On 1 July, my role with Christian Witness to Israel will change after more than 11 years in the post of General Secretary. I'm not retiring. Far from it. In fact, I'm set to be as busy as ever, if not more so, but not as Gen Sec. From 1 July I will be 'General Secretary Emeritus'. I'm sorry if the title appears grandiose but it wasn't my idea.
As I step aside from leadership of the Society, the big news is that on 1 July Joseph Steinberg will join CWI as Chief Executive
Officer! I’ve known Joseph as a friend for more than 25 years and I’m delighted
at the prospect of working with him.
Joseph grew
up in a Jewish home in the United States and as a teenager, after searching the
Old Testament scriptures, became convinced that Jesus was the promised Messiah.
He
comes to CWI with an impressive track record. At the age of 18 Joseph became a missionary to his own
people and for two years travelled the world and 48 of the 50 US states performing
in evangelistic concerts with The Liberated Wailing Wall.
After
graduating from the Moody Bible Institute’s School of World Missions in Chicago
with a Jewish Studies Diploma in 1988, Joseph joined Christian Witness to
Israel as a field-worker with our London team. From 1991 Joseph trained for the
Anglican ministry at Trinity College, Bristol before being ordained in the
Church of England. While serving as an Anglican minister in Chigwell, Essex he
co-authored ‘The Y Course’ – an excellent evangelistic resource that was used
by over 6,000 churches in the UK – and its companion book, The Book of Y.
Joseph
has taught on the books of Exodus and Leviticus in the All Souls video series Book by Book with Richard Bewes and Paul
Blackham. He has also written the Spring Harvest booklet Psalms: Cries from the Heart.
Joseph
is a gifted and inspirational communicator and has preached extensively in the
UK and globally. He has been a speaker at Spring Harvest, Easter People, the
Christian Resources Exhibition and the Oxford and Cambridge Inter-Collegiate
Christian Unions as well as at hundreds of churches.
All of
us at CWI are thrilled to have Joseph as our new leader and we are looking forward
to working with him to make the good news of Messiah known to the Jewish people
both in the UK and around the world.
As for
me, on 1 July I will become ‘General Secretary Emeritus’, a role in which I
will serve as a consultant to Joseph and a coach to our Communications
Department. God willing, I will continue to speak at churches and conferences but
will also be devoting more time to writing. My first major project will be First Things First, a book on ‘the Jew
first’ principle in the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. I hope to have the
final draft completed by the end of the year.
Please
remember Joseph
and me in your prayers. Pray that God will grant us wisdom, grace and strength to work together
with a single mind and heart for the glory of God and the extension of his
kingdom.
