Ambaricho and Shonkolla. From Local Independent Church to the

321 Pages·2008·8.88 MB·English

AMBARICHO AND SHONKOLLA

From Local Independent Church
To the Evangelical Mainstream in Ethiopia
The Origins of the Mekane Yesus Church in Kambata Hadiya

STAFFAN GRENSTEDT

THE FACULTY OF THEOLOGY
UPPSALA UNIVERSITY
Doctoral Thesis presented to the Faculty of Theology, Uppsala University, 2000

ABSTRACT

Grenstedt, Staffan 2000: Ambaricho and Shonkolla. From Local Independent Church
to the Evangelical Mainstream in Ethiopia. The Origins of the Mekane Yesus Church
in Kambata Hadiya. Studia Missionalia Svecana LXXXII. 316 pp. Uppsala. ISBN 91-
85424-60-9.

This thesis is a contribution to the scholarly debate on how African Independent Churches
(AICs) relate to outside partners. It is a case study from the perspective of the periphery of
Ethiopia, which explains the origins of the Mekane Yesus Church in Kambata Hadiya
The diachronic structure of the study with a focus from 1944 to 1975 highlights how a
group of Christians reacted to cultural pressure and formed a local independent church,
the Kambata Evangelical Church 2 (KEC-2). The KEC-2 established relations with exter-
nal partners, like a neighbouring mainstream conference of churches, a neighbouring
mainstream church, an international organisation, and a mainstream overseas church and
its mission. These relations influenced the KEC-2 to develop into a synod of the Ethiopian
Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus (EECMY). The diachronic approach is augmented by
synchronic structural analyses, illustrating how aspects in the independent KEC-2, like
polity, worship, doctrine and ethos were changing.
The study contends that “Ethiopian Evangelical Solidarity” was a crucial factor in the
development of the independent KEC-2 into a synod of the EECMY. As this factor
helped the Ethiopians to transcend barriers of ethnicity, social status and denominational-
ism, it is not unreasonable to assume that the study has relevance for a wider African con-
text.
This thesis builds on material taken mainly from unpublished printed sources in vari-
ous languages from archives in Ethiopia, Finland, Sweden, Switzerland and the USA.
These are supplemented by interviews made by the author.

Keywords: Ethiopia, Kambata, Hadiya, Indigenous, Revivals, African Factor, Worldly
Practices, Drinking, Dissonance, Independent Church, Ethos, Kambata Evangelical
Church 2, Ethiopian Evangelical Solidarity, Ecumenical, Comity, Mainstream Churches,
Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus, Kambata Synod, South Central Synod.

Staffan Grenstedt, Department of Theology, Uppsala University, Box 1604, SE-751 46
Uppsala, Sweden.

(cid:211) Staffan Grenstedt 2000

ISSN 1404-9503
ISBN 91-85424-60-9

Cover photo by Staffan Grenstedt: Abonsa Sebaka (Kambata) leader Ato Tarekegn Handaro and
Badowacho Sebaka (Hadiya) leader Qes Wagalo Wayinio preaching and translating the Message.
Printed in Sweden by Elanders Gotab, Stockholm 2000
Distributor: The Swedish Institute of Missionary Research, P.O. Box 1526, SE -751 45
Uppsala, Sweden
To My Wife Ingela

