This week in Christian history: Spanish Inquisition, first worship service in Australia, Ethiopian church cuts ties with ELCA

By Michael Gryboski, Editor Sunday, February 02, 2025

Evangelical Ethiopian church cuts ties with ELCA over gay marriage — Feb. 2, 2013

This week marks the anniversary of when the Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus announced that it was cutting ties with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America over the latter denomination’s acceptance of same-sex marriage.

At an assembly held in Addis-Ababa, Ethiopia, the Evangelical denomination decided to sever ties with ELCA and the Church of Sweden, as well as any other church “who have openly accepted same-sex marriage.”

Get Our Latest News for FREE

Subscribe to get daily/weekly email with the top stories (plus special offers!) from The Christian Post. Be the first to know.

Subscribe

This severance included not receiving communion from ELCA clergy, canceling all invitations of ELCA pastors to speak at EEC congregations, and ending any mission partnerships.

"The ELCA is very saddened by this decision," said the Rev. Rafael Malpica Padilla, executive director for ELCA Global Mission, in a statement at the time.

"The ELCA and its predecessor church bodies have been walking with the people of Ethiopia for more than 50 years, and our sister church, the Church of Sweden, for more than 150 years. In this journey, we have learned from one another, we have deepened and extended the bonds of fellowship and partnership in the gospel.”