Difference between revisions of "Meserete Kristos Church, Ethiopia"

From Anabaptistwiki
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{{Infobox
 
{{Infobox
|Box title = ''Group's Name
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|Box title   = Meserete Kristos Church
|image = ''[[Image:filename]]
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|image       = Image:Et-map.gif
|imagewidth = ''300''
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|imagewidth   = 300
|caption = ''Image Caption''
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|caption     = Ethiopia: World Factbook, 2009<ref name="cia">"Ethiopia," ''CIA World Factbook''. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/et.html (accessed 7 June 2009).</ref>
 
|Row 1 title = Location
 
|Row 1 title = Location
 
|Row 1 info = <center>''Group's Location(City, State, Country if an individual congregation/Country if a conference)''</center>
 
|Row 1 info = <center>''Group's Location(City, State, Country if an individual congregation/Country if a conference)''</center>
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|Row 4 info = <center>Group's presiding officer''</center>
 
|Row 4 info = <center>Group's presiding officer''</center>
 
|Row 5 title = [[Mennonite World Conference|MWC]] Affiliated?
 
|Row 5 title = [[Mennonite World Conference|MWC]] Affiliated?
|Row 5 info = ''Is the group associated with [[Mennonite World Conference]]?''
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|Row 5 info = <center>Yes</center>
 
|Row 6 title = Number of Congregations
 
|Row 6 title = Number of Congregations
|Row 6 info = <center>''Number of Congregations''</center>
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|Row 6 info = <center>484 (2009)<ref name="mwc">"2009 Mennonite and Brethren in Christ World Membership: Africa Summary," ''[[Mennonite World Conference]]''. http://www.mwc-cmm.org/en15/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=13&Itemid=16 (accessed 7 June 2010).</ref></center>
 
|Row 7 title = Membership
 
|Row 7 title = Membership
|Row 7 info = <center>''Group's membership''</center>
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|Row 7 info = <center>172,299 (2009)<ref name="mwc"/></center>
 
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The '''Meserete Kristos Church (MKC)''' is the primary Anabaptist-related group in Ethiopia.  In 2009 the MKC had 484 congregations and 172,299 members.<ref>"2009 Mennonite World Conference Directory for Africa," ''[[Mennonite World Conference]]''. http://www.mwc-cmm.org/en15/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=13&Itemid=16 (accessed 20 February 2010).</ref>
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The '''Meserete Kristos Church (MKC)''' is the primary Anabaptist-related group in Ethiopia.  In 2009 MKC had 172,299 members in 484 congregations.<ref name="mwc"/> As of 2009, Meserete Kristos Church is the largest national Anabaptist conference in the world.<ref name>Sandra Joireman, ''Church, State and Citizen'' (Oxford:Oxford University Press, 2009), 86.</ref>
  
 
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==History==
 
==History==
 
==Origins==
 
==Origins==
The Meserete Kristos Church grew out of work in 1948 by Mennonite Central Committee and Eastern Mennonite Mission. <ref name="NonformalTheologicalEducation">Bedru H. Muktar, "Non-formal Theological Education: The Meserete Kristos Church Experience," ''Mission Focus''. http://ambs.edu/files/documents/news-and-publications/publications/mf/Mission_Focus_Vol_5.pdf#page=24.</ref>  In 1982, the Marxist government confiscated all of Meserete Kristos' offices, worship buildings, bank accounts and physical property. The Meserete Kristos Church officially ceased to exist; however, the democratization process in 1992 initiated by the new government allowed the church to reemerge and obtain some of their lost property.<ref name="NonformalTheologicalEducation"/>  This ten year period of underground activity didn't serve its intended purpose of decreasing church attendance, but rather signified a boom in church membership as numbers rose from 5,000 to 34,000 people.<ref name="NonformalTheologicalEducation"/>
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The Meserete Kristos Church grew out of work in 1948 by Mennonite Central Committee and Eastern Mennonite Mission. <ref name="NonformalTheologicalEducation">Bedru H. Muktar, "Non-formal Theological Education: The Meserete Kristos Church Experience," ''Mission Focus''. http://ambs.edu/files/documents/news-and-publications/publications/mf/Mission_Focus_Vol_5.pdf#page=24.</ref>  In 1982, the Marxist government confiscated all of Meserete Kristos' offices, worship buildings, bank accounts and physical property. While the church leaders were arrested, church members took it upon themselves to hold church services in private.  There was always the constant risk of police raids so members communicated by word of mouth and the number of people per service was limited.<ref>Wilbert Shenk, "New Wineskins for New Wine: Toward a Post-Christendom
 +
Ecclesiology," ''International Bulletin of Missionary Research''. http://prodigal.typepad.com/files/wilbert-shenk---new-wineskins-for-new-wine---toward-a-post-christendom-ecclesiology.pdf.</ref>  The Meserete Kristos Church officially ceased to exist; however, the democratization process in 1992 initiated by the new government allowed the church to reemerge and obtain some of their lost property.<ref name="NonformalTheologicalEducation"/>  This ten year period of underground activity didn't serve its intended purpose of decreasing church attendance, but rather signified a boom in church membership as numbers rose from 5,000 to 34,000 people.<ref name="NonformalTheologicalEducation"/>
 
   
 
   
 
===Growth===
 
===Growth===
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* Muktar, Bedru H. "Non-formal Theological Education: The Meserete Kristos Church Experience." Mission Focus 5 (1997): 23-46.
 
