P'ent'ay

• The Ethiopian Kale Heywet (Word of Life) Church, a charismatic Evangelical Protestant denomination with Pentecostal and Baptist roots. It is associated with the Sudan Interior Mission, an interdenominational organization, and has an Eritrean branch.
• The Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus (Place of Jesus), a Lutheran denomination which includes a Presbyterian-leaning synod. The Eritrean Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus is the Eritrean Lutheran branch of this Evangelical Protestant denomination. The Ethiopian Lutheran denomination is the largest non-united Lutheran Christian denomination in the world (see list of Christian denominations by number of members).
• The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Eritrea, a Lutheran denomination which joined the Lutheran World Federation in 1963.
• The Ethiopian Full Gospel Believers' Church, a Pentecostal denomination with Mennonite influence.
• The Meserete Kristos (Christ Foundation) Church, a Mennonite denomination with Pentecostal influence.
• Christian Brethren

Some P'ent'ay communities—especially the Mekane Yesus Lutheran Church for example—have been influenced by the Orthodox Tewahedo churches, which represents the dominant traditional Ethiopian and Eritrean Christian demographic, but for the most part are very Pentecostal in their worship and theology.

• Ammanuel Baptist Church
• Misgana Church of Ethiopia
• Assemblies of God – Pentecostal
• Hiwot Berhan Church (Light of Life Church)
• Emnet Kristos
• Berhane Wongel – Gospel Light
• Ethiopian Addis Kidan Baptist Church
• Evangelical Church of Eritrea
• Lutheran Church of Eritrea
• Middle East General Mission
• Seventh-day Adventist Church[12]
• Anglicanism is represented in Ethiopia and Eritrea by the Episcopal Church in Jerusalem and the Middle East and Episcopal Anglican Province of Alexandria; Ethiopia and Eritrea are both part of the Diocese of Egypt, which also includes other countries in the Horn of Africa as well as the North Africa region. There are two Episcopal churches in Ethiopia, one is in Addis Ababa and the other in Gambela, while in Eritrea there are no officially operated congregations at this time.[13]

The ECFE, or Evangelical Church Fellowship of Ethiopia, is a consortium of born-again, Trinitarian Christians.[14] The ECFE has 22 member churches, and based on 2004 statistics, 11.5 million members with an increase of 4 million annually.[15] All P'ent'ay churches, regardless of denomination, are domestically known as አብያተ ክርስቲያናት (Abiate kristianat' or ābiyate kirisitīyanati') meaning 'churches' in the senses of a 'community of Christians' in Amharic, the official working federal language of Ethiopia.[16] Most of these denominations also operate ministries, colleges and bible societies like the Ethiopian Graduate School of Theology, Golden Oil Ministries, Evangelical Theological College, the Ethiopian Bible Society and Meserete Kristos College.[17] These churches often work together by exchanging preachers and organizing church conferences.

According to the 2005 statistics from the World Christian Database, Ethiopian Pentecostal/Charismatic members cover a bit over 16 percent of the country as P'ent'ays of Ethiopia. The individual groups are the Word of Life Church (Kale Heywet) Church, Mekane Yesus, Churches of Christ, Misgana Church of Ethiopia, Assembly of God, Hiwot Berhan Church, Emnet Kristos, Meserete Kristos, Light of Life Church, Mulu Wongel (Full Gospel Believers Church) and other churches constituting slightly over 12 million P'ent'ays in Ethiopia.[18] However, according to World Christian Encyclopedia, the Evangelical Protestant community is down to only 13.6% of Ethiopian population.[19][20] According to the 1994 government census, Protestant Christians comprise 10% of the population (about 7–8 million today).[21] According to membership and adherent records provided by the various churches and denominations, Ethiopian Protestants claim as high as 18.59% of the country's population which is inline with the recent data from the US Department of State.[22][23]

Recent misidentification of certain groups as P'ent'ay has caused confusion. One controversy involves Oneness Pentecostalism and Jehovah's Witnesses, which are strictly opposed by the other Protestant denominations.

The metropolitan sui iuris Eastern Catholic particular churches of the Eritrean Catholic Church and Ethiopian Catholic Church are not P'ent'ay (Evangelical Protestant) churches but some Orthodox Tewahedo adherents have used the term P'ent'ay as a pejorative by conflating and 'othering' them with P'ent'ay (Evangelical Protestants).[9]

According to Voice of the Martyrs there have been brutal killings of P'ent'ay Christians in rural areas that tend to be overlooked by the Ethiopian rural officials and stay undisclosed to international organizations. Some Oriental Orthodox families expel children out of their house if the children convert to Protestantism. Since the majority population is Orthodox, Voice of the Martyrs claims no criminal investigations are carried out against Oriental Orthodox mobs who burn Evangelical churches, destroy houses and even murder P'ent'ay Christians.

Voice of the Martyrs also states that Evangelical Christians have been murdered by Islamic militants because they wouldn't renounce their faith in Christ. Islamic militants have stopped at least one bus (near Jijiga, a rural area) and demanded Christians recite the Islamic creed, killing those who refuse. The mostly rural churches like Kale Heywet have historically faced persecution with aggressors often doing so with impunity. During the previous 1970s and 1980s government, persecution was equally severe in the urban cities as well, with the likes of Mulu Wongel church (Full Gospel) and Mesereke Kristos Church facing widespread persecution and mass imprisonments and killings. Lacking western ties, the Mulu Wongel church was outlawed by the Derg Ethiopian government.

