Congregation Yeshua Ben David

Congregation Yeshua Ben David gathers in Pittsburgh for a Shabbat service every Saturday at 10:30 a.m. Established in March 2005, it describes itself as "a Messianic Community of His redemptive love, healing, and reconciliation." Its vision is a Yeshua-centered community of Jewish and Gentile believers called to worship, education and outreach within a Jewish expression.

The congregation holds that Yeshua is the promised Messiah of Israel, fully God and fully man. Salvation, it teaches, comes wholly by grace through faith and is not connected with human efforts or mitzvot. Israel's election is irrevocable, and the land belongs to the physical descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob forever. Gentile believers are understood as engrafted into the root of Israel without becoming part of the Jewish people. Because Yeshua's fulfillment does not abrogate the Torah, Jewish believers may keep their distinctive biblical and cultural identity.

Jeff and Kathy Kipp lead the congregation. Jeff, known to the community as Rabbi Jeff, was born in Brooklyn and came to faith in Yeshua through a fellow Jew. Since 1981 the couple have planted and led three Messianic congregations, and Yeshua Ben David is the third. They moved to Pittsburgh in 1993. Jeff also serves as the local representative for Chosen People Ministries. The community intercedes for Israel, the local Jewish community and the people of Pittsburgh, and it meets in Squirrel Hill.