<Tr> <Td_colspan="2"> Statistics from 2017 Grand Totals </Td> </Tr> <P> Jehovah's Witnesses is a millenarian restorationist Christian denomination with nontrinitarian beliefs distinct from mainstream Christianity . The group reports a worldwide membership of 8.45 million adherents involved in evangelism and an annual Memorial attendance of around 20 million . Jehovah's Witnesses are directed by the Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses, a group of elders in Warwick, New York, which establishes all doctrines based on its interpretations of the Bible . They believe that the destruction of the present world system at Armageddon is imminent, and that the establishment of God's kingdom over the earth is the only solution for all problems faced by humanity . </P> <P> The group emerged from the Bible Student movement founded in the late 1870s by Charles Taze Russell, who also co-founded Zion's Watch Tower Tract Society in 1881 to organize and print the movement's publications . A leadership dispute after Russell's death resulted in several groups breaking away, with Joseph Franklin Rutherford retaining control of the Watch Tower Society and its properties . Rutherford made significant organizational and doctrinal changes, including adoption of the name Jehovah's witnesses in 1931 to distinguish them from other Bible Student groups and symbolize a break with the legacy of Russell's traditions . </P> <P> Jehovah's Witnesses are best known for their door - to - door preaching, distributing literature such as The Watchtower and Awake!, and refusing military service and blood transfusions . They consider the use of God's name vital for proper worship . They reject Trinitarianism, inherent immortality of the soul, and hellfire, which they consider to be unscriptural doctrines . They do not observe Christmas, Easter, birthdays or other holidays and customs they consider to have pagan origins incompatible with Christianity . They prefer to use their own Bible translation, the New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures, although their literature occasionally quotes and cites other Bible translations . Adherents commonly refer to their body of beliefs as "The Truth" and consider themselves to be "in the Truth". They consider secular society to be morally corrupt and under the influence of Satan, and most limit their social interaction with non-Witnesses . Congregational disciplinary actions include disfellowshipping, their term for formal expulsion and shunning . Baptized individuals who formally leave are considered disassociated and are also shunned . Disfellowshipped and disassociated individuals may eventually be reinstated if deemed repentant . </P>

When did jehovah's witnesses get their name