Our History
The British Alliance came into being in 1866 in response to a need that had been felt as far back as 1813 when the B’nei Avraham (Children of Abraham) was founded at the ‘Episcopal Jew’s Chapel’ in Palestine Place, London.
The Hebrew words beneath the clock on the painting of the Chapel (above) are from 1 Kings 8:34:
וְאַתָּה, תִּשְׁמַע הַשָּׁמַיִם, וְסָלַחְתָּ, לְחַטַּאת עַמְּךָ יִשְׂרָאֵל;
וַהֲשֵׁבֹתָם, אֶל-הָאֲדָמָה, אֲשֶׁר נָתַתָּ, לַאֲבוֹתָם
“Then hear Thou in heaven, and forgive the sin of Thy people Israel,
and bring them again unto the land which Thou gavest unto their fathers.”
These Jewish disciples in Yeshua could not accept the tacit assumption of both Synagogue and Church that they were ‘outsiders’. Because their new-found faith made them ‘true Israelites’, they emphasised their essential unity with the Jewish people and sought to demonstrate that Jews in Yeshua were vital to the healthy growth of the Church. Membership of an Alliance, they believed, could strengthen their impact on both Synagogue and Church.
A similar Alliance came into being in America in 1915, followed in 1925 by the birth of The International Hebrew Christian Alliance. The number of Alliances quickly grew to fifteen. The Shoah (Holocaust) reduced the number to five.
The rebirth of the State of Israel in 1948 gave an enormous boost to the self-confidence of Jews and Jewish believers alike. At the outset of the 21st century, there are 18 national Alliances. The largest number of Jewish believers remains within the churches, but the challenge for us all is to be Yeshua’s witnesses to the world and to fulfil our historic calling, which joins us to both the Jewish People and to His Body, the Church. The world has changed radically over the years. So has the Messianic movement. In the UK, the British Messianic Jewish Alliance of Fellowships (BMJAF) was created to help leaders and members of Messianic Fellowships. It aims to establish credibility for these groups and to generate a culture of accountability within them.
