About Son of David
Jewish and Gentile followers of Yeshua, in Maryland.
Son of David is a Messianic Jewish congregation in Montgomery County. We worship Yeshua, keep the Sabbath, and honor the Jewish roots of the faith.
Yeshua was Jewish. The first-century church was Jewish. The Bible is a Jewish book. To love Yeshua is to inherit a Jewish story, and we tell it in its first language.
יֵשׁוּעַ הָיָה יְהוּדִי — Yeshua haya Yehudi — Jesus was Jewish
Vision
Reach. Raise up. Replicate. Relay.
Son of David Congregation endeavors to proclaim Messiah Yeshua through four commitments — the four R's that shape every season of our life together.
- REACH
the Jewish people of Montgomery County and beyond.
- RAISE UP
reproducing, fully functioning disciples.
- REPLICATE
small groups of caring, committed believers.
- RELAY
a Messianic vision to the next generation.
Eleven Values
What we hold to be true.
Our eleven core values are not a marketing list. They are the things we keep saying out loud so that, twenty years from now, the congregation still recognizes itself.
- I.
The Messianic congregation as primary vehicle
The local congregation, gathered week after week, is the primary means by which Jewish people are reached and discipled in the way of Yeshua.
- II.
Developing fully functioning disciples
A disciple is more than an attender. We invest in slow, patient formation: teaching, friendship, and the kind of accountability that produces fruit over years.
- III.
Leaders producing leaders
We measure leadership not by how many follow, but by how many are taught to lead. Leaders who only produce followers stop short of what Yeshua asked.
- IV.
Congregation-based ministry
Effective, enduring ministry is launched and sustained from within a congregation, not detached from it. The Body is the soil; ministry is what grows there.
- V.
Leader-based, not need-based
We do not start ministries because needs are loud; we start them because leaders are ready. Need will always exceed capacity. Leadership is the limiting reagent.
- VI.
A member-empowered congregation
The congregation is not a stage with an audience. It is a household of priests. Members are equipped, sent, and trusted to do the work of ministry themselves.
- VII.
Lay ministry mobilization
Equipping and mobilizing lay ministers — teachers, hosts, counselors, visitors, helpers — is not a backup plan. It is the plan.
- VIII.
Doctrinal clarity
Unity is built on a clearly defined doctrinal position. Vagueness creates fragility. We say what we believe, and why.
- IX.
Servant leadership
Authority is exercised by serving. Elders carry burdens; they do not impose them.
- X.
Faithful and effective service
Both words matter. Faithfulness without effectiveness is wasted; effectiveness without faithfulness is hollow.
- XI.
Truth over tradition
Where Scripture and tradition agree, we walk gladly together. Where they diverge, we choose Scripture — even when the choice is uncomfortable, even when it costs us.
We are these people
Leadership
The Elder Board
Elders set the strategic vision and provide biblical oversight, carrying primary responsibility for spiritual direction and doctrinal integrity. They are joined by שַׁמָּשִׁים Shamashim (deacons, those who serve) and a part-time office staff who keep the day-to-day life of the congregation moving.
-
Elder
Dana Shorb
-
Elder
David Waggoner
-
Elder
Joseph James