Preface
It was a bewildering experience to come to Ethiopia in 1983. After a year at lan-
guage school, I started to work as an adviser on the local church work in the south-
eastern district of the South Central Synod in the Ethiopian Evangelical Church
Mekane Yesus (EECMY) stationed in Durame, and I started to pose questions.
Why was an Ethiopian veterinarian working in the room next to mine at the lo-
cal church office? Why was a poster of the former Soviet General Secretary of the
communist party, Leonid Bresjnev, hanging on the facade of the church office?
Why was it possible to sell Bibles openly at the market in Durame in 1984, when it
was prohibited to sing Christian hymns at funerals in Wolayta just south of the
border to Sidamo? What was the history of the Kambata and Hadiya ethnic
groups? What was the history of the EECMY Synod where I was working? The
result of my curiosity and longing to understand is presented in this book.
I would like to express my warm gratitude to local Christians in the Kambata/
Hadiya region and in Ethiopia at large for the sharing of fellowship and experi-
ences. My understanding of God’s Church has indeed been broadened by the en-
counter with the EECMY members and many other Christians in Ethiopia.
For the scholarly part of my thesis I am especially indebted to my committed
supervisor, Professor Carl Fredrik Hallencreutz. His genuine interest in African
Church History has been contagious and inspired me to develop my work. I should
also like to thank my current Professor Alf Tergel, Professor Sigbert Axelson and
Professor Axel-Ivar Berglund for their continuous encouragement and support. I
should also like to thank my colleagues at the Higher Seminar of Missiology in the
Faculty of Theology at Uppsala University.
Ethiopia has been on my mind since my childhood through the missionaries of
the Swedish Evangelical Mission and the Church of Sweden Mission. I especially
want to thank the late Rev. Per and Mrs Valborg Stjärne, the late Dr Gustav Arén
and his wife Rigmor, the late Rev. Manfred Lundgren and Dr Nils-Olof Hylander.
Many other missionaries have inspired me, not to mention all the Ethiopians. I feel
a humble gratitude at being part of a network larger than I am able to fathom.
I should like to express my appreciation of my family. My mother Margit and
my father Ulf have encouraged me constantly, with the wisdom of two she-
magleoch (elders). My three lovely children Mikael, Hanna and Elisabet and my
wife of 25 years, Ingela, have shared my experiences in Ethiopia for six years and
helped me to fulfil my ambitions with great enthusiasm.
Lastly I thank God on whose Grace everything depends.

