Chosen People Ministries

Chosen People Ministries (CPM) is a "Messianic Jewish" nonprofit organization which engages in Christian evangelism to Jews.[1] It is headquartered in New York City and currently led by Mitch Glaser, who was raised Jewish and converted to Christianity.[2]

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Its stated mission is to "pray for, evangelize, disciple, and serve Jewish people everywhere and to help fellow believers do the same."[3] It supports the establishment of Messianic Jewish congregations, which it describes as "faith communities that stress the Jewish context of the Gospel of Jesus."[4]

History

Leopold Cohn, a Hungarian immigrant to the United States who became a Christian, founded the Brownsville Mission to the Jews in 1894. The Brownsville Mission was later relocated to the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, New York and became the Williamsburg Mission to the Jews from 1897 until 1924. In 1897, the Williamsburg Mission headquarters housed a medical clinic, boys' club, Girl Scouts, and sewing and English classes, in addition to evening Gospel services. [5]

From 1924 until 1984 it was known as the American Board of Missions to the Jews. Since then it has been known by its current name, Chosen People Ministries.

Methods and locations

Chosen People Ministries has staff in 16 countries around the world, and planting Messianic Centers and congregations as the main focus of its work.[6] It also sends out missionaries and conducts evangelism in areas of high Jewish concentration, teaches in churches, and produces evangelical literature and media.[7] The organization has ties with evangelical seminaries and often hosts conferences on topics relating to Jewish evangelism and theological matters. The organization also uses media outreach on digital platforms, including the website Isaiah53.com, and a cooperation with the Israeli based ministry of One for Israel for producing a series of Messianic Jewish testimony videos called I Found Shalom.

Messianic Centers

Jerusalem, Israel

In 2007, Chosen People Ministries opened a Messianic Center in Jerusalem. The organization uses the facility to minister to Holocaust survivors, as well as hosting benevolence ministries, and a place to host short-term outreach teams.[6]

Brooklyn, New York - The Charles L. Feinberg Center

In 2010, Chosen People Ministries attracted attention when it acquired a former funeral home in the heart of an Orthodox Jewish community located in Midwood, Brooklyn. This acquisition has sparked anger from the Jewish community in New York.[8] The Center opened in 2014 and currently houses an English-speaking congregation, a Russian-speaking congregation, and an accredited seminary program.

The seminary program, The Charles L. Feinberg Center for Messianic Jewish Studies, is co-sponsored with Talbot School of Theology and offers an accredited Master of Divinity program in Messianic Jewish Studies.[9] The program is designed to train Messianic congregational leaders, outreach workers and educators. In addition to the full Master of Divinity program, it offers a 6-course Certificate in Messianic Jewish studies. Classes are held in Brooklyn at the Feinberg Center, though the summer program includes classes at Talbot's Los Angeles campus.[10]

Berlin, Germany

In 2012, the organization opened one of the first buildings dedicated to Jewish evangelism in Europe since World War II in Berlin, Germany. The Berlin center hosts a hospitality network, Shabbat fellowships, tandem language partnerships, and friendship ministries. [6]

Ramat Gan, Israel

In 2017, Chosen People Ministries opened a Messianic Center in the Ramat Gan area of Greater Tel Aviv. The Center hosts seminars on parenting, financial management, biblical counseling, as well as a bi-weekly women’s Bible study.[6]

Church affiliations and memberships

Chosen People Ministries states that it is a member of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability, CrossGlobal Link, the Canadian Council of Christian Charities, the Christian Stewardship Association and the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada.[11]

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References
  1. "Chosen People Ministries: Doctrinal Statement". Archived from the original on October 6, 2011. Retrieved September 12, 2011.
  2. "President's Introduction | Chosen People Ministries". Chosen People Ministries. Retrieved 2018-02-21.
  3. "Mission Statement | Chosen People Ministries". Chosen People Ministries. Retrieved 2018-02-21.
  4. "Messianic Congregations: Messianic Congregations". Archived from the original on February 15, 2014. Retrieved September 12, 2011.
  5. Ariel, Yaakov Shalom (September 13, 2000). Evangelizing the Chosen People: Missions to the Jews in America, 1880 - 2000. H. Eugene and Lillian Youngs Lehman Series. 1358. The University of North Carolina Press. p. 32. doi:10.1007/b62130. ISBN 978-0-8078-4880-7. Not the sort to be satisfied with being just an ordinary mission among the many, Leopold Cohn set about expanding his mission. In 1896 the mission opened a second branch, also in Brooklyn, and moved its headquarters to Williamsburg, and changed its name in 1897 to the Williamsburg Mission to the Jews. Its new headquarters was much larger and included, among other things, a medical clinic that offered needy Jews free medical services. Contrary to a prevailing myth, Jews did not boycott missions, and the physicians working at the clinic were nonconverted Jews who worked for pay. Like the patients who patronized the clinic, they did not consider the mission to be a danger. The mission's program included "Gospel services" on Sunday and Monday nights and sewing and English classes on other nights. The establishment of a boys' club and a Girl Scout troop indicated a growing attempt to evanglize youth.
  6. "International Ministries | Chosen People Ministries". Chosen People Ministries. Retrieved 2018-02-21.
  7. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2011-10-06. Retrieved 2011-09-12.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  8. "Jewish leaders angry over Chosen People Ministries' Messianic outpost." (October 11, 2010).New York Daily News
  9. "Charles Feinberg Center for Messianic Jewish Studies". 2018. Retrieved February 21, 2018.
  10. http://www.feinbergcenter.com/
  11. "Chosen People Ministries: Accountability". Archived from the original on October 6, 2011. Retrieved September 12, 2011.
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