What Denominational Organizations Represent Messianic Jews?

It is difficult for the average person surfing the Internet to distinguish between organizations that accurately represent the Messianic Jewish community and those that do not. Messianic Jewish denominational organizations like the Union of Messianic Jewish Congregations (UMJC), the Messianic Jewish Alliance of America (MJAA), the International Alliance of Messianic Congregations and Synagogues (IAMCS), and the International Messianic Jewish Alliance (IMJA), are established and represent the mainstream Messianic Jewish community in North America and around the world. Their statements on Messianic Jewish definition, vision and theology ultimately delineate the center and the periphery of the movement. A number of other significant Messianic Jewish umbrella organizations and networks (e.g. Tikkun International, the Messianic Jewish Rabbinical Council, etc.) are discussed in Introduction to Messianic Judaism: Its Ecclesial Context and Biblical Foundations (Zondervan, 2013).

Like the miracle of the State of Israel rejoining the community of nations after millennia, the Messianic Jewish community has been restored to the Jewish-Christian world after a hiatus of more than 1600 years. For centuries, Messianic Jews were marginalized and treated as an excluded middle by fellow Jews and Gentile Christians. Today there are signs of change. The Messianic Jewish movement is growing in support among churches as New Testament scholars and theologians increasingly demonstrate that Messianic Judaism is consistent with the teachings of the Jewish apostles and the way of life of the earliest communities of Yeshua (Jesus)-believing Jews in the land of Israel. The movement is also winning sympathizers in the Jewish world as Messianic Jews demonstrate through their actions that Yeshua is good for the Jewish people. The UMJC, MJAA, IAMCS and IMJA are all established Messianic Jewish denominational organizations. They connect and represent Messianic Jews worldwide.