New here?
If you have never been to a Messianic service, here is what actually happens, so that nothing about the morning is a surprise.
The service follows a prayer book
Our liturgy comes from a Jewish סִדּוּר Siddur. A siddur is a book of set prayers and blessings in a settled order, so a service here is closer to something said together than to something delivered from the front.
If you have only ever been in a church, that is the first difference you will notice, and it is the one that makes people worry about getting it wrong. Nothing on a first morning depends on you keeping up with the book. Listening is enough.
What makes it Messianic
We use that Jewish liturgy while holding that יֵשׁוּעַ Yeshua is the promised מָשִׁיחַ Mashiach. If you are coming from a church, you will recognise the convictions long before you recognise the shape of the morning. If you are coming from a synagogue, it may be the other way round.
Torah is read aloud
Each week has its own portion, a פָּרָשָׁה Parashah, and it is read out to the congregation.
The scroll here is our own. It was written by hand by a סוֹפֵר Sofer, a scribe, roughly two centuries ago, and it came from a synagogue in Kiev. Its wooden rollers, the עֵץ חַיִּים Etz Chaim, were made for it by an artisan, and the ark it is kept in was built by two members of this congregation. The whole story of our scroll has a page of its own.
Afterwards there is food
When the service ends we stay and eat together. That time is called עֹנֶג Oneg, which means delight, and it is the easiest part of the morning to be new in: introduce yourself, or don’t, as you prefer.
Whether to bring anything is worth asking before your first Shabbat with us, rather than guessing. The visiting page has the practical questions and how to get them answered.
The Hebrew words
Every Hebrew word used anywhere on this site is listed in one place, with its meaning and the way it is written. If a word goes past you on a Saturday morning, that list is where to find it afterwards.
You can watch before you visit
If walking into a room of people you do not know is the hard part, start from home. Our services are livestreamed, and the link sits at the top of the Shabbat page with the meeting time and the address.
Ask before you come, if you would rather
A question sent ahead is not an imposition, and no question about a first visit is a strange one.
