Dr. Theresa Newell
Dr. Theresa Newell’s story in Jewish evangelism is a story of God’s sovereign grace. When she was 32, the Lord used several friends to tell her the Good News and lead her from a life of destruction. On April 4, 1974, she received the Lord Jesus at Princeton University Chapel under the ministry of Anglican Priest Dennis Bennett.
A year later, Dr. Newell quit her reporting job at the local newspaper and spent time sharing the Gospel with anyone who would listen. Not long thereafter, she began attending a weekly Bible study in the Washington, DC area. It was with this group that she made her first visit to Israel in 1976.
After a moving personal encounter with God at the Western Wall, Dr. Newell recognized her call to Jewish evangelism. She immediately began studying Hebrew under a rabbi. Over the next few years, she also had a number of God-ordained encounters with the Reverend Walter Barker, the International Director of The Church’s Ministry among Jewish People (CMJ)—an organization headquartered in London since 1809. In 1980, Dr. Theresa Newell was invited to open the first American office of CMJ, and until 1986, served as its director. Since that date, she has led over 50 biblical study tours to Israel, and today serves on the CMJ International Board, which oversees CMJ’s ministry centers in Israel.
Dr. Newell was North America coordinator of the Lausanne Consultation on Jewish Evangelism (LCJE-NA) from 1999 to 2007. In 2010, she became chair of the Anglican Church of North America—Ecumenical Relations Task Force/Messianic Jewish sub-committee. Since 2006, she has been CMJ USA chairman of the board, and serves as US representative to CMJ’s Israel board. A journalist by training, Dr. Newell completed her Master in Biblical Studies (OT) and a Doctor of Ministry degree at Trinity School for Ministry, Ambridge, Pennsylvania. From 1994 to 1997, she was director of the extension department at Trinity and today serves as the travel-study director there.
Dr. Newell and her husband Bruce live in Sewickley, Pennsylvania. They have eight children, and 28 grandchildren.
You can learn more about Dr. Theresa Newell and CMJ’s work at www.cmj-usa.org.