Helsinki Consultation meeting in Krakow


From Friday, June 23 to Sunday, June 25, 2016, the members of the Helsinki Consultation met in Krakow. Father David participated and reports:

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The annual meeting of the members of the Helsinki Consultation on Jewish Continuity in the Body of the Messiah took place in Krakow from June 23 to June 25, 2017.

The Helsinki Consultation consists of an international fellowship of Jewish scholars and theologians who acknowledge Jesus as Israel’s Messiah and who live as members of diverse ecclesial bodies. The Consultation includes Messianic Jews and Jews from Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox churches. Named after the city in which the first meeting was held in 2010, it originates in the desire of these Jewish disciples of Jesus to learn from one another and to establish a vehicle for exploring their common concerns. The Consultation aims at elaborating and promoting a united voice for Jewish followers of Jesus. While holding differing views on many important questions, the participants agree that the existence and life of Jews within the body of Christ has theological significance for the whole. It is our conviction that the Church in its essence is the communion of Jews and those from the nations called to faith in Christ.

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This year’s conference was held under the title: “Jewish followers of Jesus and the wounds of memory: source of healing or further trauma?” There were ten Consultation participants in the conference coming from Israel, United States, France, Finland, Germany, England, Canada and Russia, members of the Russian Orthodox, Anglican and Roman Catholic Churches and the Messianic movement. The conference was held in the large historic convent of the Dominicans in historic Old Krakow.

The meeting began with a Messianic Kabbalat Shabbat service, led by US Messianic Rabbi Mark Kinzer. The following day, Saturday, three sessions of conferences on the theme included each time two Helsinki Consultation speakers and one Polish speaker. The day ended with a Russian Orthodox vespers service.

On Sunday, the day began with a Sunday mass, celebrated in Hebrew by Father David Neuhaus. The presence of three Sisters of Our Lady of Sion assured the singing in Hebrew of the parts of the mass. After the prayer, another two sessions of lectures concluded the pubic part of the meeting. It is important to note that the last session included as a guest speaker Stanisław Krajewski, a Polish Jewish philosopher, mathematician, writer and activist of the Jewish minority in Poland.

The Consultation members will continue for another two days of closed-door meetings.

See Consultation website here

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