Chester L. Wenger, his wife, Sara Jane, and three preschool daughters went to Ethiopia in 1949 with Eastern Mennonite Missions to begin mission efforts. Their efforts contributed to the founding and growth of the Meserete Kristos Church, which has become the world’s largest Anabaptist church.
Richard A. Showalter lived to see his dreams for the global Anabaptist church come true.
In a regional office of the Meserete Kristos Church in Bishoftu, Ethiopia, the MKC’s former president, Tewodros Beyene, introduced LMC leaders to the administrative staff. He said the delegation had come to listen.
Challenges accompany the joys of growth as tens of thousands of people new to Ethiopia’s Meserete Kristos Church swell the denomination.
Now with more than 600,000 participants, the world’s largest Anabaptist conference struggles to train enough pastors, find adequate meeting spaces and keep vehicles maintained for its teachers, who travel to distant outposts on rough roads.
Membership in Anabaptist churches worldwide grew 0.7 percent since 2015, according to Mennonite World Conference’s triennial census released Nov. 20.
A group of pastors and leaders in Virginia Mennonite Conference is inviting other pastors and leaders in Mennonite Church USA to sign a statement meant to bridge the gap between traditional and progressive views on same-sex marriage and LGBTQ inclusion.
Tigist Alamirew says she has “escaped many deaths” in her journey with Christ. Born to an Orthodox family, she now directs distance education at Meserete Kristos College, the Anabaptist school in Debre Zeit, Ethiopia.
GUATEMALA CITY — An exchange of East African and Latin American approaches to theological education took place when the president of Meserete Kristos College in Ethiopia visited SEMILLA, the Latin American Anabaptist Seminary in Guatemala City.
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia — After decades of dreaming, planning and fundraising, the Meserete Kristos Church in Ethiopia held a grand opening ceremony in February for its new head office.