More persecution followed Ethiopian Protestants for more than a decade. However, after a change of government, religious equality including the right to worship, build churches and evangelize were restored. Minor and rural issues still exist. Despite these issues, compared to the past, the 1990s have brought the most freedom of religion in Ethiopia. Most of the Evangelical churches, especially Mulu Wongel, Assemblies of God, and Kale Heywet, faced persecution and detentions by previous governments.[29] The state sponsored persecution of Protestants by the 1980s government created what some scholars call an "invisible church" and an underground evangelism where the membership of these churches drastically increased despite this era of persecution.[30][31]

Since the early 1990s, persecution has mostly ceased, particularly in the cities and areas near the cities, and there is a growing level of tolerance between Evangelical Christians and other religious groups. The ruling party however established a Faith and Religious Affairs Directorate (similar to those in China) to issue licenses, to demand loyalty, and to infiltrate hierarchies of Christian and Islamic institutions. Even though it is not comparable to the state sponsored persecution of the past, P'ent'ay Christians in Ethiopia still face persecution from private citizens in Muslim dominated rural areas.[32] Despite Ethiopia's well-known religious tolerance, culture related acceptance issues and the growth of some Evangelical churches have also led to some violence, especially as non-Orthodox Christians and Muslims seek to gain equal economic and social status as the traditionally privileged Orthodox Christians.

New challenges Christians face in Ethiopia include the Islamic fundamentalism movement mostly coming from radical Islamist organizations or followers of an extreme form of Wahhabist Islam coming from Saudi Arabia-linked Muslim Non-governmental organizations and projects.[33] In Eritrea, torture is used against Protestant Christians, more than 2000 Christians are subject to arrest (2006).[34] The U. S. state department names it a Country of Particular Concern due to its violation of religious liberty.[34] It has been reported that entire families are thrown into jail.[35] According to the Barnabas Fund, in April 2010 a 28-year-old student died after she was held in a metal shipping container for 2 years, after being arrested for attending a Bible study.

Even though some of the older generation of singers didn't have the financial means to make cassettes, they have influenced Ethiopian music in various ways while singing in local churches. Some of the early singers are Addisu Worku, Leggesse Watro, the Araya Family who used to sing on Misrach Dimts Radio.

Mekane Yesus Church led the way in translating hymnals from the Swedish and adapting from Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church. In the early 1970s the Meserete Kristos Church Choir was established. Some from Tsion Choir from Mulu Wongel joined the newly established choir and Meserete Kristos continued developing songs in Ethiopian languages. During these early years, other groups like Bethel singers also produced Ethiopian gospel songs.

Some of the early comers were Mulu Wongel and Meserete Kristos choirs, which now have up to Choir E and F, with each having 8, 9 albums. Some of these churches in other branch cities have stopped using single letters for choir names, and applied names instead. Other early comers Mekane Yesus church choir, Mulu Wengel church choir, Meserete Kristos church (MKC) choir arrived around the 1970s. Solo vocalists developed fast in these and other churches. Addisu Worku, Dereje Kebede, Tamrat Walba, Tesfaye Gabisso, Eyerusalem Teshome, Tamerate Haile, Tadesse Eshete, Gizachew Worku, Atalay Alem and Shewaye Damte fill in some of this list that started early.

Some of the late 20th century singers include Kalkidan Tilahun (Lily) of Qale Hiywet Church, Ahavah Gospel Singers, Dagmawi Tilahun (Dagi) of Mulu Wongel Church and Elias Abebe of the Assemblies of God church. Others are Awtaru Kebede, Sophia Shibabaw, Mesfin Gutu, Mihiret Itefa, Lealem Tilahun (Lali), Gezahegn Muse, Azeb Hailu and many more.[36] There are also singers who are pastors, some of them are Dawit Molalign, Kasshaun Lemma and Yohannes Girma. Oromo language singers like Kabaa Fidoo, Abbabaa Tamesgeen, Iyoob Yaadataa, Baacaa Bayyanaa, Magarsaa Baqqalaa, Dastaa Insarmuu, Bilisee Karrasaa, and others have also served Evangelical Churches in southwestern Ethiopia. In the Tigrinya language, there are singers like Yonas Haile, Mihret Gebretatios, Selam Hagos, Ruth Mekuria, Yemane Habte, and Adhanom Teklemariam and duos like Yonatan and Sosuna. Introducing new styles are young performers like Dawit "Danny" Wolde who studied at Berklee College of Music.[37]

Classical and instrumental gospel songs have also flourished with Fikru Aligaz and Bethel Music Ministry. Also, Fikru Aligaz has been providing a three-day praise and worship service with the Bethel Praise & Worship Choir to reach local Christian and Non-Christian members of the community twice a year since 1998. Duos like Aster & Endalkachewu or Geta Yawkal & Berektawit bring more variety. Also, formerly secular singers like Hirut Bekele, Solomon Disasa and Muluken have produced gospel songs after they convert and become born-again Christians. There are many music composers in P'ent'ay church like Christian Girma (currently living in Denver, Colorado), Ebenezer Girma, Enku Girma, Nathanael Befikadu, Biruk Bedru, Daniel Ewnetu, Bereket Tesfaye, Samson Tamrat, Yabets Tesema, Ameha Mekonen, Endalkachew Hawaz, Estifanos Mengistu, and there are countless church music players. Digital music composition is used and there are more than twenty Christian music studios in Ethiopia, including CMM, TDS, COMNS, Sami, Nati, Langanoo, Begena, Kinnei, Albastor, Shalom, Exodus, and Bethlehem.

There are also gospel singers who sing in Wolayta, Hadiya-Kambata, Sidama, and other areas of the South.

Some of the most famous music players in Ethiopia like Elias Melka, played in Evangelical churches has subsequently converted to secular music. Some modern singers often mimic American Evangelical artists, allegedly including other lifestyles that are not genuine depictions of traditional Ethiopian Evangelicalism. The tradition of local church group choirs, has to an extent been supplanted by individual solo singers who have controversially gained celebrity status with their lifestyles often resembling secular celebrities.