Published policy distinguishes an 'inactive' member who simply stops attending or preaching, who is not announced or shunned and is to receive 'appropriate spiritual assistance', from one who disassociates; the organisation told the Australian Royal Commission that an inactive person remains subject to its discipline and must disassociate to be free of it, which the Commission found leaves such a person 'no alternative but to actively leave'.
Claim ID claim-shunning-inactive-not-shunnedConcerns 1 January 2019Explicit statement
2019 · pp.141-156 · par. 24-40 · Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania
“When it is necessary to disfellowship an unrepentant wrongdoer from the congregation, a brief announcement is made, stating: “[Name of person] is no longer one of Jehovah’s Witnesses.” This will alert faithful ones in the congregation to stop associating with that person.—1 Cor. 5:11.”
Provenance and verification note for Organized to Do Jehovah’s Will (od), Chapter 14, Maintaining the Peace and Cleanness of the Congregation
Confidence note. Raw WOL HTML fetched; wording and page markers 141-156 confirmed; publishers' page (doc 1102014949) opened for edition data. Still uses 'disfellowshipped' as at access date.
Accessed. 19 September 2026 · Source ID.src-od-2019-organized-ch14
15 September 1981 · pp.20-26 · par. 12-16, 21-27 · Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania
“And we all know from our experience over the years that a simple “Hello” to someone can be the first step that develops into a conversation and maybe even a friendship. Would we want to take that first step with a disfellowshiped person?”
Par. 21-23 (pp. 24-25) apply 2 John 9-11 to expelled persons; par. 13-16 create the category of disassociation (by statement or by joining an organisation contrary to the Bible) and direct that such persons be 'viewed and treated as are those who have been disfellowshiped'; par. 27 says a member who will not cease fellowship with an expelled person 'must be removed from the congregation'.
October 2016 · pp.13, 70-72 · section 7.7; endnotes 618-636 · Commonwealth of Australia (ISBN 978-1-925289-89-3, CC BY 3.0 AU)
“The Jehovah’s Witness organisation’s practice of shunning members who disassociate from the organisation has the very real potential of putting a survivor in the untenable position of having to choose between constant re-traumatisation at having to share a community with their abuser and losing that entire community altogether.”
Also: 'Even family members are instructed not to associate with a disfellowshipped or disassociated relative unless the association is unavoidable'; 'the practice of shunning is an inextricable component of the institutional response to child sexual abuse'; the organisation's submission that shunning was outside the terms of reference was rejected; Governing Body member Geoffrey Jackson's evidence (14 Aug 2015) that leaving can be 'personally devastating because [a person] can lose their whole social network and their families'; p. 13 lists 'the organisation has a policy and practice of shunning those who wish to leave the organisation' among problematic policies.
Provenance and verification note for Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse (Australia), Report of Case Study No. 29: The response of the Jehovah’s Witnesses and Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of Australia Ltd to allegations of child sexual abuse, Section 7.7 Shunning; summary of problematic policies (p. 13)
Confidence note. Report PDF (110 pp.) downloaded from the New Zealand inquiry's mirror and text-extracted; wording and page numbers confirmed. Official host (childabuseroyalcommission.gov.au) blocked in this environment.
Scan provenance. Mirror hosted by the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care (New Zealand); Commonwealth of Australia, CC BY 3.0 AU.
Notes. Official PDF (blocked here): https://www.childabuseroyalcommission.gov.au/sites/default/files/file-list/Case%20Study%2029%20-%20Findings%20Report%20-%20Jehovahs%20Witnesses.pdf
Accessed. 19 September 2026 · Source ID.src-rc-au-2016-1000-case-study-29-report
April 2021 · ch. 12 par. 17, 44-46; ch. 16 par. 27-31 · Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania (published as inquiry evidence by the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care, New Zealand)
“If a publisher in the congregation is known to have unnecessary association with disfellowshipped or disassociated relatives who are not in the household, elders should use the Scriptures to counsel and reason with him. ... He would not be dealt with judicially unless there is persistent spiritual association or he persists in openly criticizing the disfellowshipping decision.”
Par. 17(1): wilful association with disfellowshipped or disassociated non-relatives 'would warrant judicial action'; par. 44-46 on persons inactive for many years; ch. 16 par. 29-31: announcement 'It should read as follows: "[Name of person] is no longer one of Jehovah’s Witnesses."', takes effect at the announcement, S-77 form sent to the Service Department.
Provenance and verification note for “Shepherd the Flock of God”—1 Peter 5:2 (ks), April 2021 revision, chapters 12, 14, 16 and 22, as produced to the New Zealand Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care (document JHV0000012), Chapter 12 par. 17(1) and 44-46; Chapter 16 par. 27-31
Confidence note. PDF (35 pages) downloaded from the inquiry's evidence library and text-extracted; wording confirmed. Cited as a public-inquiry exhibit, not from any leaked copy. The Norwegian Supreme Court quotes the identical par. 17 text from the 2019 edition (para 127).
Scan provenance. Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care (New Zealand) evidence library; copyright Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania.
A direct link to this claim is https://jwtruth.org/evidence/claim-shunning-inactive-not-shunned/. 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.