Vision/ራዕይ

It is our desire and duty to worship, exalt and enjoy God by whom and for whom we are all created. We strive to achieve this daily first and foremost by living lives obedient and submissive to the Word of God.

Following on and in keeping with this, it can be said that the Church’s vision has also progressed and evolved over the years as the emphasis and thrust of the ministry has shifted to being more and more outward reaching to the lost, confused, searching and dying around us, both Ethiopians and Eritreans and also others of late.

Indeed, it is our firm and unequivocal belief that it is the mission of the whole Church to win the lost and disciple them for Christ!! Concurrently, it is also the role and responsibility of the leaders to equip and mobilize the Church to accomplish her mission!!

History/አመጣጥ

 

 

The History of ECFCUK

Established in 1979 with a handful of faithful believers desiring to worship God in their mother tongue in UK, ECFCUK slowly and steadily progressed into a full-fledged Church in 1994 and continues in its expansion throughout its generations today.

Over these years growth was fuelled from two sources. In the initial stages of the Church’s history, this was predominantly through the arrival of evangelical Christians from Ethiopia, whereby small gatherings led towards the ‘milestone meeting’ in 1980 in Preston, England, organised by the family of Morrin and Kasaye Degefu alongside Dr Abraham. Here, the creation of links among members who were in different locations, isolated, were able to be given practical assistance to what their needs required. Alongside this growth, in central London there was a birth of small fellowship home gatherings housed by sisters, Megbar and Meseret Tefera alongside Melesse Mergia in October 1980. Here, there was space for fellowship and encouragement among Ethiopian Christians in Britain who had come to London for different reasons including study and starting life. This led to fast growth in home fellowship numbers and the beginning of a main service was very much needed. The first weekly gathering service was held by 12 Christians at Kensington Temple building and continued every Saturday afternoon. Soon after, London became home to ECFUK. 1990 and thereafter growth had primarily been through the evangelization and salvation of Ethiopians and Eritreans living in the UK, to which the Lord has increased our number. It was apparent for the Leadership team to then draw a constitution and structure the church with a Board of Trustees, mandating the Board of Elders along with Deacons, to be responsible for the day-to-day engagement and movement of the spiritual aspects within the church. In both cases the sovereign hand of the Lord has been upon us as a Church and has brought about this growth and increment for which we unfailingly give him all the glory!

The name ‘Ethiopian Christian Fellowship Church in the UK’ was a natural progression from the name of the Fellowship which was coined in 1979 (Ethiopian Christian Fellowship of Great Britain) and at its transition into a Church in 1994, the current name was favoured as a true and faithful reflection of the Church’s diverse denominational background. Throughout the church’s years of ministry, the search to find suitable accommodation to hold its meetings, fellowship gatherings and other church activities was deemed unfortunate, however by the mercy and kindness of the Lord, He opened the door for us to acquire our own building. The Tabernacle, in Central London in 2009 was ECFCUK’s to hold all our meetings and fellowship gatherings in, financed, alongside with the rest of the church’s expenditures by the weekly collections and gifts from its members. The church, as its finance allows, has used it through participation in developmental work in Ethiopia. Within the past, it has provided medical equipment to the Black Lion Hospital in Addis Ababa, supported evangelism work in rural parts of Ethiopia and provided financial support for those in need, in particular children. This, alongside nurturing of the community within London, a feeding programme for the homeless in central has also been able to occur. ECFCUK’s finance is audited on an annual basis and reports are sent as a registered Company Limited by law, with the Company House and as Charity with the Charity Commission since 2015.

The church has focused its ministry on six-value statements - to be righteous, to honour God, to love one another, to be disciple of Jesus Christ, to be trustworthy, and to demonstrate Christ in practical living. The vision of the church revolves around implementing these six-value statements, and so the church is continually praying for future direction and growth in the things of the Lord. Alongside this ECFCUK has acknowledged the opportunities to extend its ministries within the United Kingdom, to train the young members of the church to play a more proactive role, using its long-time experience the church can contribute to giving awareness in various areas, using its easily accessible location ECFCUK can organise trainings for other churches, open its building for other Christian activities and sponsor evangelism programmes. The current number of members within church is estimated to be approximately between 300 – 400 people, with new members joining, alongside some leaving to spread the Gospel and reach out to Ethiopians and Eritreans living in London and elsewhere in the UK. The number of children and youth within the church is growing and housing both our Children’s Sunday School and Youth ministry which has been fruitful, with a potential for a future English led service within ECFCUK as its generations are for Christ.