Staffan Grenstedt
Västerås, October 2000

Contents
General Introduction___________________________________________________ 15
A. My Focus in Its Context________________________________________________ 15
My Focus___________________________________________________________ 15
The Appeal of Ethiopia in Africa ________________________________________ 16
The Ethiopian Centre and Periphery______________________________________ 17
Early Missionary Ventures, Revivals and Schisms __________________________ 18
Evangelical Church Formation__________________________________________ 19
B. Interpretative Perspectives _____________________________________________ 21
Purpose of Study Specified_____________________________________________ 21
Different Perspectives_________________________________________________ 22
Ecclesiological Terminology ___________________________________________ 23
Characteristics of African Independent Churches____________________________ 23
Characteristics of Ethiopian Evangelical Solidarity__________________________ 25
Analytical Models and Concepts ________________________________________ 27
C. My Material_________________________________________________________ 30
Unpublished Sources in Archives________________________________________ 30
Unpublished Oral Sources______________________________________________ 31
Published Sources and Relevant Literature_________________________________ 32
D. Scope and Structure __________________________________________________ 37
PART ONE THE ETHIOPIAN BACKGROUND__________________________ 39
Chapter One The Kambata/Hadiya Environment __________________________ 40
A. An Ethno-Historical Background ________________________________________ 40
The Kambata/Hadiya Region ___________________________________________ 40
The Kambata Farmers_________________________________________________ 41
The Hadiya Semi-Nomads _____________________________________________ 45
The Kingdom of Wollamo _____________________________________________ 46
A Border of Conflict__________________________________________________ 46
The Slave Trade’s Effects on the Kambata/Hadiya Region____________________ 47
The Socio-Economic Structure of the Ensete Farming________________________ 48
The Amhara Expansion into the Kambata/Hadiya Region_____________________ 49
The Kambata/Hadiya Region under Pressure_______________________________ 50
B. Features of Kambata/Hadiya Folk Religion________________________________ 51
The Evolution of Kambata/Hadiya Folk Religion ___________________________ 51
Influences of Muslim Strongholds _______________________________________ 53
Conclusions_________________________________________________________ 54
Chapter Two The SIM and the Evolution of the KEC 1928-43 _______________ 55
A. Features of the Sudan Interior Mission____________________________________ 55
An Interdenominational Enterprise_______________________________________ 55
Characteristics of SIM Evangelicalism____________________________________ 57
Principles for Indigenous Church Growth _________________________________ 58
B. The Start of the SIM in the Kambata/Hadiya Region _________________________ 59
Tensions in Addis Abeba and in Hosanna _________________________________ 59
Concentration on the Hadiya____________________________________________ 61
Beginnings among the Kambata_________________________________________ 62
Tensions on Baptism Praxis ____________________________________________ 62
C. Indigenous Developments during the Italian Occupation______________________ 64
The “African Factor”__________________________________________________ 64
Indigenous Dynamics _________________________________________________ 65
KEC Church Growth Supported by the Wollamo Church _____________________ 67
Conflicts between the KEC and the Wollamo Church________________________ 68
D. Outside Influences____________________________________________________ 69
The Legacy of the Evangelical Pioneers___________________________________ 69
The Network of the Evangelical Congregation in Addis Abeba_________________ 71
Early Ethiopian Evangelical Ecumenism __________________________________ 72
The SIM Returns to Addis Abeba________________________________________ 73
Conclusions_________________________________________________________ 74
PART TWO ETHIOPIAN INITIATIVES 1944-66 _________________________ 75
Chapter Three The Emperor is Back in Ethiopia __________________________ 76
A. The Imperial Decree on Missions ________________________________________ 76
Nation Building and the Renewed Ethiopian Orthodox Church_________________ 76
The Foreign Missions _________________________________________________ 78
The Ethiopian Evangelicals_____________________________________________ 80
B. The Return of the Sudan Interior Mission to the South________________________ 81
The Role of Mr Couser________________________________________________ 81
The SIM’s Resettlement _______________________________________________ 82
The SIM Leaders’ Impact on the KEC____________________________________ 83
Dissonance in the KEC________________________________________________ 84
Conclusions_________________________________________________________ 85
Chapter Four Alternative Ecumenical Strategies___________________________ 86
A. Traditional Missionary Ecumenism ______________________________________ 86
B. Reinforced Ethiopian Evangelical Ecumenism______________________________ 89
The CEEC a Remarkable Ecumenical Movement ___________________________ 89
The “Ethiopian Evangelical Church” _____________________________________ 91
Conclusions_________________________________________________________ 92
Chapter Five The Formation of the Kambata Evangelical Church 2 __________ 93
A. The Kambata Evangelical Church in 1951_________________________________ 93
The SIM and the KEC Positions_________________________________________ 93
B. The Split of the Kambata Evangelical Church in 1951________________________ 95
Reinforced Dissonance in the KEC ______________________________________ 95
Reasons for the Conflict _______________________________________________ 97
Two Alternative Reasons? _____________________________________________ 99
A Summary Assessment of the Conflict__________________________________ 100
C. Attempts at Mediation________________________________________________ 101
The SIM Tries to Solve the Conflict_____________________________________ 101
The KEC Elders Ask the CEEC for Reconciliation _________________________ 101
The Attempt of the Addis Abeba Mekane Yesus Congregation________________ 102
The “Ethiopian Evangelical Church” Meets the SIM________________________ 103
Reconciliation in Hosanna ____________________________________________ 104
D. The Kambata Evangelical Church in a Time of Trial________________________ 106
The KEC in 1952-54_________________________________________________ 106
The KEC-2 Evolves as a New Local Independent Church____________________ 107
Conclusions________________________________________________________ 109
Chapter Six Ecumenical Efforts and the Independent KEC-2_______________ 110
A. The Conference of Ethiopian Evangelical Churches in 1955__________________ 110
Preconditions for the CEEC in 1955_____________________________________ 110
Dissenting Voices from Kambata at the CEEC in 1955______________________ 113
The Kambata Churches’ Dividing Issue__________________________________ 114
The KEC-2’s Key to Acceptance _______________________________________ 114
An Alternative Explanation?___________________________________________ 115
A Paradoxical Outcome ______________________________________________ 116
Ethiopian Evangelical Solidarity versus Missionary Comity__________________ 117
B. Conflicts Affect the CEEC_____________________________________________ 119
Continued Conflict on Missionary Comity________________________________ 119
The Kambata Churches Articulate their Positions in 1956____________________ 120
The KEC-2 as the Only Kambata Group at the CEEC in 1957 ________________ 121
Ethiopian Evangelical Solidarity Differentiated____________________________ 122
C. A Last Attempt at Reconciliation________________________________________ 124