The video will start in 8 Cancel

Want the top news headlines sent to your inbox daily? Sign up to our FREE newsletter below Subscribe Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Invalid Email

If you’ve been in Newcastle city centre recently, you will have noticed them.

Happily handing out copies of The Watchtower from carts, Jehovah’s Witnesses are taking to Newcastle’s streets in their droves.

And the reason for the recent increase is simply due to a change in tactics.

For years, members have gone door-to-door to spread the word about the faith.

But now members are heading into the city to try and reach out to more people.

“We feel the use of carts allows us to reach people we perhaps wouldn’t meet at home due to their work schedules or other factors,” said spokesperson Andrew Schofield. “The carts also provide the public with the choice of approaching us or not, which some people appreciate.

(Image: Newcastle Chronicle)

“Literature carts are being used not just in the Newcastle area but all over the world and we foresee them being a regular feature of our public preaching for many years to come.”

The faith has congregations in Wideopen, Gosforth, Benwell, Heaton and Benton.

Nobody at the London HQ, nor at multiple Tyneside branches, would comment on whether the strategy resulted in an increase in followers.

Globally there are about eight-and-a-half million Jehovah’s Witnesses.

The modern-day organisation began at the end of the 19th century. At that time, a small group of Bible students who lived near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in the United States, began a systematic analysis of the Bible.

(Image: Newcastle Chronicle)

They compared the doctrines taught by the churches with what the Bible really teaches. They began publishing what they learned in books, newspapers, and the journal that is now called The Watchtower — Announcing Jehovah’s Kingdom.

Followers famously won’t accept blood donations - nor do they celebrate birthdays, claiming “such celebrations displease God”.

What do Jehovah’s Witnesses believe in?