Written by: Telile Fikru Badecha on February 7, 2014

Reading Evangelicalism in Modern Britain by D.W. Bebbington detailed analyses on the history of Evangelical religion from the 1730s to the 1980s was eye opening to realize the enduring impacts that the Evangelical religion has had not only in United Kingdom but in worldwide Christianity. For instance, Dr. Thomas Alexander Lambie (1885-1954) the first American missionary doctor who was with Serving In Mission helped establish Kale Heywet (Word of Life) church”,[1] the largest Evangelical denominations in Ethiopia.

As the author said, “…the quest for souls generally drove Evangelicals out from centres of learning to the parishes and to the foreign mission field ”(p.12). The challenge with the SIM mission philosophy, as it was with other Evangelical of this age, they did not want to do the evangelism work wholistically because they believe that “people needs to be converted rather than civilized.” [2]

I must confess, although I identify myself as ‘Evangelical’ because of my church affiliation, but I have never thought of the term Evangelical in the ways that Babington describes in this book. The author explains that the word ‘evangelical’, with a lower-case initial, is occasionally used to mean ‘of the gospel’, the term ‘Evangelical’, with a capital letter, is applied to any aspect of the movement beginning in the 1730” (p.1). Interestingly, the equivalent translation for the word Evangelical in Oromo“ Warra Wangeela” means  ‘the people of the gospel.’ Both evangelical churches planted by missionaries and indigenous alike used to assert their distinctiveness, unity, and orthodoxy. However, the Orthodox Christians, Muslims and others referred to Evangelicals as Pentes—a shortened form of Protestants.

As I read through the four characteristics of the Evangelical religions: conversionism, activism, Biblicism, and crucicentrism, I noted that these are among the main features of the doctrines of many Ethiopian churches, although the ways they construe and give emphasis to these features differ from one another. However, conversionism, (or winning souls for Christ) seems to have a higher importance among all churches in Ethiopia. Churches who have lots of new believers attend there are preferred churches. It is a sign that your community is active in winning the souls for Christ. The biggest challenge is they compete against each other rather than seeing each other as a team serving in His kingdom.

I appreciate that Bebbington writes, “ Who composed the Evangelical communities?” It is interesting Bebbington points out that the Methodist membership list for Bristol in 1783 includes occupations. The largest occupational group is the servants and others were classified based on their skills.  The author also says “ Unskilled men were few, at least among the committed members of Evangelical bodies. There may well have been more of them among the ‘hearers’, the regular attenders who had not actually joined.” Bebbington continues to say, “…. Evangelicalism was rarely the religion of the poorest and outcast. Nor was it the religion of the prosperous and successful in the eighteen century” (p.25). It is interesting, though, in Ethiopia, Evangelicalism is often associated with aid and people who convert to Christianity were often seen as less fortunate. Our churches are willing to provide any support the new converts need. The problem is they hardly support those outside their community circle. Most people are aware of Evangelical churches biased strategies. There is a story I remember: a couple of years ago, a Muslim guy came to our church and told us that he saw Jesus in his dream and became a Christian. Then our church members got so excited and gave him a place and began to take turns to host him at their homes. No one suspected that he was lying and after a couple of months he stole some stuff from our church and left. It was a harsh experience for my church. But the downside is they became skeptical of Muslims converts, which I do not think is the right attitude.

Another interesting story that Bebbington highlighted in this section is the leadership roles that women played in the movement. “Women were numerous in the movement ”, he said (p.25). In the time when they were not allowed to take any public leadership roles “outside the formal setting of public worship, and even occasionally in it, women found opportunities for self-expression. In the proliferating cottage meetings of early Evangelicalism it was often women who took the lead in prayer and praise, counsel and exhortation” (p.26) Bebbington continues saying, “In an age when avenues for women into any sphere outside the home were being closed, Christian zeal brought them into prominence ” (p.26). It is fascinating that I notice similar things in Ethiopian churches. A woman needs to have an extraordinary gift, especially to be in teaching and preaching ministry. Usually women who have a gift of prophecy were given lots of opportunity to pray and preach in small groups and Sunday morning services than others. Also, some churches I have been to now are allowing at least one or two women to be part of the leadership team. Despite the churches motives behind the women’s roles, I am grateful that churches are becoming open to women’s ministry.

About the Author

Telile Fikru Badecha