Gospel ministry for Israel

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Gospel Ministry for Israel V.
(EDI)
logo
legal form registered non-profit association
founding 1971
Seat Schoenbergstrasse 23, 73760 Ostfildern ( ⊙ coordinates: 48 ° 43 ′ 25.9 ″  N , 9 ° 13 ′ 40 ″  E )
main emphasis Accompaniment of messianic-Jewish communities in Germany and Israel
Action space Germany
Chair Rev. Markus Hägele
Managing directors Armin Bachor
Website www.edi-online.de

The Evangeliumsdienst für Israel eV (EDI) is a non-profit association based in Ostfildern near Stuttgart. It was founded in 1971 as a free, donation-financed organization within the Evangelical Church in Württemberg and is still based there today.

history

In December 1971 Alfred Burchartz (1923–2009) founded the EDI with the support of friends and the Evangelical Church in Württemberg. Before that he worked for the Swiss Evangelical Jewish Mission (SEJ). However, the SEJ underwent a profound change in the 1960s and rejected any “ mission to the Jews ”. Thereupon Burchartz left the organization that today operates as the Foundation for Church and Judaism. As head of the EDI, Burchartz developed a great creative power: he wrote books and essays, spoke at conferences and in churches and taught at Bible schools; All of this was done with the aim of introducing Christians to Judaism and its traditions. In 1989, Burchartz gave up the management, and Hartmut Renz took his place. In 1994 a further focus was added to the work of the EDI. Messianic Jews joined the team with Anatoli and Irina Uschomirski , who began social-diaconal and evangelistic work among Russian-speaking Jews and in the course of this founded a messianic congregation. This also began a theological debate on the subject of “mission to the Jews”, which the work continues to challenge today. In 2010 Armin Bachor was appointed theological director of the EDI and at the same time took over management. The board of directors has been occupied by a pastor from the Württemberg regional church since it was founded .

job

"The work of the EDI focuses on accompanying Jewish-messianic congregations in Germany and Israel. The association itself is not missionary, but sees its task in accompanying Messianic Jews in Germany in their theological development and supporting them in their congregational services The concrete cooperation in Israel is largely at the informational level. In addition, the association finances social-diaconal projects of the congregations, such as the Ebenezer senior citizens' home in Haifa and the service of the Messianic congregation in Arad among Beduins. The Arab-Christian reconciliation initiative Musalaha is also supported This initiative brings Christian Arabs and Messianic Jews together with the aim of initiating dialogue, reaching understanding based on the gospel and living reconciliation. Another concern of gospel ministry is to educate Christians about the Jewish roots of their faith enlighten and develop love and understanding for Judaism. The EDI publishes brochures that explain Jewish traditions or take up historical topics. In addition, the association organizes relevant seminars and provides lectures and sermons that deal with theological aspects of messianic Judaism to interested parties.

With regard to Messianic Jews, the EDI currently sees itself in a mediating role between “church and synagogue”: On the part of Christians, the EDI wants to awaken understanding that Jews who believe in Jesus as their Messiah think of their faith in a Jewish form of expression and practice. In this context, Messianic Jews formulate a Messianic-Jewish theology and Halacha (practice of faith). This happens in analogy to the Jewish followers of Jesus of the 1st century, who gathered in the synagogue and called themselves not Christians ( early Christianity ) but “saints”.

Positions

The EDI bases its theological self-understanding in its guidelines with the Pauline image of the body of Christ, which consists of Jews and Gentiles (1 Cor 12:13; Gal 3:26-28; Eph 2:14; Col 3:11). A believer's Jewish identity persists even after he comes to believe in Jesus. Since Jesus himself was a Jew, just like the apostles and the first churches, one must understand the New Testament from its Jewish context. The EDI adheres to the permanent election of Israel and rejects replacement theologies; the eternally valid covenant of God with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is an expression of "love and care for his people Israel". The nations have access to salvation through Jesus Christ. The EDI sees in this the fulfillment of a promise that was already given to Abraham (Gen 12: 4). The gospel applies to all people, Jews as well as non-Jews, the EDI strictly rejects a “second” way to salvation. The EDI emphasizes the unity of the Bible. The Old and New Testaments are inseparable, and the entire text is still valid for Christians today. Faith in Jesus Christ is “always also faith in the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob”. Mission to Jews , if it is aimed at converting Jews to Christianity, should be rejected according to the EDI. Because it is true that "Jews who believe in Jesus as their Messiah do not convert to a strange God". In principle, however, the EDI welcomes encounters with Jewish people: “Anyone who shares the gospel in word and deed in the spirit of Jesus Christ will always do it with respect, esteem and love, even if the Jewish interlocutor rejects Jesus as the Messiah.” The Gospel Ministry confesses the guilt of the church for having ostracized and persecuted Jews for centuries and rejects any form of anti-Semitism.

