Billy Graham Ministry Puts Jewish Evangelism Front and Center

One hundred forty-seven people from 45 Jewish mission organizations, academic institutions and congregations met together Sunday through Wednesday for the 31st annual North American conference of the Lausanne Consultation on Jewish Evangelism (LCJE) at the Billy Graham Center in Wheaton, Ill.

The conference theme was the New Testament’s use of the Old Testament, asking the question “How Are the Old Testament Passages Messianic?” Prominent scholars who addressed this subject included Walter Kaiser, president emeritus of Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary; Darrell Bock, executive director of cultural engagement at Dallas Theological Seminary; Michael Rydelnick, professor of Jewish studies at Moody Bible Institute; John Monson, associate professor of Old Testament and Semitic studies at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School; Randall Price, executive director of the Center for Judaic Studies at Liberty University; and Daniel Block, professor of Old Testament at Wheaton College.

The conference also dealt with the concerns of Jewish evangelism practitioners and included an analysis of Israeli traveler ministry and a look at the North American Jewish believing community today.

Bible teaching each morning was provided by Wheaton College President Philip Ryken and College Church of Wheaton’s senior pastor, Josh Moody. Erwin Lutzer, pastor of Moody Church in Chicago, was the speaker for the closing event.

Gary Hedrick, coordinator of the North American Lausanne Consultation on Jewish Evangelism, commented, “LCJE is the only umbrella network for Jewish mission agencies and others with a keen interest in furthering Jewish evangelism efforts here in North America and globally. We are greatly encouraged to have the Billy Graham Center, Wheaton, Ill., which exists to ‘accelerate global evangelism,’ stand with us in this challenging endeavor.”