* Muktar, Bedru H. "Non-formal Theological Education: The Meserete Kristos Church Experience." Mission Focus 5 (1997): 23-46.
 
::This article seeks to illustrate the incredible growth rates Meserete Kristos Church has experienced throughout the last few decades and how they have implemented a non-formal theological education program in order to accommodate this growth and expansion. Not only are their education programs constantly reevaluated, but administrative structures are also reorganized to meet the growing needs of the church.
 
::This article seeks to illustrate the incredible growth rates Meserete Kristos Church has experienced throughout the last few decades and how they have implemented a non-formal theological education program in order to accommodate this growth and expansion. Not only are their education programs constantly reevaluated, but administrative structures are also reorganized to meet the growing needs of the church.
 +
 +
* Shenk, Wilbert. "New Wineskins for New Wine: Toward a Post-Christendom Ecclesiology." International Bulletin of Missionary Research 29, no.2 (2005): 23-46.
 +
::This article argues that Christians should follow the gospels but should not follow a pre-prescribed form of church.  Churches should be created with the understanding that local culture should shape the structure and form of the church.
 
==Archives and Libraries==
 
==Archives and Libraries==
 
==External Links==
 
==External Links==

Revision as of 21:14, 7 June 2010

Meserete Kristos Church
Et-map.gif
Ethiopia: World Factbook, 2009[1]

Location

Group's Location(City, State, Country if an individual congregation/Country if a conference)

Contact Information

Group's Contact Information

Date Established

Date Established

Presiding Officer

Group's presiding officer

MWC Affiliated?

Yes

Number of Congregations

484 (2009)[2]

Membership

172,299 (2009)[2]

The Meserete Kristos Church (MKC) is the primary Anabaptist-related group in Ethiopia. In 2009 MKC had 172,299 members in 484 congregations.[2] As of 2009, Meserete Kristos Church is the largest national Anabaptist conference in the world.[3]

Create new articles that tell stories about the Anabaptists of Meserete Kristos Church and insert links to those stories here. Click here to learn more about stories.

History

Origins

The Meserete Kristos Church grew out of work in 1948 by Mennonite Central Committee and Eastern Mennonite Mission. [4] In 1982, the Marxist government confiscated all of Meserete Kristos' offices, worship buildings, bank accounts and physical property. While the church leaders were arrested, church members took it upon themselves to hold church services in private. There was always the constant risk of police raids so members communicated by word of mouth and the number of people per service was limited.[5] The Meserete Kristos Church officially ceased to exist; however, the democratization process in 1992 initiated by the new government allowed the church to reemerge and obtain some of their lost property.[4] This ten year period of underground activity didn't serve its intended purpose of decreasing church attendance, but rather signified a boom in church membership as numbers rose from 5,000 to 34,000 people.[4]

Growth

Contemporary Trends

Important Individuals

Electronic Resources

Annotated Bibliography

  • Muktar, Bedru H. "Non-formal Theological Education: The Meserete Kristos Church Experience." Mission Focus 5 (1997): 23-46.
This article seeks to illustrate the incredible growth rates Meserete Kristos Church has experienced throughout the last few decades and how they have implemented a non-formal theological education program in order to accommodate this growth and expansion. Not only are their education programs constantly reevaluated, but administrative structures are also reorganized to meet the growing needs of the church.
  • Shenk, Wilbert. "New Wineskins for New Wine: Toward a Post-Christendom Ecclesiology." International Bulletin of Missionary Research 29, no.2 (2005): 23-46.
This article argues that Christians should follow the gospels but should not follow a pre-prescribed form of church. Churches should be created with the understanding that local culture should shape the structure and form of the church.

Archives and Libraries

External Links

Citations

  1. "Ethiopia," CIA World Factbook. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/et.html (accessed 7 June 2009).
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 "2009 Mennonite and Brethren in Christ World Membership: Africa Summary," Mennonite World Conference. http://www.mwc-cmm.org/en15/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=13&Itemid=16 (accessed 7 June 2010).
  3. Sandra Joireman, Church, State and Citizen (Oxford:Oxford University Press, 2009), 86.
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 Bedru H. Muktar, "Non-formal Theological Education: The Meserete Kristos Church Experience," Mission Focus. http://ambs.edu/files/documents/news-and-publications/publications/mf/Mission_Focus_Vol_5.pdf#page=24.
  5. Wilbert Shenk, "New Wineskins for New Wine: Toward a Post-Christendom Ecclesiology," International Bulletin of Missionary Research. http://prodigal.typepad.com/files/wilbert-shenk---new-wineskins-for-new-wine---toward-a-post-christendom-ecclesiology.pdf.

Acknowledgments