Debre Meheret Kidus Micheal Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church

በስመ አብ ወወልድ ወመንፈስ ቅዱስ አሐዱ አምላክ አሜን::

በአለማችን ላይ የተከሰተውን የኮሮና ቫይረስ ወረርሺኝ እግዚአብሔር አምላክ ምህረቱን እንዲልክልን እየለምንን በዚሁ ወረርሺኝ ምክንያት መዕመናን ወደ ቤተ ክርስቲያን መጥተው አግልግሎቱን መካፈልና ፀሎት ማድረግ ባይችሉም እንኳን ድብራችን መደብኛውን አገልግሎት ሳይቋረጥ በፌስቡክና በተለያዩ የመገናኛ አውታሮች እያስተላለፈች ትገኛለች። በተጨማሪም ዘወትር ከምሽቱ 7pm እስከ 8pm ድረስ የምህላ ጸሎት በማድረግ ከአምላካችን ምህረትን እየለመች ትገኛለች።

በዚህ አስቸጋሪ ወቅት መዕመናን አስራታችሁን፤ ሙዳይ ምፅዋት፤ እንዲሁም የአባልነት ክፍያችሁን በዚህ በጎፈንድ ሚ(GoFundMe  )፣ በፌስቡክ (FaceBook ) ወይም በፔይፓል (PayPal ) ለቤተ ክርስቲያናችን ገቢ ማድረግ ትችላላችሁ።

ክፍያ ከፈፀሙ በኋላ ስምዎንና የክፍያውን አይነት ለደብራችን የገንዘብ ተቀባይ ወ/ት ፈለቀች ደረጄ  በስልክ ቁጥር (510) [phone redacted] ወይም ለደብሩ የሂሳብ ሹም አቶ ካሳዬ ደበሊ በስልክ ቁጥር (510) [phone redacted] በመደወል ቢያሳውቁ መልካም ነው።

እግዚአብሔር አምላክ ምህረቱን ይላክልክን: ጥበቃውም አይለየን። አሜን።

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God Amen.

        We the DMKMEOC (Debere Meheret Ethiopian Orthodox Church In Oakland CA., ) started our church in 2006. We have been leasing churches from different locations up till now. With the grace of God, we are planning to purchase our own church soon. Due to a high down payment request, we have been on hold from purchasing our place. We are calling all believers of Saint Michael to help our church by donating and by being part of the blessing to make our dream come true.

https://www.facebook.com/Oakland-Debre-Mihiret-Kidus-Michael-Ethiopian-Orthodox-Tewahido-Church-1026582217375234/

1. Short Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church History            

                   The Orthodox Church is the one Church founded by Jesus Christ and his apostles, begun at the day of Pentecost with the descent of the Holy Spirit in the year 33 A.D. The Ethiopian Orthodox Christian Church is one of the largest of Christian Church’s and has a membership of between 45 and 50 million people, the majority of whom live in Ethiopia. It is a founding member of the World Council of Churches.

2. Debre Mehiret  Kidus Michael Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church History     

                 Deber Meheret Saint Michael Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church in Oakland California, is a nonprofit religious organization. The Church has been serving the Ethiopian and Eritrean community in Bay Area for more than 12 years. The initiative to establish the church was taken by a very few dedicated and faithful Ethiopian people under a good leadership and established as a nonprofit religious organization in the state of California in 2006. The church is an affiliate of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church. Initially, the Church was serving its congregation in a small chapel rented from Central Serbian Christian Church in downtown Oakland. The church started its services with only one priest assisted by two deacons. At present, there are three priests and several deacons who regularly provide sacramental and other spiritual services to the community. Over the years, Church attendance has shown a steady rise. Today, the Church serves its regular Sunday mass and spiritual services to all bay area Christians.

                           
3. Debre Meheret  Kidus Michael Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church (E.O.T.C) Mission Statement

                 We, at Debre Meheret  Kidus Michael E.O.T.C, united in our diversity, called by God’s love, on a journey of spiritual growth and baptized in Christ, are committed to reaching families for Christ through excellence in praise and worship, outreach, fellowship and gospel-driven teamwork. With faithfulness to the doctrinal/dogma heritage of the Ethiopian Orthodox  Tewahedo Church, we preach the Word of God and rightly administer the sacraments, manifest the unity of our faith in Jesus Christ in the celebration of the Eucharist, foster Christian love, and extend a helping hand to those who are in need.  We believe that education for both children and adults with respect to the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church services, and preserving without flaw the true faith, order, and tradition passed down by the Holy Fathers and Martyrs are essential components of our journey together. Debre Meheret Kidus Michael E.O.T.C offers religious education for children, youths and adults.  The Church also offers counseling; the youth support groups, job training, and many other community services and gatherings.


4. Debre Meheret Kidus Michael Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church Current Issues

           Since its establishment, the Church has taken the lead in providing services to meet the spiritual, cultural, and economic needs of the Ethiopian immigrant population in Oakland area by upholding the centuries-old tradition and values of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo religion practices.  However, as the size of the congregation grew faster than expected and the Church was unable to provide essential services for many hundreds of Ethiopians immigrants. Because of those reasons, members of the church encouraged by their strong conviction and deep religious dedication, the church rented from Jewish Chapel which is the current location in 2010 for weekend service only.  

             The Current Landlord and city of piedmont constraints have limited the types of services that we can offer and greatly restricted the number of persons served due to time restrictions. Because of those reasons, we are conducting our church services under extreme difficulty. At the same time, the church adopted a revised By-laws and the general assembly elected a Board of Trustees from the priests and members to administer the overall management of the Church. Our Church is therefore, a people’s Church managed by board members who are elected for two year-term. Throughout the last decade, Deber Meheret Kidus Michael Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church activity has intensified both quantitatively and qualitatively. Besides   proclaiming the Gospel and make disciples of all nations, the church empowers the community in strengthen the body of believers and equip them for works of ministry because the church should be an atmosphere of spiritual edification, where believers (nations) are grounded, discipled and led toward maturity. Since then the church becomes a focal point and plays a significant role in the community.


              Currently, the church provides numerous services including the usual liturgy, Christening, prayer for the dead (requiem), and Sunday school for children and adults. A committee was set up to accomplish our primary goal of having our own Chapel were to facilitate a corporate environment of worship that express our love toward one another, and to provide consistent Christian religion service without any interruptions. However, because of the current Oakland area housing inflation and our community (Church’s) income we can’t accomplish or achieve our goals yet.

                       Finally, we members and Executive Board of Deber Meheret Kidus Michael Ethiopian Orthodox Church by considering our fellowship in Christ and our challenges, writing this short church history were hoping that you would be willing to help us by donating any amount to buy our own place to worship. Thank you in advance in name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit for your time and consideration and May the Almighty richly blesses the Church in all endeavors.  

                             

                                    In Christ,