Bill and Mary Ellen Siegler

Missionary serving
in Boston, Massachusetts

Bill Siegler was raised in a traditional Reform Jewish home in New York City. He attended Hebrew school as a child and was taught the stories of the Old Testament and about the lives of many heroes of the faith. He was also taught the Sh’ma (Deuteronomy 6:4) and to recite it as a prayer at bedtime.

After Bar Mitzvah at the age of 13 he became increasingly secular and eventually declared himself to be an atheist in his mid-teenage years. By the time he was 18 he was heavily into playing guitar as a career path and somehow in the process became open to spirituality again. During the summer prior to attending Berklee College of Music (Boston) he was working as a camp counselor in New Hampshire and became progressively more aware of God’s presence through the witness of creation. It was also during this time that he was introduced to the Bible through another Jewish boy who had been attending a Christian high school.

One day Bill opened his friend’s Bible and began to read the Sermon on the Mount. He had no prior exposure to Jesus or anything Christian. Jesus’ words about the Law and living out the Law from the heart spoke to him like nothing else ever had. It connected with much that he had been taught as a child but had never really understood. It was from that time forward that he began to read the New Testament and to explore the proposition of Jesus of Nazareth as the Messiah of Israel. About six months later he was alone in his dormitory room reading about the Gospel when he rose from his bed and confessed faith in Jesus. At that moment he felt the presence of God come upon him and he knew that what he had just confessed was indeed the truth.

Bill started to attend a Bible study hosted by Chosen People Ministries and eventually began preparing for the work of the ministry within the context of a local Boston congregation. He has served in multiple pastoral staff roles and as an itinerant speaker throughout the United States and Canada. He earned the Master of Divinity degree from Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary and is a licensed minister with Chosen People Ministries. Bill resides a short distance north of Boston, MA with his wonderful wife Mary Ellen and three children. They established North Shore Messianic Fellowship in 2013 (northshoremessianicfellowship.org), a place where both Jews and Gentiles can worship the God of Israel in a manner consistent with the Hebraic heritage of the Church, grounded in its Jewish roots, glorifying God together as one body of Messiah. Bill also offers Jewish evangelism seminars to local Boston area churches, engages in social media outreach, and maintains an active speaking schedule throughout New England.