Messianic centre in Toronto well underway
TORONTO,ON—For many Jews, recognizing Jesus as the promised Messiah has often been equated with giving up their Jewish identity. But if Joe Gray has his way, a new Messianic Centre in the heart of Toronto's large Jewish community will mean that Jews who accept Jesus won't have to stop being Jews at all.
Gray, director of Chosen People Ministries (Canada), says he wants Jews to see accepting Jesus as the Messiah as "the most Jewish thing in the world.
"The need to share the gospel with Jewish people is greater now than ever before," says Gray. "Building this Messianic congregation will help us impact one of the largest Jewish communities outside Israel for Jesus."
Chosen People Ministries, founded 116 years ago by Rabbi Leopold Cohn in New York City, has completed phase one of its two-phase plan to turn the ministry's property in the North York area of Toronto into a centre for learning and outreach to Jews in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). Having raised more than $500,000 for the property costs associated with ministry's Toronto headquarters, Chosen People Ministries will officially open its renovated one-storey building next Spring.
The building will include a Messianic library and resource centre, classrooms, a worship area, more parking for visitors, and expanded office space to accommodate the 14 staffers currently working with Chosen People Ministries. A second phase calls for a second storey to be added to the property. Fundraising for phase two is already underway.
The GTA would seem to be a fertile area for outreach to Jewish people, particularly Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe. Thirty-five per cent of Jewish people in the GTA are immigrants, with a little more than half of such immigrants to Canada settling in the GTA. The new Chosen People Ministries Messianic Centre in Toronto joins a growing roster of such centres around the world, including Montreal, Jerusalem, Berlin, Buenos Aires and two in New York. Plans are underway to eventually open up other Messianic Centres in Winnipeg and Vancouver.
Gray believes that the key to successful outreach to Canadian Jews is allowing Jewish people to accept Jesus without giving up their Jewish heritage and culture.
"It simply is not helpful to ask me to stop being Jewish or cease to be part of the Jewish community," he says. "Our ministry is not out to 'convert' Jews because we know that being part of the Jewish community is important to most Jews, even those that don't practise their faith."
The new Messianic Centre will help Jews seek Jesus in a familiar environment. Chosen People Ministries staff also speak in churches about the need to reach out to Jews with the gospel message.
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