Lutheran Church Missouri Synod has Messianic congregations

[FakePigtails]

http://www.stltoday.com/lifestyles/fait ... b13e3.html

 

 

Quote

On a recent Sunday morning, a couple dozen gathered at Congregation Chai v’ Shalom, a makeshift space where stars of David, one with a cross placed in the middle, hang prominently on the walls, alongside what looks like a random collection of paintings.

 

The vast majority of those who attend Chai v’ Shalom are not Jewish, but they are interested in reaching out to Jews. The service itself even caters to Jews, where the Shema, a central Jewish prayer, is recited and much of the lively singing is in Hebrew.

 

But then a distinctly Christian message is delivered: “If you believe in Jesus Christ and trust in him, he takes your sins away.â€

...

Some in the Jewish community find this kind of worship service offensive.

 

Among them is Ruth Guggenheim, executive director of Jews for Judaism, an organization dedicated to preserving Jewish identity. She says melding Jewish and Christian practices can be misleading and confusing to those targeted for conversion.

 

“It’s offensive to have spiritual predators out to get our people,†she said.

 

“It doesn’t make any sense to have a Passover Seder with Jesus in it,†she said, referring to the Jewish feast that celebrates the freeing of the Israelites in Egypt from slavery.

 

I was really surprised to see this given that Messianic congregations have seemed to be a product of small evangelical groups, not mainstream denominations. Not that I already had a lot of good feelings towards the LC-MS, but this definitely drops my opinion even more.

[GeoBQn]

I think a lot more Messianic congregations are rooted in larger mainstream groups than people realize. When I type "Messianic" into the search engine for the Southern Baptist Convention, I get 13 "Messianic Synagogues" and "Messianic Jewish Congregations."

[ThatSnark]

I grew up LCMS and this does not surprise me in the least.

[ExLuther]

First post. I grew up going to a LCMS school and it turned me against religion. I stumbled upon free jinger while researching LCMS years ago.