Karen Anderson prayed to work up the nerve to ask her pastor a few questions about Christianity. She had a genuine interest in the connection between Judaism and Christianity and had been reading on the subject for about two years.
“I had really been reading about the Jewish feasts, which were actually called God’s feasts,” Anderson said.
She realized if she understood more about the Jewish customs, she would see that Christians have more in common with their Jewish friends, co-workers and even strangers than she first believed.
It turned out that Jimmy Moore, pastor of Washington’s First Baptist Church, had just returned from a Washington, D.C., conference where he heard the testimony of a Jewish missionary.
Anderson’s questions led to “Hebrew Roots,” a series of speaking engagements with Robert Pristoop, the Jewish missionary Moore had recommended Anderson speak to.
Anderson and Pristoop have been exchanging correspondence, and she is looking forward to meeting him in person. She plans to come armed with more questions.
“I’m real excited because the more I hear, the more I understand the scripture was written for the Jewish culture, and we read the western interpretation and we lose some of that in translation,” she said.
She said the text came to life once she started learning about the Jewish culture. Pristoop will bring the biblical feasts of Leviticus to life in his presentation.
“He’s going to be talking about some different things. He’s going to be talking about Messiah in the Passover Sunday morning and complete talking about the other feasts Sunday evening,” Anderson said.
Pristoop came from a family in which his father was orthodox, and his mother, an immigrant from Naples, Italy, converted from Catholicism to Judaism. The family observed traditions of both religions, celebrating the Jewish Holy Days with his father’s family and Christmas and Easter at home.
Pristoop will cover several other subjects in the four scheduled presentations he will give.
The series starts Sunday, with Pristoop scheduled to speak at 8:30 a.m. and 11 a.m. and again Sunday evening from 6 p.m. to 7:30.
Pristoop will continue the conversation Monday from 9:30 a.m. to noon. He will wrap up the Hebrew Roots series Wednesday, when he is scheduled to speak from 6:15 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
“I am really excited,” Anderson said. “And the more I have heard and read, the more interesting it gets.”
First Baptist Church is located at 113 N. Harvey St. For more information, about the presentations, go to www.thefirstbaptistchurch.com or call 946-80774.