WHAT IS A CHAVURAH?

The "Chavurah Movement" began in the late sixties. It was started by groups of people with a deep desire to cultivate a Jewish lifestyle and who felt the synagogue wasn't sufficient to provide the sort of community experience desired. The word "chavurah" is from the Hebrew word meaning "friend". A chavurah is a fellowship group expressing Jewish identity.  The Lawrencille Messianic Chavurah is connected with Rock of Israel PCA in Northeast Philadelphia.

WHAT IS THE LAWRENCEVILLE MESSIANIC CHAVURAH?

We are a "Messianic" chavurah. We believe Jesus is the Jewish Messiah, and therefore Jewishness and Jesus go together. Our chavurah provides fellowship and teaching, and seeks to express New Covenant faith (see Jeremiah 31:31) in a Jewish style. We welcome Jewish and Gentile believers in the Messiah and others seeking to know more about the reasons for this belief. We seek to be supporting friends dealing with the issues relating to Jewishness and Jesus.

We are a home felloweship of Rock of Israel PCA but we also welcome people from other congregations and also those who are not yet believers in Jesus.  Our Teaching Elder is Rev. Fred Klett, director of the CHAIM ministry, who is also being called as an associate Pastor at Rock of Israel PCA.

WHY DOES IT EXIST?

There are several "Messianic Jewish" congregations in the Philadelphia area, and some Jewish Christians choose this option. However, most Jewish believers choose the option of fellowship in "regular" local churches. Both forms can be valid expressions of New Testament faith, and both have their strengths and weaknesses.

The option of Jewish believers in churches demonstrates the unity of the body of Messiah and helps sensitize non-Jewish members to a Jewish perspective. But often Jewish believers experience "culture shock" and initially feel the church to be a rather foreign environment. Many require special support and may want to express more fully the Jewishness of the gospel. Many Jewish believers do not fellowship anywhere.

Another problem is that once settled in a local church, Jewish Christians sometimes find it difficult to nurture a New Covenant Jewish identity. There is the danger of becoming culturally assimilated, not necessarily by choice as much as by habit. This is rather regrettable, since there is such a rich Jewish heritage to experience and cultural assimilation can impede continuing close relationships with Jewish family members and friends. This is seen as a major threat to Jewish survival. The church has rarely addressed these concerns. We seek to.

Jewishness and commitment to Jesus are not mutually exclusive. After all, Jesus is Jewish, the disciples were Jewish, and it was the early Jewish believers who brought the news of Messiah to the Gentiles.

WHAT DO WE DO?

We have meetings every other week. These Friday evening studies are designed to introduce the reasons for belief in Jesus as Messiah to those who have not yet come to believe and to strengthen the faith of those who have. Everyone is welcome, whether Jewish or Gentile, believer or not. We only request that all who wish to come are motivated by a desire for learning and fellowship.

WHAT TO EXPECT:

We start with a time of Jewish style singing, then follow with a study, a brief time of prayer, and then an "oneg" (refreshment time). Our basic goals are to study the scriptures together, to demonstrate the consistency of the New Covenant Faith with the whole of the Tenach (Old Testament), and to seek together a New Covenant lifestyle which is cognizant of the Jewish roots of Christianity and meaningful for both Jews and Gentiles. We encourage believers to bring their "non-messianic" friends to this meeting. Jewish sources and customs are referred to in the course of the studies wherever possible.

HOLIDAY CELEBRATIONS

Holidays are an important part of Jewish life. A Jewish believer in Jesus (or Yeshua as his mother Miriam called him!) need not abandon Jewish holidays and run out and buy an Easter basket and a plastic Santa Claus! The Jewish holidays can be celebrated in a way consistent with faith in Jesus as Messiah and Lord. This can be edifying for both Jews and Gentiles. Certainly, New Covenant believers are in no way required to observe Jewish holidays, yet they have tremendous pedagogical value. Chavurah participants seek to celebrate the Jewish holidays together in a way honoring to God, consistent with the New Covenant, and recognizing their fulfillment in the Messiah.

FOR DIRECTIONS CONTACT:  

Rev. Fred Klett, P.O. Box 133, Glenside, PA 19038, (215) 576-7325
Or email us at: chaim@chaim.org

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