Kehilat HaMashiah means “Congregation of the Messiah”. It is pronounced “keh-hee-laht hah-mah-shee-ahkh”, or simply, “KHM”. We are a fellowship of Jewish and Non-Jewish disciples of Yeshua haMashiach - Jesus the Messiah. Here are a few things about us that we hope will help you understand who we are.
In the 1980’s, a group of believers gathered to study G-ds word and struggle with conforming to the life/death/resurrection of Jesus the Nazarene. They began “a fellowship of Jews and Gentiles who believe that Yeshua is the true Jewish Messiah promised by God through the writings of the Hebrew Scriptures, and who worship within the framework of traditional Jewish patterns.”
Our purpose statement helps identify who we see ourselves as today:
We are a Fellowship of Messianic Followers of Yeshua, who are Experiencing and Expressing the Faith through Scriptures Hebraic Heritage.
What does all that mean? Simply that we want our lives to conform to the teachings, life, and ministry of Yeshua and the Apostles. This process can only be successful through a relational community who is experiencing and expressing the three Great Loves: Love of G-d, Love of neighbor, Love of one another.
We are Messianic. We believe that the Gospel - in its entirety - is the redemptive history of G-d’s elected people, Israel, and their story becomes clear through the life and work of Yeshua, the promised Jewish Savior and Messiah/King. We defer to Jesus’ Hebrew name as a reminder that He IS a Jew and G-d’s Salvation is for all the nations.
We are followers of Yeshua. We are both of Israel (Jews) and of the nations (Gentile). By grace from the Father, through the gift of faith in Yeshua the Son, and with the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, we join a long history of ethnic/religious Jews and G-d fearing members of the nations who recognize that the G-d of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is the One true God who sent His Son to save all humanity.
Experiencing and Expressing the Faith. We do not condemn the historical Church or Rabbinic Traditions (nor do we wish to Christianize these), rather we encourage their reconciliation through acceptance of the historical Yeshua. We desire to live out the Faith (Covenantal Loyalty) through the inspiration of Scripture’s Hebraic Heritage. We make use of 2000 years of Rabbinic Judaism and Historic Christianity to adapt a liturgy, traditions, and practices which maintain our separate identities (remaining Jew and Gentile) while providing common expressions of worship.
We are not a Synagogue and do not represent any branch of Rabbinic Judaism (or historical Christianity for that matter). We do not see ourselves as a part of other gentile messianic movements (One Law, Two House, Hebrew Roots, New Israel, etc), and do not subscribe power to a “proper” or “correct” pronunciation of Yeshua or YHWH. We are in general agreement with the statements of faith of the UMJC (Union of Messianic Jewish Congregations), the MJAA (Messianic Jewish Alliance of America) , IAMCS (International Alliance of Messianic Congregations and Synagogues), and are historically associated with the Southern Baptist Messianic Fellowship.
You can contact us at khmpdxadm@gmail.com or visit us at Facebook (@khmpdx).
Again, thank you for joining us today. We are glad you came to explore who we are!
Sincerely,
KHM Elders: Al Cushway, Don RothWilson, David Runestrand