BALTIMORE — After four years, the Jehovah's Witness Convention returned to Baltimore this weekend.
The three-day event focused on exercising patience, which was the theme for the convention this year. Six convention sessions were held over the weekend at UMBC and explored the quality of patience, emphasizing modern-day relevance.
A live baptism was performed Saturday morning, and a prerecorded drama was featured on Saturday and Sunday during the afternoon sessions.
Jehovah’s Witnesses have been holding public conventions in large arenas and stadiums around the world for over 100 years. Officials say the message of patience was important for this year’s convention.
"That quality of patience is something that, it’s fair to say, it’s a quality that is needed throughout the earth," said John Gay. "Imagine when we go shopping, when we’re driving on the interstate, that quality of patience comes to the fore, and when we lose patience, we lose joy."
The program will be repeated three weekends in July: the weekend of the 14th, the 21st, and the 28th.
Officials also say the convention this weekend was the largest held since before the pandemic in 2019.
