Those attending services in the new Kingdom Hall in Industry, Pa., have a Parker Township couple — and many others — to thank for their renovated and updated place of worship.

John and Pamela Davidson, of Parker Township, traveled to Industry, in Beaver County, two days in October and three days in December to work on the complete renovation of an aging Kingdom Hall, which is how those of the Jehovah’s Witness faith refer to their place of worship.

John said it is a common practice for Jehovah’s Witnesses to travel to Kingdom Hall construction and renovation locations to help with the project as a volunteer.

He said many are completely untrained in any trade, but learn on-site how to use power tools, paint, install flooring, hang siding, or other tasks and skills.

Because he owned a residential construction company in Tennessee for more than 30 years, John worked behind the scenes on the project by organizing work, helping those in charge of crews complete required paperwork, and assessing volunteers on their work and making notes on their skills.

On one workday in Industry, Pamela worked on the siding crew, removing the old siding and painting trim that went around the siding.

The couple also worked together getting the site ready for construction and later, installing partitions between stalls in the Kingdom Hall’s new bathrooms.

Pamela said she began volunteering for Jehovah’s Witness construction projects as a young woman of 20.

“I fell in love with it and I love doing it and did it at every opportunity I got,” she said.

Over the years, Pamela has assisted bricklayers, and been trained to work with soffit, drywall, painting, partitions, tile and other jobs on a Jehovah’s Witness construction site.

“Jehovah’s Witnesses build all their own buildings, from Kingdom Halls to headquarters,” John said.

Ten years ago, the couple sold their home, construction business and everything they owned — except their tools — so they could travel to building projects within the Jehovah’s Witness faith.

Asked how many construction or renovation projects he has worked on in the denomination, John answers “too many to count.”

“I’ve been in construction for 35 years and over 20 years ago, I went on my first (Jehovah’s Witness) project, and I knew I wanted to make that as much a part of my life as possible,” he said.

John most enjoys watching novices learn how to safely and ably pursue a trade.

“The real joy is being able to help new ones when they come in,” he said. “I’ve (trained volunteers) on everything from concrete to electrical to carpentry to flooring.”

Pamela enjoys seeing young and old alike working together on a Kingdom Hall project.

“It really makes me happy because you get a front-row seat to seeing a world of people, a diversity of people, working together,” she said. “It gives you an appreciation for every generation, and seeing them make their sacrifices brings you a lot of joy.”

She also loves to see the training click with the volunteers, and their satisfaction at learning a new skill.

“It’s an education on many levels, and you learn patience, kindness, and what if feels like to make a sacrifice and have it come back to you 100 fold.”

Her husband also appreciates interacting with and observing the other Jehovah’s Witnesses on a job site.

“It’s really about the people there,” John said. “You go on site and meet somebody you haven’t met before and it really is like they’re instant family, like a brother or sister you never knew.”

Pamela said one young couple volunteering with the Industry project brought their 6-month-old baby along. The dad cared for the baby at the hotel while the new mother worked as an electrician for five days.

“As a young couple, my word, that is amazing,” she said. “You can get overwhelmed and I thought it was so wonderful that he, as a husband, was willing to stay back with the baby and allow her to use her trade.”

John said some people take vacation time from their jobs to work on a construction or renovation project with their fellow Jehovah’s Witnesses.

“They come and do the work for free and at the end of it, all they do is try to figure out how they’re going to come back and do some more,” he said.

Pamela also loves the camaraderie among workers as they carry out their tasks each day.

“I am always amazed at how much talking goes on during the day and all the work that gets done,” she said. “Everyone is having a good time with each other, but the work always gets done.”

John said often, the bonds formed on a job site are unbreakable.

“You may see those people (you worked with) months or years later on another project somewhere, and you pick up where you left off,” John said.

When volunteers will be on a job for multiple days, they either stay in a hotel or with another Jehovah’s Witness family.

“They open their homes to workers because they know they are fellow congregants,” John said.

If the job site is 1.5 hours away or less, volunteers normally commute each day.

The congregation having their Kingdom Hall built or renovated provide lunch each day for the workers, and the Davidsons were amazed at the quality of the food they enjoyed in Industry.

“One day, we had lasagna and salad,” Pamela said.

“It wasn’t just a sack lunch,” John said. “These were quality, full-course meals that we could really enjoy.”

The couple have helped out at countless construction and renovation projects, as well as mission trips, but one anecdote sticks out in the mind of John Davidson.

While working on a Kingdom Hall in Virginia, John and his crew were removing a section of the roof to do a remodel with a crane operator who was local to the area and not a Jehovah’s Witness.

John said the man was nervous about lifting the section off, as wind buffeted the job site all day.

“It was going to be a problem getting it off the building and onto the ground,” he said.

While the crane operator thought moving forward with the task was a bad idea, John persuaded him to continue getting the crane and the roof ready for the job.

“As soon as we had it ready, the wind completely died down,” John said. “He was able to get it off the building and as soon as he got it onto the ground, the wind blew so hard it knocked his hard hat right off his head.

“We knew that was the Holy Spirit helping us on the project,” he said.

Richard O’Donnell, local spokesman for the Jehovah’s Witnesses, said 300 volunteers from the denomination worked on the Industry Kingdom Hall, some from Ohio and West Virginia.

The fully renovated Kingdom Hall reopened on Jan. 14, O’Donnel said.