TheChurch's Ministry Among Jewish People (CMJ) (formerly theLondon Jews' Society and the London Society for Promoting Christianity Amongst the Jews) is anAnglicanmissionary society founded in 1809.[1]
The society began in the early 19th century, when leadingevangelical Anglicans, including members of the influentialClapham Sect such asWilliam Wilberforce, andCharles Simeon, desired to promote Christianity among the Jews. In 1809 they formed the London Society for Promoting Christianity Amongst the Jews. The missionaryJoseph Frey is often credited with the instigation of the break with theLondon Missionary Society. A later missionary wasC.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:[2]
The society's work began among the poor Jewish immigrants in theEast End of London and soon spread to Europe, South America, Africa and Palestine.[3] In 1811, a five-acre field on the Cambridge Road inCambridge 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.[4][5][6] In 1813, a Hebrew-Christian congregation calledBenei Abraham (Children of Abraham) started meeting at the chapel in Palestine Place. This was the first recorded assembly ofJewish believers in Jesus and the forerunner of today'sMessianic Jewish congregations.[7] The chapel building later became part of theBethnal Green Hospital administrative buildings.[8]
The London Jews Society was the first such society to work on a global basis.[1] In 1836, two missionaries were sent toJerusalem: 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.[9]
In its heyday, the society had over 250 missionaries.[3] It supported the creation of the post ofAnglican Bishop in Jerusalem in 1841, and the first incumbent was one of its workers,Michael Solomon Alexander.[10] The society was active in the establishment ofChrist Church, Jerusalem, the oldestProtestant church in the Middle East, completed in 1849.[11]
In 1863, the society purchased property outside the walls of theOld City ofJerusalem. In 1897, they opened a hospital on the site, designed by architectArthur Beresford Pite. Today, the building houses the Anglican International School Jerusalem, which is operated by the society.[12]
In 1914, the society was described as:
...the oldest, largest, richest, most enterprising, and best organized of its type, and has auxiliary societies throughout the British Isles and Canada. The society, whose income in 1900-01 was £46,338, with an expenditure of £36,910, employed at 52 missionary stations 199 workers, among them 25 clergymen, 19 physicians, 34 female missionaries, 20 lay missionaries, 35colporteurs, 58 teachers, and 8 apothecaries. Of these, 82 were converts from Judaism. Of the 52 stations 18 are in England, 3 in Austria, 1 in France, 4 in Germany, 2 in the Netherlands, 1 in Italy, 4 in Rumania, 1 in Russia, 1 in Constantinople; in Asia there are 10 stations, among them Jerusalem with 27 workers; in Africa there are 7 stations. About 5,000 Jews have been baptized by the society since its foundation. Its principal organs are theJewish Missionary Intelligence and theJewish Missionary Advocate.[13]
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.[3]
The society's historic archives are stored by theBodleian Library in Oxford andUniversity College London.[14][15] Histories of the society were published in 1908 and 1991.[16][17]
The organisation is one of the ten official mission agencies of theChurch of England.[18] It currently has branches in the United Kingdom, Israel, Ireland, France, the US, Canada, South Africa, Hong Kong and Australia.[19]
The organisation marked its bicentenary in 2009 with four special church services around the United Kingdom.[20]
The missionary focus of CMJ attracts criticism from the Jewish community who regard such activities as highly detrimental toJewish-Christian relations. For example, Rabbi Shmuel Arkush of Operation Judaism, a Jewish organisation dedicated to opposing missionaries, has called for CMJ to be disbanded.[21]
In 1992,George Carey became the firstArchbishop 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 inThe Jewish Chronicle.[22] 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.[23][24][25]
In addition, CMJ has often adopted aZionist 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 theRestorationism of its founders.[26] It supported the establishment of the state ofIsrael in 1948 and continues to engage in pro-Israel advocacy. This has drawn criticism from opponents such asStephen Sizer.[27] A detailed response to Sizer's criticisms was produced by the then General Director of CMJ, Tony Higton.[28]
A further source of tension has been the unusual situation whereby theAnglican Bishop in Jerusalem did not receive jurisdiction overChrist Church, Jerusalem onceSt. 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.[28]
..."The CMJ should be disbanded" he (Rabbi Shmiel Arkush) said.
In a significant advance in Jewish-Christian relations, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr George Carey, has defied the tradition of his predecessors by declining to become patron of the missionary Church's Ministry Among the Jews (CMJ). ... Chief Rabbi Dr Jonathan Sacks called the move "a significant moment in the important challenge of encouraging trust between all the faith communities."
The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr George Carey, this week distanced himself from an advertisement placed by the Church's Ministry among Jewish People which suggested he approved of its missionary work. ... a Lambeth Palace spokesman made it clear that Dr Carey - who refused to become patron of the CMJ upon taking office - had not endorsed the organisation's missionary work.
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