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Doctrine changes · Claim record

In September 2016 The Watchtower said that in some cultures a neatly trimmed beard 'may be acceptable' but that in others beards 'are not considered acceptable for Christian ministers'.

Claim ID claim-doctrine-beards-2016-not-acceptable-some-placesConcerns September 2016Explicit statement
Explicit statement · September 2016 Verified

In September 2016 The Watchtower said that in some cultures a neatly trimmed beard 'may be acceptable' but that in others beards 'are not considered acceptable for Christian ministers'. The Watchtower (study edition), September 2016

The organisation’s position or later explanation: Same article, par. 18: Jehovah 'does not burden us with detailed lists of regulations about our dress and grooming'.

Show the evidence (1 source)
Primary JW publication Verified

The Watchtower (study edition), “Does Your Style of Dress Glorify God?”

September 2016 · pp.17-21 · pars. 17-18 (p. 21) · Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society

“In some cultures, a neatly trimmed beard may be acceptable and respectable, and it may not detract at all from the Kingdom message. In fact, some appointed brothers have beards. Even so, some brothers might decide not to wear a beard. In other cultures or localities, beards are not the custom and are not considered acceptable for Christian ministers.”

Par. 18 adds that Jehovah 'does not burden us with detailed lists of regulations about our dress and grooming'.

Official source

Provenance and verification note

Confidence note. Opened on wol.jw.org; wording, paragraph and page confirmed.

Corroborated by. src-gbu-2023-1215-update8-beards

Accessed. 19 September 2026 · Source ID. src-w-2016-0900-dress-beards

Claim page

A direct link to this claim is https://jwtruth.org/evidence/claim-doctrine-beards-2016-not-acceptable-some-places/. Every source above opens the original document or the best available copy. If you believe the wording, date or context is wrong, report an error.