The Church's Ministry Among Jewish People (CMJ) (formerly the London Jews' Society and the London Society for Promoting Christianity Amongst the Jews) is an

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

missionary society A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group who is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thoma ...

founded in 1809.

History

The society began in the early 19th century, when leading

evangelical Anglicans Evangelical Anglicanism or Evangelical Episcopalianism is a tradition or church party within Anglicanism that shares affinity with broader evangelicalism. Evangelical Anglicans share with other evangelicals the attributes of "conversionism, a ...

, including members of the influential

Clapham Sect The Clapham Sect, or Clapham Saints, were a group of social reformers associated with Holy Trinity Clapham in the period from the 1780s to the 1840s. Despite the label "sect", most members remained in the Established Church, established (and do ...

such as

William Wilberforce William Wilberforce (24 August 1759 – 29 July 1833) was a British politician, philanthropist, and a leader of the movement to abolish the Atlantic slave trade. A native of Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, he began his political career in 1780 ...

, and

Charles Simeon Charles Simeon (24 September 1759 – 13 November 1836) was an English Evangelical Anglicanism, evangelical Anglican cleric and biblical commentator who led the evangelical 'Low Church' movement, in reaction to the liturgically and episcopally ...

, desired to promote Christianity among the Jews. In 1809 they formed the London Society for Promoting Christianity Amongst the Jews. The missionary

Joseph Frey Joseph Samuel Christian Frederick Frey (born Joseph Levi; September 21, 1771–1850) was a German activist who sought to convert Jews to Christianity. He was active in London and in the United States. He was born in Maynstockheim, Franconia, th ...

is often credited with the instigation of the break with the

London Missionary Society The London Missionary Society was an interdenominational evangelical missionary society formed in England in 1795 at the instigation of Welsh Congregationalist minister Edward Williams. It was largely Reformed tradition, Reformed in outlook, with ...

. A later missionary was C.W.H. Pauli. Abbreviated forms such as the London Jews' Society or simply The Jews' Society were adopted for general use. The original agenda of the society was: * Declaring the Messiahship of Jesus to the Jew first and also to the non-Jew * Endeavouring to teach the Church its Jewish roots * Encouraging the physical restoration of the Jewish people to Eretz Israel - the Land of Israel * Encouraging the Hebrew Christian/Messianic Jewish movement The society's work began among the poor Jewish immigrants in the East End of London and soon spread to Europe, South America, Africa and Palestine. In 1811, a five-acre field on the Cambridge Road in Cambridge Heath, east London, was leased as a centre for missionary operations. A school, training college and a church called the Episcopal Jews' Chapel were built here. The complex was named Palestine Place. In 1813, a Hebrew-Christian congregation called ''Benei Abraham'' (Children of Abraham) started meeting at the chapel in Palestine Place. This was the first recorded assembly of Jewish believers in Jesus and the forerunner of today's

Messianic Jewish Messianic Judaism is a syncretic Abrahamic religious sect that combines Christian theology with select elements of Judaism. It considers itself to be a form of Judaism but is generally considered to be a form of Christianity, including by al ...

congregations. The chapel building later became part of the

Bethnal Green Hospital Bethnal Green Hospital was an acute care hospital, in Bethnal Green in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, England. It opened in 1900, and it closed in 1990. History Bethnal Green Hospital was initially opened as the local workhouse infirmary o ...

administrative buildings.

Overseas mission

The London Jews Society was the first such society to work on a global basis. In 1836, two missionaries were sent to

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

: Dr. Albert Gerstmann, a physician, and Melville Bergheim, a pharmacist, who opened a clinic that provided free medical services. By 1844, it had become a 24-bed hospital. In its heyday, the society had over 250 missionaries. It supported the creation of the post of

Anglican Bishop in Jerusalem The Anglican Diocese of Jerusalem () is the Anglican Communion, Anglican jurisdiction for Israel, Palestine, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon. It is a part of the Episcopal Church in Jerusalem and the Middle East, and has diocesan offices at St. George' ...

in 1841, and the first incumbent was one of its workers,

Michael Solomon Alexander Michael Solomon Alexander (1 May 1799 – 23 November 1845) was the first Anglican Bishop in Jerusalem. Life He was the second son and one of five children born to Alexander Wolff. His ancestors may have come to Prussia from England, or ma ...

. The society was active in the establishment of

Christ Church, Jerusalem Christ Church, Jerusalem (), is an Anglican church located inside the Old City of Jerusalem, established in 1849 by the London Society for Promoting Christianity Amongst the Jews. It was the original seat of the Anglican Bishop in Jerusalem un ...

, the oldest

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

church in the Middle East, completed in 1849. In 1863, the society purchased property outside the walls of the Old City of

. In 1897, they opened a hospital on the site, designed by architect

Arthur Beresford Pite Arthur Beresford Pite (2 September 1861 – 27 November 1934) was a British architect known for creating Edwardian buildings in Baroque Revival, Byzantine Revival and Greek Revival styles. The early years Arthur Beresford Pite was born on 2 S ...

