Editor's note: This story is part of Southwest Michigan Second Wave's On the Ground Battle Creek series.
 
Jehovah’s Witnesses have been holding public conventions in large venues around the world for more than 100 years, but Southwest Michigan was never among the locations until now.
 
For three consecutive weekends beginning on July 28, the religious organization will hold its first-ever convention at the Kellogg Arena in Battle Creek. The gathering is expected to bring in people representing 80 Jehovah’s Witness congregations from Fort Wayne, IN., to Muskegon, says Joe Mosher, who lives in Grand Rapids and is a local spokesperson for the Jehovah’s Witness. Michigan is home to around 40,000 Jehovah's Witnesses, says Mosher
 
“Everything just aligned very well for a convention in Battle Creek,” he says. “We were looking for an area in Southwest Michigan to have one of our conventions for a long time. The city, police, and arena staff have been just great to work with. We like to offer a reasonable travel distance for those invited to attend. In previous years folks from this side of the state have been traveling to conventions in Toledo, OH., and Saginaw. This will be our first convention in Southwest Michigan.”
 
The convention in Battle Creek, which is free to attend and open to the public, is among 6,000 conventions that will be held worldwide as part of the 2023 “Exercise Patience”! Convention series. In the United States alone, more than 700 conventions will be held in 144 host cities.
 
Each of the conventions will take place over three consecutive weekends. The Battle Creek dates are – July 28-30, August 4-6, and 11-13. Mosher says each weekend session will be attended by between 3,000 and 3,300 people.
 
Jehovah's Witnesses are holding their first Southwest Michigan convention in Battle Creek this July.“The local convention will be presented in English,” Mosher says. “But other conventions in Michigan will be presented in American Sign Language, Mandarin, Korean, and Spanish. The 708 conventions happening nationally will feature some of 35 different languages.”
 
From Friday through Sunday for each of the three weekends, six convention sessions will explore the quality of patience, highlighting its modern-day relevance through Scriptural examples. A live baptism will be performed following the Saturday morning session and a prerecorded drama will be featured in two parts during the Saturday and Sunday afternoon sessions, says a press release from Jehovah’s Witnesses.
 
“The world is becoming less and less patient and it was determined that this was a very relevant theme,” Mosher says. “The way our lives are now makes it difficult for us to be patient and even in our own families and at work things flare up. We will consider how patience can impact our day-to-day lives, what true patience is, why we need it, and how it impacts our relationships on a day-to-day basis.”
 
The theme will be the same for every convention. Mosher says these themes are planned years in advance.
 
This year’s theme is of particular significance because the conventions will be the first held in person since 2020 when the pandemic interrupted that tradition prompting the Witnesses to cancel their in-person events and hold their convention programs virtually in more than 500 languages, the press release says.
 
Jehovah's Witnesses are holding their first Southwest Michigan convention in Battle Creek this July.Mosher says this summer marks the first time they will gather at large regional events since the lifting of pandemic restrictions.
 
“It was unprecedented in all of modern history that we had to pause in-person conventions for three years. We are absolutely excited to be back in person to share hugs, support, and companionship,” he says.
 
Jehovah’s Witnesses bill their conventions among the largest in the world. This is not a surprise given that there are 8.7 million Witnesses worldwide who are part of 117,960 congregations in 239 countries and territories.
 
“Jehovah’s Witnesses around the world volunteer billions of hours throughout the world for unpaid ministry work,” Mosher says.
 
The religious denomination also publishes and distributes hundreds of millions of Bibles and other publications every year without charge; builds and maintains Kingdom Halls and branch offices; supports thousands of Bethelites and missionaries, and provides relief aid in times of disaster, says the website.
 
“We do not tithe, charge dues, or take up collections. Although the costs of supporting our evangelizing work are high, we do not solicit money. Over a century ago, the second issue of the Watchtower magazine stated that we believe we have Jehovah as our backer and that we 'will never beg nor petition men for support' ​— and we never have! ​— Matthew 10:8.

Jehovah's Witnesses are holding their first Southwest Michigan convention in Battle Creek this July.“Our activities are supported by voluntary donations. Many people appreciate our Bible educational work and donate toward it. The Witnesses themselves happily contribute their time, energy, funds, and other resources to the doing of God’s will on all the earth. (1 Chronicles 29:9) At the Kingdom Hall and at our assemblies and conventions, there are contribution boxes where those who wish to make donations may do so.

“Ultimately, it’s really important that everyone realizes that it’s free to attend the Convention and no collections will be taken,” Mosher says. “A lot of people are going to see something they’ve never seen in a sports arena. The Witnesses are all nicely dressed, all sitting quietly and looking at scriptures throughout the program. At the end of the program, they will clean up and wash windows. Most people are shocked at how quiet, polite, and attentive the audience is.”
 
More information on the program and other convention locations and dates is available on their website on the “About Us” tab.