Where This Leads

The father runs to embrace his returning son

“… while he was yet at a distance, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him.”

Luke 15:20

The Start Here page opened with a promise: nothing on this site would ask you to decide anything. That promise has not changed. But some readers work through the arguments and then want to know what a next step would even look like, and it seemed wrong to leave that question unanswered, so this page gathers the practical steps in one place.

Whatever brought you here, there is no hurry in any of it. The pages will keep, and if a year passes before you take a step, nothing will have expired.

I invite your engagement with me at every step. You may leave comments at the bottom of any page — anonymously, if that is safer for you — but please read our policy on commenting first. And if you would rather not write in public at all, you can reach me privately at — nobody sees that mail but me.

What Comes Next

Watch From Home

The lowest rung on this ladder does not even require leaving the house. Voices Worth Hearing gathers the channels I recommend: former Witnesses who examine the organization with evidence rather than bitterness, and Catholic teachers worth a Witness’s time. Nobody sees what you watch.

Go and See

The next step up is a visit, and it is still not a commitment of any kind. Your First Mass walks you through a Catholic Mass from the parking lot back out to it: what happens, what it means, what will feel familiar from the Kingdom Hall and what will not. You can go this Sunday or next year, and no one will know you were there unless you tell them. Weekday Masses are shorter and more sparsely attended, if a quiet first look appeals to you.

When Watching Is Not Enough

There may come a point, if the arguments have done their work, when you want to talk to someone. Call the nearest parish office and say exactly what is true: that you were one of Jehovah’s Witnesses and you want to understand the Catholic faith. Priests hear far stranger introductions than that, and a visitor from the Watchtower is not the novelty you might fear.

The formal path into the Church is called OCIA: instruction over the better part of a year, in a small group, with no fee and no obligation to continue. Nobody is baptized or received by surprise. You can walk through the whole of it and still say no at the end, which is why it is safe to begin.

If the Arguments Have Not Persuaded You

Then nothing on this page applies to you yet, and that is an acceptable place to stand. The argument pages are not going anywhere, and neither am I. Leave a comment where you think a case fails — anonymously, if that is safer — or write to me privately; I answer what I receive.

Take the Time You Need

My wife and I walked away from the organization in 2000, and the road from there did not end quickly, or anywhere we expected. I would distrust any page that tried to hurry that walk, so this one will not. When you are ready, the door is unlocked. If you are never ready, you were still owed the evidence, and I hope these pages gave it to you honestly.

Summary

The path through this site ends the way it began, with nobody asking you to decide anything today. What this page adds is the shape of a next step for whoever wants one: channels you can watch at home (Voices Worth Hearing gathers the ones I recommend), a Mass you can attend with no one the wiser (Your First Mass walks you through it), then a parish office you can call when watching is not enough, and instruction that carries no fee and no obligation to continue. None of it expires.

And if the arguments have not persuaded you, the pages stay where they are, the comments stay open, and so does my mailbox. “Test everything; hold fast what is good” (1 Thess. 5:21) was the standard at the start of this site. It is still the standard at its end.