Biblical Studies/Christianity/Ethiopian–Eritrean Evangelicalism

P'ent'ay (from Ge'ez: ጴንጤ), also known as Ethiopian–Eritrean Evangelicalism, is a term for Evangelical Christians and other Eastern/Oriental-oriented Protestants within Ethiopia and Eritrea, and the Ethiopian and Eritrean diaspora abroad. Prominent movements among them have been Pentecostalism, the Baptist tradition, Lutheranism, and the Mennonite-Anabaptist tradition. The denominations and organizations in Ethiopian and Eritrean societies are also collectively known as Ethiopian–Eritrean Evangelicalism, the Ethiopian–Eritrean Evangelical Church, or Wenigēlawī (from Ge'ez: ወንጌላዊ) which directly translates to “Evangelical.” [Article: Biblical Studies/Christianity/Ethiopian–Eritrean Evangelicalism].
Etymology.
The term is originally an Amharic–Tigrinya language term, which was coined in the late 1960s and was used as a pejorative for churches that believed in the Pentecostal experience and spiritual gifts of the Holy Spirit, used to describe local Protestant Christians who are not members of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo and Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo churches (collectively known as the Orthodox Tewahedo).
The term "P'ent'ay" is a shortening of the word "Pentecostal"; however, it is widely used when referring to all Protestant Christians but especially Evangelical Protestants whether they are actually Pentecostal by denomination or not. Some Oriental Orthodox will also apply the term to the small Catholic population of Ethiopia and Eritrea (but this is rare).
The equivalent rendition in many other languages is "Evangelical"; the term "Wenigēlawī" means "Evangelical" and has been used alongside "P'ent'ay". Many of these groups describe their religious practices as culturally Eastern Christian, but Protestant Evangelical by doctrine.
History.
For the most part, Ethiopian and Eritrean Protestants state that their form of Christianity is both the reformation of the current Orthodox Tewahedo churches as well as the restoration of it to the original Ethiopian Christianity. They believe Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity was paganized after the 960s, during the reign of queen Gudit, who destroyed and burned most of the church's possessions and scriptures. They claim those events have led to the gradual paganization of the Oriental Orthodox Churches which they say is now merely dominated by rituals, hearsay and fables. P'ent'ay Christians use the alleged "secularized teaching" of the current Ethiopian and Eritrean Orthodox churches, the alleged inability of most Orthodox followers to live according to the instructions of the Bible and the deuterocanonical books used by rural priests, as a proof to their belief in the Orthodox Tewahedo teaching is also mainly syncretized. P'ent'ay Christians use the history of the Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity prior to the 1960s as their own history, despite lacking historical continuity.
Protestantism among Ethiopians and Eritreans is largely the result of North American and European Protestant missionary work among youth who left the Orthodox Tewahedo churches because of theological differences, and later fanned by persecution against them. P'ent'ay Christians schismed from the Orthodox Tewahedo churches, other branches of Christianity, or converted from other religions with the aid of Protestant missionaries to reform Ethiopian Christianity and Eritrean Christianity from what they perceived as doctrinal–theological diversions. Since the creation of P'ent'ay churches and organisations.
It was only during the early 20th century that American, Canadian, and European missionaries spread Protestantism with Mennonite, Pentecostal, and Baptist (namely but not exclusively the Converge - Baptist denomination, the Baptist General Conference of Canada, among other Baptist) churches through the Sudan Interior Mission (SIM) which led to the formation of the Ethiopian Kale Heywet Church. The partial Baptist influence or origin of the Kale Heywet Church is more related to the Radical Pietist Swedish Baptists that emerged out of Lutheranism rather than the more well known English Baptists of English Dissenter origin that emerged out of Anglicanism and are most familiar to a majority of Americans. When the SIM continued its movement after a brief ban during Ethiopia's war with Italy, it is written that the missionaries were taken aback by the fruits of their initial mission. Peter Heyling, a German Lutheran was the first Protestant missionary in Ethiopia, and is regarded as one of the influential founding fathers of the Lutheran (later to become Eastern Lutheran) denomination Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus alongside Ethiopian-Eritrean Lutheran theologians Gudina Tumsa and Emmanuel Abraham, as well as Swedish Lutheran Missionaries, American Presbyterian missionary (turned naturalized Ethiopian citizen) Thomas Lambie of the United Presbyterian Church and other Presbyterian missionaries (specifically for the Presbyterian/Reformed section of the Lutheran denomination). Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus has a large Pietistic Lutheran, theologically conservative Confessional Lutheran, and Holistic theology-variant Liberation theology following. Protestantism has had a presence in Eritrea for over 150 years much of which started when the Swedish Evangelical Mission (SEM) of the Church of Sweden first sent missionaries to preach to the Kunama people in 1866. Between the late-19th and late-20th centuries, the SEM undertook the task of translating the Bible into various Eritrean languages and influenced churches like the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Eritrea. The Eastern Mennonite Missions of the Mennonite Church USA and Mennonite Church Canada also played a role in spreading Mennonite Anabaptism which helped establish the Meserete Kristos Church. In 1951, Anna-Liisa and Sanfrid Mattson traveled from Finland (Finnish Pentecostalism) to Ethiopia and established a Pentecostal mission in Addis Ababa, the country's capital. In 1960, a mission was created in Awasa by the Philadelphia Church Mission of the Swedish Pentecostal Movement. Pentecostalism, during the 1960s, attracted many students, and the movement grew enough that the Full Gospel Believers Church (FBGC) was created in 1967. Pentecostal practices eventually affected other Protestant denominations in Ethiopia, particularly the Lutheran church. Finnish and Swedish missionaries began the first Pentecostal initiatives in Ethiopia, largely independent of influence by American practices. In 1967, the Ethiopian Full Gospel Believers Church - Mulu Wengel was founded. This church was the first independent Pentecostal church of Ethiopia and is still the largest Pentecostal group in Ethiopia, it is generally said to have emerged from the Pentecostalism of Scandinavian Baptists (Swedish Baptists) of Pietist and Radical Pietist origin that emerged out of Lutheranism. The Ethiopian Addis Kidan Baptist Church, another Baptist denomination is affiliated with the Baptist World Alliance and has origins in the International Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention which is a Baptist denomination of English Dissenter origin that emerged out of Anglicanism (in the context of Ethiopian, Addis Kidan Baptist is smaller than the Kale Heywet Church which is the other prominent denomination of at least partial Baptist roots with a different history mostly rooted in the Radical Pietist in origin Swedish Baptist tradition that emerged out of Lutheranism rather than the Baptist tradition of English Dissenter origin that emerged out of Anglicanism. As churches were established, they relied on university students from mostly the Ethiopian Orthodox backgrounds to assume leadership roles within the Pentecostal churches. Methodism, Presbyterianism, and other denominational orientations have had some underlying influence on Ethiopian-Eritrean Evangelicalism but are either too small to notice or have merged with other denominations with similar theology. 
Protestant Christians still face persecution in rural regions and are assisted by the Voice of the Martyrs; however, there is a growing tolerance between the Ethiopian Orthodox, Muslims and the growing population of P'en'tay Christians in the urban areas of the country. With the dominance of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo and the growing Muslim population, the population of P'en'tay Christians was estimated around 16.15 million (19 percent of total population), according to the information released by the U.S. Department of State.
Beliefs.
Evangelicals in Ethiopia and Eritrea believe that one is saved by believing in Jesus as Lord and Saviour for the forgiveness of sins. They believe in the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, the one essence of the Trinity. Like all other Christian groups that accept the canonical gospels, P'ent'ays also believe in being "born again" ("dagem meweled"), as it is written numerous times in the Gospel of John, and demonstrated by one's baptism in the Holy Spirit as well as water baptism. Speaking in tongues is seen as one of the signs, but not the only sign, of "receiving Christ", which should include a new lifestyle and social behavior.
Although almost all Evangelical Protestant branches in Ethiopia and Eritrea have one or two theological differences or different approaches in the interpretation of the Bible, all of the four major (Baptist, Lutheran, Pentecostal, and Mennonite denominations) and several other smaller smaller denominations follow beliefs common to born-again Christians. Several denominations, but in particular the four major denominations exchange pastors ("megabi") and allow the preachers to serve in different churches when invited under full communion or altar and pulpit fellowship. All of the four main churches and many others also share and listen to various gospel singers, producers, choirs, and have an interdenominational collection of hymns and gospel music ("mezmur)."
Denominations.
The major Protestant denominations in Ethiopia and Eritrea and among Ethiopians and Eritreans in the diaspora are a group of indigenous, closely linked (part of the አብያተ ክርስቲያናት /'Abiate kristianat' – 'ābiyate kirisitīyanati'/ or community of churches) full communion interdenominational ecumenical group of Baptist, Lutheran, Pentecostal, and Mennonite denominations (as well as associates from other denominational orientations with similar theology) that share altar and pulpit fellowship.
Denominations, Missionary Societies, and Aid Organizations.
Primary denominations.
All P'ent'ay / Ethiopian-Eritrean Evangelical Christian denominations — but especially the Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus Lutheran (Eastern Lutheranism) Church for example—have been influenced by the Alexandrian Rite Orthodox Tewahedo churches in cultural traditions and the type of liturgical calendar used, which represents the dominant traditional Ethiopian and Eritrean Christian demographic, but for the most part are very Pentecostal and Evangelical Christian in their worship and theology.