Revolutionary Churches in Revolutionary Seasons: The Impacts of Persecution and Pacification in Ethiopian Evangelical Churches’ Group Dynamics

Mr. Dagmawi M. Wube

Since the downfall of the Derge and the establishment of the decree for religious freedom, there have been types of problems related to the size and type of groups that have greatly affected the Ethiopian evangelical church. The first category of problem is due to the attraction that many contemporary church leaders have for reaching multitudes and building mega-church ministries at the expense of small group ministries. Because of the priority on the large group environment, small group ministries have been neglected resulting in a whole generation of students and people who have never experience the vibrant spiritual benefits of a small group. As a result, believers are inclined to attend only Sunday Worship Services and the rest of the week live disconnected from vital relational community and involvement. Too many churches in Ethiopia today have chosen to focus on the quantity of the people rather than the quality of the disciple, resulting in the spiritual diseases of nominalism and carnality. Discipleship and biblical Koinonia are being ignored; therefore, many people are not experiencing the richness of biblical Christianity in many practical ways. This has resulted in the loss of Ethiopian Evangelicals’ identity as well as an influence on all aspects of Ethiopian culture including her institutions and government.