The choir of the Mekanissa Mekane Yesus congregation in Addis Ababa leads worship on Sunday 15 June. Photo: LWF/A. Hillert
Council members worship together with congregations of the Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus
(LWI) -Council members of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) were warmly welcomed to Sunday worship services at a dozen different congregations of the Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus (EECMY) in and around the capital, Addis Ababa, on the morning of 15 June.
EECMY President Rev. Dr Yonas Dibisa said the presence and participation of representatives from so many Lutheran churches in countries around the world was a powerful symbol of “one family coming together to pray and to listen to the Word of God.” Dibisa, who currently serves as LWF Vice-President for Africa, added: “When we meet together for worship and fellowship with brothers and sisters from beyond our borders, beyond our African continent, it symbolizes our unity in Christ.”
LWF President Henrik Stubkjær and Council members join Sunday worship at the Mekanissa Mekane Yesus congregation. Photo: LWF/A. Hillert
EECMY President Yonas Dibisa leads worship on Sunday morning. Photo: LWF/A. Hillert
A member of the EECMY prays during Sunday service on 15 June. Photo: LWF/A. Hillert
The Ethiopian church president led a service at the Mekanissa Mekane Yesus church, one of the oldest congregations among the 15,000 around the country today. Numbering some 12 million members, the fast-growing EECMY is the largest of the 150 member churches in the worldwide Lutheran communion. LWF President Bishop Henrik Stubkjær brought greetings on behalf of the communion, saying: "It is beautiful for us to become part of the local congregation - that is really where we find the LWF, here on the ground in the congregations."
Mekanissa congregation was established in 1964 and welcomes people “from all walks of life, from government workers to shopkeepers and people who have no work,” explained local pastor Rev. Dr Goferie Adisho. “Our diaconal outreach is strong and we support our members financially and socially, as well as spiritually,” he said. As a church that has pioneered the inclusion of those living with disabilities, he said: “When we gather together in church on Sunday – usually over a thousand of us – it is important to know that we are all equal here.”
Sunday service at the Mekanissa Mekane Yesus congregation in Addis Ababa. Photo: LWF/A. Hillert
A member of the EECMY prays during Sunday service on 15 June. Photo: LWF/A. Hillert
A choir member of the EECMY leads singing during Sunday service. Photo: LWF/A. Hillert
Laura Saravia, a young Council member from the Salvadoran Lutheran church noted “it was a beautiful experience to be able to feel God’s spirit in this place, even though the languages are different, we can share in communion together.” Rev. Barbara Lund from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America added: “It was really inspirational to feel how we are lifted up and how God is moving through us as we make connections with each other.”
Vice-President for Central Eastern Europe, Bishop Tamás Fabiny from Hungary preached at the EECMY ‘mother church’ in Addis Ababa, reflecting on some Bible references to Ethiopian men and women in both the Old and New Testaments (Isaiah, Jeremiah, Acts). After the service, he met with congregation member Ruth Abraham, daughter of the second president of the EECMY Emmanuel Abraham, some 40 years after she travelled to Budapest to attend the LWF Seventh Assembly. “It was a moving experience to be able to meet up again, four decades after working on preparations for the 1984 Assembly," he said.
South of the capital, in Bishoftu, a resort town famous for its volcanic lakes, Rev. Dr Jeannette Epse Maina from Cameroon, a former LWF Vice-President for Africa brought greetings to the Lemlem (meaning evergreen) congregation, renowned, like many Mekane Yesus churches, for its charismatic music and singing. Led by a vocalist and keyboard player, the congregants sang and danced, clapped and ululated with arms outstretched in prayer. Preacher Rev. Dr Deonal Sinaga from the Protestant Christian Batak Church in Indonesia said: “The witness of this congregation, with its beautiful singing, gives us strength and joy.”
The 2025 LWF Council meeting takes place in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, from 12 to 16 June on the theme “Be my witnesses” (Acts 1:8)
