Meserete Kristos Church
Encyclopedia
Meserete Kristos Church , meaning "Christ is the foundation Church" (based on I Cor. 3:11) is an Ethiopian
Anabaptist
(P'ent'ay
) church with 205,508 baptized members and a worship community of over 389,482 persons as of August 2009. The church has over 591 congregations and 863 church planting centers scattered in all 18 Administrative Regions of Ethiopia. The denomination's growth rate in the last decade stands at 37%. The church is part of the larger Anabaptist
body as a member of Mennonite World Conference
, an organization which has seen the majority of its recent membership growth outside of Europe
and North America
. MKC is the largest Anabaptist
conference in the world. By comparison, the largest Anabaptist body in the USA is The Mennonite Church, with 110,000 members.
took power. At the time, 5,000 Meserete Kristos members went into hiding. Small groups started, and meetings and baptisms were held at night. During this time many Mulu Wongel members joined the church, and growth was astronomical. In 1994, after the fall of the Derg, Meserete Kristos members gathered in a stadium to publicly congregate for the first time in twenty years, bringing in a total of 50,000 people.
until January 2007, the college has a partnership for accreditation with Eastern Mennonite University
. Since its founding in 1994, the college has produced 262 graduates, and had 110 full-time and 42 part-time students enrolled in the fall of 2006. Construction of a permanent campus in Debre Zeyit
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.
Ethiopia
Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...
Anabaptist
Anabaptist
Anabaptists are Protestant Christians of the Radical Reformation of 16th-century Europe, and their direct descendants, particularly the Amish, Brethren, Hutterites, and Mennonites....
(P'ent'ay
P'ent'ay
P'ent'ay or Pentay is a slang term widely used in modern Ethiopia, and among Ethiopians living abroad, to describe Ethiopian Christians who are not members of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo, Ethiopian Orthodox Tehadeso, Roman Catholic or Ethiopian Catholic churches...
) church with 205,508 baptized members and a worship community of over 389,482 persons as of August 2009. The church has over 591 congregations and 863 church planting centers scattered in all 18 Administrative Regions of Ethiopia. The denomination's growth rate in the last decade stands at 37%. The church is part of the larger Anabaptist
Anabaptist
Anabaptists are Protestant Christians of the Radical Reformation of 16th-century Europe, and their direct descendants, particularly the Amish, Brethren, Hutterites, and Mennonites....
body as a member of Mennonite World Conference
Mennonite World Conference
The Mennonite World Conference is a global community of Christian churches that facilitates community between Anabaptist-related churches and relates to other Christian world communions and organizations....
, an organization which has seen the majority of its recent membership growth outside of Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
and North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
. MKC is the largest Anabaptist
conference in the world. By comparison, the largest Anabaptist body in the USA is The Mennonite Church, with 110,000 members.
History
Meserete Kristos grew out of the work of Ethiopian Mennonite Missions in the 1950s. Mennonite missions set up hospitals and schools, eventually starting a church as a result of demand. Growth in early years was rather slow, until 1974, when the DergDerg
The Derg or Dergue was a Communist military junta that came to power in Ethiopia following the ousting of Haile Selassie I. Derg, which means "committee" or "council" in Ge'ez, is the short name of the Coordinating Committee of the Armed Forces, Police, and Territorial Army, a committee of...
took power. At the time, 5,000 Meserete Kristos members went into hiding. Small groups started, and meetings and baptisms were held at night. During this time many Mulu Wongel members joined the church, and growth was astronomical. In 1994, after the fall of the Derg, Meserete Kristos members gathered in a stadium to publicly congregate for the first time in twenty years, bringing in a total of 50,000 people.
Meserete Kristos College
Since only one out of nearly 7,000 people in Ethiopia has a college education, founding Meserete Kristos College was a necessity to produce new church leaders. However, the need for leaders has far outpaced graduation rates. Located in Addis AbabaAddis Ababa
Addis Ababa is the capital city of Ethiopia...
until January 2007, the college has a partnership for accreditation with Eastern Mennonite University
Eastern Mennonite University
Eastern Mennonite University is a private liberal arts university in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, affiliated with one of the historic peace churches, the Mennonite Church USA. Its main campus is on the edge of the small city of Harrisonburg, Virginia, about three miles from state-owned...
. Since its founding in 1994, the college has produced 262 graduates, and had 110 full-time and 42 part-time students enrolled in the fall of 2006. Construction of a permanent campus in Debre Zeyit
Debre Zeyit
Debre Zeyit is a town of Ethiopia, lying south east of Addis Ababa. Since the late 1990s it has been officially known by the Oromo name, Bishoftu, which was its name until 1955...
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.
External links
- College website
- Mennonite Weekly Review's articles on the history and growth of the Meserete Kristos Church
- Ethiopia at Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia OnlineGlobal Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia OnlineThe Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online is an online encyclopedia of topics relating to Mennonites and Anabaptism. The mission of the project is to provide free, reliable, English-language information on anabaptist-related topics....