. Today, the building houses the Anglican International School Jerusalem, which is operated by the society. Beit Bussel

In 1914, the society was described as: In response to changing attitudes towards outreach and the Jewish people, the society has changed its name several times over the years, first to Church Missions to Jews, then The Church's Mission to the Jews, followed by The Church's Ministry Among the Jews, and finally to the current name of The Church's Ministry Among Jewish People, which was adopted in 1995. It operates under the governance of the Vincent Society. The society's historic archives are stored by the

Bodleian Library The Bodleian Library () is the main research library of the University of Oxford. Founded in 1602 by Sir Thomas Bodley, it is one of the oldest libraries in Europe. With over 13 million printed items, it is the second-largest library in ...

in Oxford and

University College London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...

. Histories of the society were published in 1908 and 1991.

Current activities

The organisation is one of the ten official mission agencies of the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

. It currently has branches in the United Kingdom, Israel, Ireland, France, the US, Canada, South Africa, Hong Kong and Australia. The organisation marked its bicentenary in 2009 with four special church services around the United Kingdom.

Current issues

The missionary focus of CMJ attracts criticism from the Jewish community who regard such activities as highly detrimental to

Jewish-Christian relations Christianity began as a movement within Second Temple Judaism, and the two religions gradually diverged over the first few centuries of the Christian era. Today, differences in opinion vary between denominations in both religions, but the most ...

. For example, Rabbi Shmuel Arkush of Operation Judaism, a Jewish organisation dedicated to opposing missionaries, has called for CMJ to be disbanded. In 1992,

George Carey George Leonard Carey, Baron Carey of Clifton (born 13 November 1935) is a retired Anglican bishop who was the Archbishop of Canterbury from 1991 to 2002, having previously been the Bishop of Bath and Wells. During his time as archbishop the C ...

became the first

Archbishop of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the Primus inter pares, ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the bishop of the diocese of Canterbury. The first archbishop ...

in 150 years to decline to be the Patron of CMJ, a decision that was praised by Jewish leaders and reported as the front-page headline in ''

The Jewish Chronicle ''The Jewish Chronicle'' (''The JC'') is a London-based Jewish weekly newspaper. Founded in 1841, it is the oldest continuously published Jewish newspaper in the world. Its editor () is Daniel Schwammenthal. The newspaper is published every Fri ...

''. Subsequent reports confirmed that the Archbishop, the most senior figure in the Anglican Church, did not wish to endorse the organisation's missionary work, which he felt was damaging to interfaith relations. In addition, CMJ has often adopted a

Zionist Zionism is an Ethnic nationalism, ethnocultural nationalist movement that emerged in History of Europe#From revolution to imperialism (1789–1914), Europe in the late 19th century that aimed to establish and maintain a national home for the ...

position, and expressed the view that the Jewish people deserved a state in the Holy Land decades before Zionism began as a movement, in accordance with the

Restorationism Restorationism, also known as Christian primitivism, is a religious perspective according to which the early beliefs and practices of the followers of Jesus were either lost or adulterated after Crucifixion of Jesus, his death and required a "r ...

of its founders. It supported the establishment of the state of

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

in 1948 and continues to engage in pro-Israel advocacy. This has drawn criticism from opponents such as Stephen Sizer. A detailed response to Sizer's criticisms was produced by the then General Director of CMJ, Tony Higton. A further source of tension has been the unusual situation whereby the

did not receive jurisdiction over

once St. George's Cathedral, Jerusalem was constructed in 1899. Many of the bishops have not shared CMJ's convictions or their desire to take the gospel to the Jewish community, but Christ Church belongs to CMJ, which has always had the status of an independent Anglican society, and consequently the bishops do not have control over the church or its activities.

References

Bibliography

* Gidney, W. T., ''

Joseph Wolff Joseph Wolff (1795 – 2 May 1862) was a Messianic Jewish missionary born in Weilersbach, near Bamberg, Germany, named Wolff after his paternal grandfather. He travelled widely, and was known as "the missionary to the world". He published se ...

'', (Biographies of eminent Hebrew Christians), London Society for Promoting Christianity Amongst the Jews, 1903 *Perry, Yaron (2003). ''British Mission to the Jews in Nineteenth-Century Palestine''. London: Routledge. * Lewis, Donald M. ''The Origins of Christian Zionism: Lord Shaftesbury and Evangelical Support for a Jewish Homeland'', Cambridge University Press, 2009. * Villani, Stefano
“Christianus Lazarus Lauria e l’attività della London Society for the Propagation of Christianity among the Jews in Italia,”
''Annali di Storia dell’Esegesi'' 34/1 (2017), pp. 199-228

External links

CMJ UK website

CMJ Israel website

CMJ Ireland website

CMJ USA website

CMJ Canada website

CMJ South Africa (Messiah's People) website

CMJ Australia, New Zealand, and India website

CMJ France website

CMJ Hong Kong website

* [https://web.archive.org/web/20150627044311/http://omeka.wustl.edu/omeka/exhibits/show/brisman/bookstamp/item/6816 Bookplate of the library of the London Society for Promoting Christianity Amongst the Jews (Rare Books of the Shimeon Brisman Collection in Jewish Studies, Washington University)] {{Authority control 1809 establishments in the United Kingdom Hebrew Christian movement Anglican organizations established in the 19th century Christian Zionism in the United Kingdom Church of England missionary societies Clapham Sect Conversion of Jews to Christianity Jews and Judaism in the United Kingdom Late modern history of Jerusalem Religious organisations based in London Religious organizations established in 1809