 

1987 Conference

Beliefs/እምነት


 

 

የእምነት መግለጫችን 

  1. መጽሐፍ ቅዱስ (ብሉይ እና ሐዲስ ኪዳን) በእግዚአብሔር መንፈስ መሪነት የተጻፉ 66 ቅዱሳት መጻሕፍትን የያዘ የእግዚአብሔር ቃል መሆኑን እናምናለን። እንዲሁም በሰው እምነት እና ሕይወት ላይ የመጨረሻ ሥልጣን ያለው፣ የቤተ ክርስቲያን እምነት እና ሥርዐት መሠረት እርሱ ብቻ መሆኑን እናምናለን።
  2. በዘላለማዊ፣ በማይወሰን፣ የሚታየውን እና የማይታየውን ሁሉ በፈጠረ፣ ፍጹም በማይለወጥ አንድ አምላክ፣ በእግዚአብሔር እናምናለን። ይኸውም አምላክ ሥሉስ አምላክ በመሆኑ ሦስት አካለት ሲኖሩት፣ እነዚህም አብ፣ ወልድ፣ መንፈስ ቅዱስ ናቸው።
  3. እግዚአብሔር አብ በፍጥረትም ሆነ በድነት ሥራ ውስጥ ጀማሪና አቃጅ መሆኑን፣ ነገር ሁሉ ከእርሱ እንደ ሆነ እና በመጨረሻም ነገር ሁሉ በእርሱ እንደሚጠቀለል እናምናለን።
  4. እግዚአብሔር ወልድ (ኢየሱስ ክርስቶስ) የእግዚአብሔር አብ የባሕርይ ልጅ እንደ ሆነ፣ በመንፈስ ቅዱስ ኃይል ተፀንሶ ከድንግል ማርያም እንደ ተወለደ፣ ፍጹም አምላክ ፍጹም ሰው እንደ ሆነ፣ ስለ ኃጢአታችንም በመስቀል እንደ ተሠቃየና እንደ ሞተ፣ እንደ ተቀበረ፣ በሦስተኛው ቀን ከሞት በአካል ተነሥቶ ለሰዎች እንደ ተገለጠ፣ በክብር ወደ ሰማይ እንደ ዓረገ፣ አሁንም በአባቱ ቀኝ ተቀምጦ ዘወትር ለእኛ እንደሚማልድ፣ ዳግመኛም በታላቅ ክብር እና ሥልጣን እንደሚመለስ እናምናለን።
  5. እግዚአብሔር መንፈስ ቅዱስ አጽናኝ፣ በአማኞች ውስጥ አድሮ መንፈሳዊ ስጦታዎችን እና ኀይልን በመስጠት ቤተ ክርስቲያንን ቀዳሽ፣ እንደዚሁም ስለ ኀጢአት፣ ስለ ጽድቅ እና ስለ ፍርድ ዓለምን ወቃሽ እንደ ሆነ እናምናለን።
  6. አዳም እና ሔዋን በእግዚአብሔር አምሳል መፈጠራቸውን፣ በኋላም የእግዚአብሔርን ትእዛዝ መጣሳቸው ይህም በሰው ዘር ሁሉ ላይ ውድቀትን ማስከተሉን፣ ከዚህም የተነሣ ሰዎች ሁሉ ኀጢአትን ስለሚያደርጉ እና ስለሚበድሉ የእግዚአብሔር ቁጣ እና ፍርድ ያለባቸው መሆኑን እናምናለን።
  7. ድነት በክርስቶስ ኢየሱስ በማመን በጸጋ ብቻ የሚገኝ እንጂ በሌላ በማንም ወይም በምንም እንደማይገኝ እናምናለን። ስለሆነም ሰዎች በኀጢአታቸው ተጸጽተው ንስሓ ቢገቡና ኢየሱስ ክርስቶስን አዳኛቸው እና ጌታቸው አድርገው ቢቀበሉ ከመንፈስ ቅዱስ እንደሚወለዱ እና የእግዚአብሔር ልጅነትን ሥልጣን እንደሚቀበሉ እናምናለን።
  8. በአብ፣ በወልድ፣ በመንፈስ ቅዱስ ስም በሚደረግ የአማኝ የውሃ ጥምቀት እናምናለን። በተጨማሪም በኤፌሶን 5፥18 መሠረት የመንፈስ ቅዱስ ሙላት ዛሬም በጸሎት እና በጉጉት ልንጠብቀው የተገባ፣ በክርስቶስ የተሰጠን ትእዛዝ በመሆኑ አማኞች የመንፈስ ቅዱስ ስጦታን እንድንቀበል እና መንፈስ ቅዱስ እንደ ወደደ በሚሰጠው መጠን በልዩ ልዩ ቋንቋ (ልሳን) አማኞች እንደሚናገሩ እናምናለን።
  9. አማኞች የምንካፈለው የጌታ እራት ጌታ ዳግም እስኪመጣ ድረስ ፍቅሩን እና ሞቱን የምናስብበት፣ ራሳችንን የምንመረምርበት፣ ሞቱን እና ትንሣኤውን ለማብሰር ቃል የምንገባበት ሥርዐት እንደ ሆነ እናምናለን።
  10. በአማኞች አካላዊ ትንሣኤ እና ንጥቀት እናምናለን። እንዲሁም ጌታችን ኢየሱስ ክርስቶስ መንግስቱን በሙላት ሊመሠርት ከቅዱሳኑ ጋር ተመልሶ ወደ ምድር እንደሚመጣ፣ የሙታን ሁሉ ትንሣኤ እንደሚኖርና የመጨረሻው ፍርድ እንደሚካሄድ፣ ከዚያም ኀጢአተኞች ከእግዚአብሔር ተለይተው የዘላለም ቅጣታቸውን እንደሚቀበሉ፣ ጻድቃን ግን ከእርሱ ጋር በዘላለም ሕይወት በደስታ እንደሚኖሩ እናምናለን።

