Check.Church

Jehovah's Witnesses

Jehovah's Witnesses began with a small group studying the Bible near Pittsburgh in 1870, published The Watchtower from 1879, and took their present name by resolution at Columbus, Ohio, in 1931. A Governing Body directs them today. They stand apart on this tree because they were organized apart from any body drawn here.

On the tree

The Jehovah's Witnesses family and the bodies it separated from or was organized out ofAD 33The church at Pentecost: On divine groundThe church at Pentecost: on divine groundtoday1870Jehovah's Witnesses (Jehovah's Witnesses)Jehovah's WitnessesNot gathered

Solid lines are separations and unions; dashed lines are renewals that began inside a body; dotted gray lines are national organizations of one communion or branches of one family; a diamond marks a fork event where neither side is drawn as the one that left. Every line runs back to the post-apostolic church; no body descends from the assembly of Acts 2. Dashed gray boxes mark the institutional line after the apostles, shown as departure; no line of descent is drawn from Pentecost. A verdict appears on a box once its section is published.

Bodies in this family

  1. Jehovah's Witnesses1870–1931

    A group of Bible students near Pittsburgh began a systematic study of the Bible in 1870 and published The Watchtower from 1879. They took the name Jehovah's Witnesses by resolution at Columbus, Ohio, in 1931, and are directed today by a Governing Body.

Research compiled July 2026. Page data built 2026-11-01.