Controversy

Criticism of the EDI is sparked by its attitude towards evangelism among Jews. This contradicts the official position of the Evangelical Church in Germany. After long debates and advances by individual regional churches, the EKD publicly spoke out against any form of mission to the Jews for the first time in 1998. When the Gospel Ministry for Israel was admitted to the “Market of Opportunities” at the Evangelical Church Congress a year later, the Israelite Religious Community of Württemberg canceled its participation in protest. The EDI was then unloaded again on the grounds that it did not want to disturb the Christian-Jewish dialogue. In 2010, messianic organizations were given the opportunity to represent themselves and their concerns at the Ecumenical Church Congress in Munich. This was thanks to the initiative of the Bavarian regional synod. The Heidelberg theology Theo Sundermeier also criticized the attitude of the Evangelical Church to refuse messianic Jews and thus brothers and sisters in faith; this is because of a misunderstood consideration for traditional Jewish communities. To this day, nothing has changed in the EKD's decision. In the run-up to the 2015 Kirchentag, which took place in Stuttgart, however, the regional bishop Frank Otfried July caused a stir when he announced that messianic Jews were invited to take part in the Kirchentag. However, this attempt failed because of the organizers and the market of possibilities remained closed to messianic congregations this year as well. However, at the insistence of the hosts, a panel discussion was held in the Liederhalle, during which a messianic Jew had the opportunity to speak for the first time at a church convention. In addition, an unscheduled Shabbat service including a panel discussion took place in the Messianic Jewish community of Adon Jeschua in Stuttgart, to which around 400 guests came. On November 9, 2016, the EKD Synod published the paper “... the faithfulness lasts forever” (Psalm 146: 6) - “A declaration on Christians and Jews as witnesses of God's faithfulness”. In it she affirmed her no to the mission to the Jews:

“Regardless of their mission into the world, Christians are not called to show Israel the way to God and his salvation. All efforts to induce Jews to change their religion contradict the confession of faithfulness to God and the election of Israel. "

On the one hand, the EDI criticized the statement about forced conversions in the introduction to the theses; after all, these no longer exist today. On the other hand, he noted critically that the existence of messianic Jews was not mentioned in the rally. The EKD Council did the latter a year later. In October 2017 he published the position paper Jewish Christians - Jewish Christians - »Messianic Jews« . In it, the EKD deals with the newer messianic movement in Germany in detail for the first time and tries to come up with an opinion. The EDI is also mentioned as a supporter, connected with the allegation that they consider Judaism to be “deficient” because they insist on the confession of Christ as Savior for all, and thus also for Jews. The FDHA responded to this statement with a statement in April 2018.

Cooperation partner

As an internal church work, the EDI is a member of the Württemberg Evangelical Working Group for World Mission and a cooperation partner of the Evangelical Mission in Solidarity (EMS) and a member of the Evangelical Middle East Commission (EMOK) of the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD). At the international level, the Gospel Ministry for Israel is a member of the LCJE (Lausanne Consultation on Jewish Evangelism).

Publications (selection)

  • Alfred Burchartz: Israel's festivals. What Christians Should Know About It. 8th edition. Neukirchener Verlag, Neukirchen 2017
  • Alfred Burchartz: Christian Witness for Israel Today. In: Alfred Burchartz, Baruch Maoz: Israel - our love Contributions to the current discussion about a renewal of the relationship between Christians and Jews. Gospel Ministry for Israel, Leinfelden, undated, pp. 10-14.
  • Alfred Burchartz: God's great love. Evangelical responsibility for Israel. SCM Hänssler, Holzgerlingen 1997
  • Hartmut Renz (ed.): Jews find their messiah. Reports and testimonies from 40 years of gospel ministry for Israel. SCM Hänssler, Holzgerlingen 2012
  • Anatoli Uschomirski: The Sermon on the Mount from a Jewish perspective. What Jews and Christians can learn from Jesus . SCM Hänssler, Holzgerlingen 2020
  • Anatoly Uschomirski: Help, Jesus, I am a Jew. A life between the worlds. 3. Edition. SCM Hänssler, Holzgerlingen 2020.
  • Anatoly Uschomirski: The Jews first . Theological Perspectives of the “Mission to the Jews” in Church History, Korntaler Series Volume II, VTR: 2014.
  • Armin Bachor: The Secret of the Reformation . In: Mishkan - A Forum on the Gospel and the Jewish People, Issue 78/2017 - Luther and the Jewish People, Part 2, pp. 34–39 (pdf)

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Ernst Ludwig Ehrlich: Christians and Jews today. Needs and difficulties in dialogue. P. 26, In: Hans Euler, Ansgar Kuschel (Ed.): The dialogue between and Christians: Attempts at the conversation after Auschwitz. Campus, Frankfurt / New York 1999.
  2. ^ Hartmut Renz, Alfred Burchartz: A Giant for Jewish Evangelism. In: LCJE Bulletin. No. 98, 2009, pp. 22-24.
  3. ↑ Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD): Jewish Christians - Jewish Christians - “Messianic Jews”. A determination of the position of the joint committee “Church and Judaism” on behalf of the EKD Council. Hanover 2017. ekd.de (PDF).
  4. ^ Messianic Jewish community. Retrieved September 17, 2018 .
  5. ↑ Israel. Retrieved September 17, 2018 .
  6. ↑ MC Arad. Retrieved September 17, 2018 .
  7. ↑ Ebenezer. Retrieved October 10, 2018 .
  8. ^ Messianic congregation Arad. Retrieved October 10, 2018 .
  9. ↑ a b c d Theological guidelines edi-online.de
  10. ↑ idea.de
  11. ↑ Markus Brauer in the Stuttgarter Nachrichten: A dispute without results. June 5, 2015. stuttgarter-nachrichten.de Retrieved April 23, 2018.
  12. ↑ EKD, Resolutions, 3rd meeting of the 12th Synod of the EKD, Magdeburg 3rd to 9th November 2016 ekd.de Retrieved on April 23, 2018.
  13. ↑ EDI statement. Retrieved September 13, 2018 .
  14. ↑ EDI statement. Retrieved September 13, 2018 .
  15. ↑ WAW. Retrieved September 18, 2018 .
  16. ↑ EMOK. Retrieved September 18, 2018 .
  17. ↑ LCJE. Retrieved September 18, 2018 .