The Outro and the Intro

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.