Ben David Messianic Jewish Congregation

Ben David Messianic Jewish Congregation gathers in Orange, California, every Shabbat morning at 10:30. Jewish and Gentile believers in Yeshua worship together, with Hebraic worship, Davidic dance and Bible teaching from a Jewish perspective. A prayer meeting begins at 9:00, before the service. The name means "Son of David," chosen to keep the focus on the person of the Jewish Messiah.

The congregation states its vision plainly: "To restore the Jewishness of the Gospel." Many of its members are Jewish, and they hold that acknowledging Yeshua as Messiah does not cost anyone their heritage. Ben David teaches that Israel remains God's chosen people, distinct within the body of Messiah, and that Israel's election is irrevocable. It affirms Yeshua's full deity and full humanity. Salvation, it holds, comes by grace through faith in Yeshua alone, for Jew and Gentile. It believes Jewish and non-Jewish believers are both free to keep aspects of the Laws of Moses as the Lord leads them. Salvation has never come from keeping those laws.

Shabbat School serves children from preschool through high school, using Messianic curriculum that follows the Jewish calendar and the biblical feasts. A nursery is available for the youngest. Hebrew classes run at beginning and intermediate levels, with a Torah reading class as well. The community holds monthly Sisterhood and men's fellowship meetings and keeps a prison ministry of letters, gifts and visits. Doug Friedman founded Ben David and serves as its Messianic Rabbi Emeritus.