Chosen People Ministries
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Chosen People Ministries, was founded as the Brownsville Mission to the Jews in 1894 by "Rabbi" Leopold Cohn, a Jewish believer in the Messiahship of Jesus. It was later relocated and became the Williamsburg Mission to the Jews until 1924. 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, Inc. It is an evangelistic organization of Messianic Judaism that exists to reach out to the Jewish people everywhere with the good news of Yeshua the Messiah, to care for, disciple, and plant new Messianic communities of believers in Yeshua, and to be an advocate for the Jewish people.
[edit] History of Chosen People Ministries - List of Presidents
- Leopold Cohn (1894-1920)
- Joseph Hoffman Cohn (1920-1953)
- Harold Pretlove (1953-1957)
- Daniel Fuchs (1958-1975)
- Dr Harold Sevener (1976-1988)
- Sam Nadler (1989-1997)
- Dr Mitch Glaser (1997-current)
[edit] Current Ministry
Chosen People Ministries is a member of the Canadian Council of Christian Charities, the Christian Stewardship Association, the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability, the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada, and the Interdenominational Foreign Mission Association of North America. Headquarters are in New York City.
Chosen People Ministries has staff in 12 countries around the world and starts Messianic Centers and congregations as the main focus of their work. The message of the organization is very simple - the staff believe that Jesus, Yeshua, is the Messiah of Israel and that a Jew who accepts Jesus as their Messiah is still Jewish. This is why Chosen People staff encourage Jews who believe in Jesus to continue oin their identification as Jews, to observe Jewish holidays and to support the nation of Israel.
Following the tradition set by "Rabbi" Cohn and later his son Joseph, the ministry is to this day affirmative of Jewish customs and lifestyle for Jewish believers in Yeshua. Chosen People staff workers establish Messianic havurahs (fellowships), congregations, Synagogues, and community centres around the world.
An interesting controversy over the identity of the founder of Chosen People Ministries, Rabbi Leopold Cohn is discussed in more depth in the article regarding him.
