|
|
October 24, 2003/Tishri 28 5764, Vol. 56, No. 5
Presbyterians target Jews
ERIC J. GREENBERG
New York Jewish Week
A new congregation started last month in the Philadelphia area, just in time for the High Holy Days. The service featured a menorah, a Torah and references to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, not to mention Moses.
It also featured a cross, communion, and references to Jesus and salvation. While there have been no shortage of attempts by Christian groups like Jews for Jesus and Hebrew Christians to sponsor religious events blending two clashing theologies in the attempt to attract unaffiliated and intermarried Jews, this congregation, called Avodat Yisrael (Servant of Israel), is unique.
That's because it is believed to be the first "messianic" church ever endorsed and funded by leaders of the Presbyterian Church (USA), the stately but struggling mainline Protestant denomination with about 2.5 million members nationwide. So-called mainline Protestant groups have not been known to target Jews for conversion, as opposed to the larger evangelical Southern Baptist Church.
The launching of Congregation Avodat Yisrael in the Philadelphia suburb of Plymouth Meeting has provoked outrage from some Jewish leaders and Presbyterian ministers, who are criticizing the congregation's founders for using deceptive tactics to lure Jews for conversion.
But its creation may be only the beginning of a national effort by some Presbyterians to convert Jews, The Jewish Week has learned. And the swelling controversy over Avodat Yisrael is shedding light on a heretofore unknown rift within the Presbyterian Church over proselytizing Jews.
A group called The Outreach Foundation, which is affiliated with Presbyterian Church USA and financially supports the minister who started Avodat Yisrael, says it is seeking to expand its evangelism to Jews in America and around the world.
According to the Outreach Foundation's Web site, "many Presbyterians are interested in Jewish evangelism, and the aim of this project is not only to support this Philadelphia-based ministry, but to assist in the development of an emerging network of Presbyterians interested in, praying for, supporting, and participating in evangelistic ministry among Jewish people in the USA and around the world."
Burt Siegel, executive director of Philadelphia's Jewish Community Relations Council, who has been battling with Avodat Yisrael supporters for weeks, said Oct. 21 he was not surprised when informed by The Jewish Week of the Outreach Foundation's national plans to proselytize Jews. The foundation has obtained $345,000 from the Presbyterian Church USA.
Dr. Jefferson Ritchie, associate director of the Outreach Foundation, based in Franklin, Tenn., confirmed that the end goal of the Jewish outreach is to convert Jews.
"We believe in a future where Jews and non-Jews are following Jesus as Lord. The question is how do you do that in the present time," he said during an Oct. 21 telephone interview.
His group has given $5,000 to Messiah Now Ministries, the Philadelphia-based group that sponsors Avodat Yisrael.
The director of Messiah Now Ministries is Andrew Sparks, raised as a Conservative Jew, who became an ordained Presbyterian minister and is the founder and pastor of Avodat Yisrael.
Critics of Avodat Yisrael accuse Rev. Sparks of using deceptive tactics - hiding the fact he is a minister, and that his "messianic congregation" is really a disguised Presbyterian church.
Rev. Sparks, 33, says he is not targeting Jews to leave Judaism, but is providing a positive atmosphere for Christian-Jewish couples and secular Jews to explore Jesus.
|
