Oromo Lutheran Church finds a permanent home

People of the Oromo ethnic group in Ethiopia have come to Minnesota to escape the persecution and oppression they've endured for more than a century, and the United States has granted them asylum. Some of them came from the indigenous Lutheran Church in Ethiopia (Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus), originally started by Scandinavian and German missionaries and now the fastest growing church in that country. The larger Lutheran church gives its support to the Oromo people in their struggle against oppression.

In 1987, Oromo Lutherans in Minneapolis began meeting for Bible study and eventually founded the Oromo Lutheran Church. Their meetings were on Sunday afternoons at the Franklin Avenue Bethany Lutheran Church.

On May 29, 2005, they moved into the church building given to them by Our Redeemer Lutheran Church at 4000 28th Avenue South. (The Our Redeemer congregation will continue to meet in the building.) The Oromo congregation of 400 people now fills the sanctuary every Sunday at 11 a.m. A special celebration was held on June 5 with the cluster churches, a coalition of neighborhood
congregations.

When asked about the biggest problem his congregation faces in the new culture, Reverend Melkamu Negeri, pastor of this group for 10 years, said they are “losing their language—they are divided by language.” Separate worship services in English are organized for the young people who don’t speak Oromifa. Also, the group losing fellowship. Communal life is lost, people can't support each other because they are always working and they are spread out over large distances. People work 8, 12, 16 hours a day and many commute 45 minutes to attend church.

Every three to four months the church plans a revival weekend with a guest speaker, prayer, singing and socializing so people can spend more time together.

Rev. Negeri explained more about what the Oromos have been through together, their common history. He said that although they are the largest ethnic group in Ethiopia, they are not the ruling class. As with any group that experiences injustice, “the government always thinks they are against the government.”