External links
- Mennonite World Review's articles on the history and growth of the Meserete Kristos Church
- Meserete Kristos Church at Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online
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Meserete Kristos Church is a Mennonite denomination in Ethiopia (P'ent'ay/Evangelical). It is a member of the Mennonite World Conference. The headquarters are in Addis Ababa.
The Church has its origins in an American mission of the Lancaster Mennonite Conference in the 1940s. [1] The first church was founded in 1951 in Addis Ababa. Meserete Kristos Church (meaning "Christ is the foundation Church", based on I Cor. 3:11) was officially founded in 1959. [2] According to a census published in 2022, it would have 1160 churches and 370,909 baptized members. [3]
The college was located in Addis Ababa until January 2007. Since its founding in 1994, the college has produced 262 graduates, [4] and had 110 full-time and 42 part-time students enrolled in the fall of 2006. [5] Construction of a permanent campus in Bishoftu is underway. [6] In January 2007, all physical assets were moved to the new campus, and classes began there on February 6. The five-story education building, the first of 11 planned buildings, is half-completed, and currently houses all classrooms, academic offices, library, and language and computer labs. A men's residence was completed in 2010. Negash Kebede was installed as College President on 11 March 2007. [4] Kiros Teka Haddis was installed as President on September 12, 2012. [7] Fall 2014 enrollment at the college was 214 students (183 male, 31 female). [8]
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Mennonites are a group of Anabaptist Christian church communities tracing their roots to the Radical Reformation. The name is derived from one of the early prominent leaders of the Anabaptist movement, Menno Simons (1496–1561). Through his writings about Reformed Christianity during the Radical Reformation, Simons articulated and formalized the teachings of earlier Swiss founders, with the early teachings of the Mennonites founded on the belief in both the mission and ministry of Jesus, which the original Anabaptist followers held with great conviction, despite persecution by various Roman Catholic and Mainline Protestant states. Formal Mennonite beliefs were codified in the Dordrecht Confession of Faith in 1632, which affirmed "the baptism of believers only, the washing of the feet as a symbol of servanthood, church discipline, the shunning of the excommunicated, the non-swearing of oaths, marriage within the same church", strict pacifistic physical nonresistance, anti-Catholicism and in general, more emphasis on "true Christianity" involving "being Christian and obeying Christ" as they interpret it from the Holy Bible.
Addis Ababa is the capital and largest city of Ethiopia. In the 2007 census, the city's population was estimated to be 2,739,551 inhabitants. Addis Ababa is a highly developed and important cultural, artistic, financial and administrative centre of Ethiopia.
Girma Wolde-Giorgis was an Ethiopian politician who was the president of Ethiopia from 2001 to 2013. He was the second person to hold the office of president since the founding of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia in 1995.
Addis Ababa University (AAU) is a national university located in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. It is the oldest university in Ethiopia. AAU has thirteen campuses. Twelve of these are situated in Addis Ababa, and one is located in Bishoftu, about 45 kilometres (28 mi) away. AAU has several associated research institutions including the Institute of Ethiopian Studies. The Ministry of Education admits qualified students to AAU based on their score on the Ethiopian University Entrance Examination (EUEE).
P'ent'ay is an originally Amharic–Tigrinya language term for Pentecostal Christians. Today, the term refers to all Evangelical Protestant denominations and organisations in Ethiopian and Eritrean societies. Alternative terms include Ethiopian–Eritrean Evangelicalism or the Ethiopian–Eritrean Evangelical Church. Sometimes the denominations and organizations are known as Wenigēlawī.
Dila is a market town and separate woreda in southern Ethiopia. The administrative center of the Gedeo Zone in the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples Region (SNNPR), it is located on the main road from Addis Ababa to Nairobi. The town has a longitude and latitude of 6°24′30″N38°18′30″E, with an elevation of 1570 meters above sea level. It was part of Wenago woreda and is currently surrounded by Dila Zuria woreda.
Bishoftu is a town in central Ethiopia. Located in the East Shewa Zone of the Oromia Region, it sits at an elevation of 1,920 metres (6,300 ft). It was formerly known as Debre Zeyit however since the late 1990s it has been officially known by the Oromo name, Bishoftu from bishaanooftuu, which was its name until 1955. The town serves as the primary airbase of the Ethiopian Air Force.
Kambaata people also spelt as Kambata or Kembata are a Cushitic ethnic group that inhabit the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region of Ethiopia. They speak the Kambaata language, It was a province of Ethiopia beginning in the early 15th century through to the mid-17th century; Ethiopian rule was once again established in the late 19th century under Emperor Menelik II. During this first period, Kambaata province was largely Christianized. The former province is contained within the contemporary Kembata Tembaro Zone of SNNPR.
The Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus is a Lutheran denomination in Ethiopia. It is the largest member church of the Lutheran World Federation. It is a Lutheran denomination with some Pentecostal influence and one Presbyterian-leaning synod, with a large Pietistic following.
Alan Kreider was an American Mennonite historian. He was the American Professor Emeritus of Church History and Mission at the Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary in Elkhart, Indiana. His main interests were mission, worship, peace, and ecclesiastical history. Kreider continued to speak, write and publish in these areas of interest until his death in May 2017.
Steinbach Bible College is an evangelical Anabaptist college located in Steinbach, Manitoba, Canada.
Waliso is a town in Southwest Shewa Zone of the Oromia Region in Ethiopia, 114 km southwest of Addis Ababa, it has a latitude and longitude of 8°32′N37°58′E with an elevation of 2063 meters above sea level. Waliso is the administrative center of this Zone.
Dr. Thomas Alexander Lambie was a missionary medical doctor noteworthy for becoming an Ethiopian citizen, being responsible for several early medical efforts in Ethiopia. He also worked as a medical doctor in Sudan, Nigeria and Palestine, where he died.
Conservative Mennonites include numerous Conservative Anabaptist groups that identify with the theologically conservative element among Mennonite Anabaptist Christian fellowships, but who are not Old Order groups or mainline denominations.
Girma Wake is a retired airline industry executive who served as the Board Chairman of the Ethiopian Airlines Group until June 2023.
The Calvary Hour was a religious radio program based out of Ohio that was broadcast internationally. It was probably the earliest use of mass media by the Mennonite Church.
The Skunder Boghossian College of Performing and Visual Arts is the umbrella organization for Ethiopia's oldest secular schools for the arts, offering Bachelors and Masters programs in art, theater, and music.
The believers' Church is a theological doctrine of Evangelical Christianity that teaches that one becomes a member of the Church by new birth and profession of faith. Adherence to this doctrine is a common feature of defining an Evangelical Christian church.
Ale Felege Selam Heruy was an Ethiopian painter. He founded the Addis Ababa School of Art in 1957, renamed in his honor to Ale School of Fine Arts and Design.
