Our History

Vision

Kerem Adonai seeks to to share the Gospel with both Jews and Gentiles, to provide Messianic Jews with a setting for worship within the context of Jewish culture, and to assist Gentile Christians in exploring the Jewish roots of their faith. We are a Satellite Congregation of Clarksville Vineyard's outreach as a Church Without Walls. Pastor Emeritus Don Jarrell of the Clarksville Vineyard has blessed us with his support and guidance through Grace Ministries, the organization he founded to plant churches locally, nationally, and abroad. Baruch HaShem Adonai! ("Bless the Name of the Lord!")

History

In the spring of 2002, Greg Ridenour was asked by his kinship leader, Teresa Elder, to teach a lesson for the kinship at Clarksville Vineyard Christian Fellowship. Coincidently (or not!), the date he was to teach would be the very night of Passover. The timing of the lesson provided him with the subject: the New Testament significance of the Passover. Following the lesson, Teresa asked Greg if he would teach a Hebrew class for the church. Though skeptical that there would be enough interest, an introductory Hebrew class was offered in the summer of 2002. To his surprise, 21 students registered for the class. Follow-up courses in prayerbook Hebrew were offered during the fall, winter, and spring. It was in these classes that Greg met Cynthia and Candace Purvis, who would later become Hebrew teachers for Kerem Adonai, and Jon Henderson, selected as K.A.'s Chazan (Praise & Worship leader).

Anita Brown, a member of the church Planning Committee, asked Greg if he would conduct a Passover for the homeschooled children. The event was subsequently opened to all at the church. Coordinated by Janice MacDonald, who would later become K.A.'s Special Events and Children's Activities Coordinator, over 60 people attended Clarksville Vineyard's first Passover in the spring of 2003. During the summer of 2003, Greg approached Pastor Don Jarrell about establishing a Messianic Jewish fellowship as a "specialty group" of Clarksville Vineyard. Our first meeting was on August 8, 2003. Kerem Adonai held its first service as a congregation at our celebration of Rosh HaShanah on October 7, 2005, when Greg was presented with a pastoral license from Grace Ministries International by Don Jarrell and Landon Meadow.

In May of 2008, Kerem Adonai moved to our current facility at 203 Providence Blvd. In July of 2008, we were accepted as a congregational member of the Union of Messianic Believers.