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 missionary society founded in 1809.

History

The society began in the early 19th century, when leading evangelical Anglicans, including members of the influential

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

such as

William Wilberforce William Wilberforce (24 August 175929 July 1833) was a British politician, philanthropist and leader of the movement to abolish the slave trade. A native of Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, he began his political career in 1780, eventually becom ...

, and

Charles Simeon Charles Simeon (24 September 1759 – 13 November 1836) was an English evangelical Anglican cleric. Life and career He was born at Reading, Berkshire, in 1759 and baptised at St Laurence's parish church on 24 October of that year. He was the ...

, 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; 1771–1850) was a missionary to Jews. In 1809 he founded the London Society for promoting Christianity amongst the Jews after disagreements with the London Missionary Society The London ...

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 in outlook, with Congregational m ...

. 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

Bethnal Green Bethnal Green is an area in the East End of London northeast of Charing Cross. The area emerged from the small settlement which developed around the Green, much of which survives today as Bethnal Green Gardens, beside Cambridge Heath Road. By ...

, 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 ( he, or , ) is a modernist and syncretic movement of Protestant Christianity that incorporates some elements of Judaism and other Jewish traditions into evangelicalism. It emerged in the 1960s and 1970s from the earlier ...

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

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

: 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 ( ar, أبرشية القدس الأنغليكانية) is the Anglican jurisdiction for Israel, the Palestinian territories, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon. It is a part of the Episcopal Church in Jerusalem and th ...

in 1841, and the first incumbent was one of its workers, Michael Solomon Alexander. The society was active in the establishment of

Christ Church, Jerusalem Christ Church, Jerusalem ( he, כנסיית המשיח), 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 Angli ...

, the oldest

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...

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 Se ...

. 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. The society's historic archives are stored by the Bodleian Library in Oxford. A history of the society was published in 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 established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britai ...

. It currently has branches in the United Kingdom, Israel, Ireland, France, the USA, 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, but the two religions gradually diverged over the first few centuries of the Christian Era. Differences of opinion vary between denominations in both religions, but the most importa ...

. 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 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'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

''. 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 ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת ''Tsiyyonut'' after '' Zion'') is a nationalist movement that espouses the establishment of, and support for a homeland for the Jewish people centered in the area roughly corresponding to what is known in Je ...

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

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

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 St. George's Cathedral is an Anglican (Episcopal) cathedral in Sheikh Jarrah, Jerusalem, established in 1899. It became the seat of the Bishop of Jerusalem of the Episcopal Church in Jerusalem and the Middle East, having taken the title from Ch ...

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 Jewish Christian 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 sev ...

'', (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.

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

History

Current activities

Current issues

See also

References

Bibliography

External links