NEW YORK—On June 20-22 and June 27-29, 2014, Jehovah’s Witnesses packed the MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, for the “Keep Seeking First God’s Kingdom!” International Convention series, with programs presented in English and Spanish respectively.

With a peak attendance for both weekends totaling over 118,000, these two gatherings represented the Witnesses’ largest convention in the New York metropolitan area in decades. Over 407,000 in other cities were tied in by video to select portions of the programs, bringing the total combined attendance to over 525,500.

Many program parts featured reenactments and videos demonstrating the practical application of Bible principles. Both conventions concluded each day with a lecture from a member of the Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses. David Splane spoke on June 20-22; Geoffrey Jackson, on June 27-29.

Each convention also included a baptism. A total of 1,255 people were baptized in the stadium, and another 2,930 were baptized at satellite locations, bringing the total number of those baptized to 4,185.

Attendees included delegates invited from Argentina, Australia, Belize, Britain, Chile, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Honduras, Italy, Malaysia, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Spain, and Venezuela.

J. R. Brown, a spokesman for Jehovah’s Witnesses, states: “This event reminded many of us of our historic convention in New York back in 1958. Between Yankee Stadium and the then existing Polo Grounds, over 253,000 attended that event. The conventions at MetLife Stadium this year will certainly be considered milestones in the history of Jehovah’s Witnesses.”