 

Our Statement of Faith 

  1. We believe that the Bible (the Old and New Testament) is made of 66 books written by the guidance of Holy Spirit; that is has the ultimate authority on the life and faith of an individual and church conduct. 
  2. We believe in an eternal, limitless, Creator of the seen and unseen, forever unchanging one true God, who is triune; the three personhoods are the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. 
  3. God the Father is the One who planned and originated creation and the work of salvation; all things come from Him and in Him it will be finished. 
  4.  God the Son, Jesus Christ, is the one and only Son of God, who by the Holy Spirit was conceived in the womb of the virgin Mary; He is 100% God and 100% man. He went onto a cross to die for our sins, was buried and 3 days later was resurrected and revealed to His disciples. In glory, He ascended to heaven and is seated on the right hand of the Father, where He intercedes on our behalf. And again, He will return in glory and authority to the earth. 
  5. God the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, dwells in each and every believer and gifts to every Christian spiritual gifts and power to facilitate and empower the church to holiness. Regarding sin, righteousness, and judgement, He functions as a witness to the world. 
  6. We believe that Adam and Eve were created in the likeness of God, then disobeyed the commands of God, thereby the capacity to sin has descended throughout all mankind. As a result, since all mankind have sinned and continue to sin, we are deserving of the judgement of God. 
  7.  We believe that salvation is through Jesus Christ by grace and through faith alone; salvation cannot be attained by any other means. As an individual acknowledges their sin, repents and accepts Jesus Christ as their Saviour and Lord, they are born again by the Holy Spirit being made a child of God. 
  8.  We believe in water baptism being done in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit via immersion. Moreover, according to Ephesians 5:18, we are to eagerly seek the filling of the Holy Spirit through prayer. Since it is commands given to us by Jesus Christ Himself, believers are to receive the gifts of the Holy Spirit which are distributed as the Spirit pleases. As such we also believe that the Spirit still gives the gift of Tongues to this day 
  9. Believers are to partake in the Lord’s Supper until Christ returns to proclaim His death and resurrection, as we do so we introspectively examine ourselves, and meditate on His love and death on the cross. 
  10. We believe that upon the resurrection and rapture all believers will receive a new incorruptible body. Our Lord Jesus Christ will come with all the saints to fully establish His Kingdom on the earth. All those who have died will be resurrected where there will be a final judgement to be received. Therein, sinners who have remained separate from God will then receive their eternal judgement, but the saints will enjoy eternal life with God forever. 

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