Meserete Kristos Church is a
Mennonite
Mennonites are a group of Anabaptism, Anabaptist Christianity, Christian communities tracing their roots to the epoch of the Radical Reformation. The name ''Mennonites'' is derived from the cleric Menno Simons (1496–1561) of Friesland, part of ...
denomination in
Ethiopia
Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...
and
Eritrea
Eritrea, officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa, with its capital and largest city being Asmara. It is bordered by Ethiopia in the Eritrea–Ethiopia border, south, Sudan in the west, and Dj ...
(
P'ent'ay
P'ent'ay (from Geʽez: ) 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 term ...
/
Evangelical
Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes evangelism, or the preaching and spreading of th ...
). It is a member of the
Mennonite World Conference
The Mennonite World Conference (MWC) is an international Mennonite Anabaptist Christian denomination. Its headquarters are in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada.
History
The first ''Mennonite World Conference'' was held in Basel in 1925. Its main purpos ...
. The headquarters are in
Addis Ababa
Addis Ababa (; ,) is the capital city of Ethiopia, as well as the regional state of Oromia. With an estimated population of 2,739,551 inhabitants as of the 2007 census, it is the largest city in the country and the List of cities in Africa b ...
.
History
The Church has its origins in an American mission of the
Lancaster Mennonite Conference in the 1940s. The first church was founded in 1951 in
Addis Ababa
Addis Ababa (; ,) is the capital city of Ethiopia, as well as the regional state of Oromia. With an estimated population of 2,739,551 inhabitants as of the 2007 census, it is the largest city in the country and the List of cities in Africa b ...
. ''Meserete Kristos Church'' (meaning "Christ is the foundation Church", based on I Cor. 3:11) was officially founded in 1959. According to a census published in 2022, it had 1,160 churches and 370,909 baptized members.
In 2005,
Amnesty International
Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says that it has more than ten million members a ...
reported the church experienced religious persecution in Eritrea, where it had been present for decades.
Meserete Kristos College
The college was located in
Addis Ababa
Addis Ababa (; ,) is the capital city of Ethiopia, as well as the regional state of Oromia. With an estimated population of 2,739,551 inhabitants as of the 2007 census, it is the largest city in the country and the List of cities in Africa b ...
until January 2007. Since its founding in 1994, the college has produced 262 graduates,
[''Meserete Kristos College Newsletter'' (May 2007).] and had 110 full-time and 42 part-time students enrolled in the fall of 2006.
["Meserete Kristos College moves in," ''The Mennonite'', 15 May 2007] Construction of a permanent campus in
Bishoftu is underway. 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.
[ Kiros Teka Haddis was installed as President on September 12, 2012. Fall 2014 enrollment at the college was 214 students (183 male, 31 female).][''Meserete Kristos College Newsletter'' (December 2014): 1.]
Currently the President of Meserete Kiristos church is Pastor Desalegn Abebe.
See also
*Christianity in Ethiopia
Christianity in Ethiopia is the country's largest religion with members making up 68% of the population.
Christianity in Ethiopia dates back to the ancient Kingdom of Aksum, when the Ezana of Aksum, King Ezana first adopted the faith in the 4th ...
Notes
Relevant literature
*Mashas, Andrew. 2017. Buried we will grow. ''Anabaptist Witness.'
Article about MKC for American audience
*Hege, Nathan B. 1998. ''Beyond Our Prayers: Anabaptist Church Growth in Ethiopia, 1948–1998''. (Scottdale, PA: Herald).
External links
*Mennonite World Review's articles on th
history and growth of the Meserete Kristos ChurchMeserete Kristos Church
at Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online
{{Authority control
Mennonitism in Ethiopia
Anabaptism
Mennonite denominations
Anabaptist denominations established in the 20th century