are called Kingdom Halls where they conduct meetings on a weekly basis. They also assemble in private homes to study the Bible each week.
The only festival celebrated is the annual memorial of the death of Christ, the date of which is calculated according to Biblical formula and consequently varies.

Jehovah’s Witnesses have sincerely held Bible based views that taking blood into one’s body is morally wrong and is therefore prohibited. They will not accept treatment involving the use of blood or blood components. This includes whole blood or its components such as packed red cells, plasma, white cells and platelets. They can choose whether to accept products such as albumin, immunoglobins or clotting factors.
They will accept alternative non-blood medical management.
Blood samples may be taken for pathological testing providing any unused blood is disposed of.
Dialysis will usually be accepted.
They believe that medical treatment is a matter of informed consent of the individual.
They have strong views about the termination of pregnancy and are totally against it (with the possible exception of ectopic pregnancy).
Jehovah’s Witnesses do not usually celebrate Birthdays or Christmas.

There are no special rituals or practices for those dying. The living body is dedicated to God but the body has no particular religious significance once the breath of life has passed from it.
Those who are very ill will appreciate a visit from one of their Elders.
Last rites are not appropriate.
Routine Last Offices are appropriate.
They do not support euthanasia but if death is imminent/unavoidable then life should not be prolonged artificially.
There are no religious objections to either post mortems or transplants and their view is that the use of cadaveric material is a matter for personal decision. All organs and tissues must be completely drained of blood before transplantation.
Jehovah’s Witnesses may be buried or cremated.