OROMO
EVANGELICAL
CHURCH
Waldaa Oromoo Warra Wangeelaa Columbus Ohio
MEET OUR PASTORS
Pastor Kansa Deresa
Senior Pastor
Pastor Teshome Deingede
Associate Pastor
OUR TEAM
Meet the dedicated individuals who serve and lead our church community with passion and purpose.
Abebe Kebede
Elder
Chaltu Hunde
Worship Leader
Dereje Geleta
Deacon
Feven Tadesse
Children's Ministry
Girma Bekele
Elder
Hawi Gemechu
Youth Coordinator
Kebede Negash
Treasurer
Meti Tolessa
Administrative Assistant
Tadesse Mulatu
Sunday School Director
Selamawit Tefera
Women's Ministry
Bekele Demissie
Outreach Coordinator
Tigist Abebe
Hospitality Team
Solomon Tadesse
Music Director
Meseret Haile
Bible Study Leader
Dawit Mengistu
Media Team Lead
Rahel Getachew
Community Outreach
OUR MISSION
To lead all people into a life-changing, ever-growing relationship with Christ, building and equipping believers to become fully devoted followers of Christ.
"But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."
— Acts 1:8
OUR VISION
Our vision is to become a Biblically rooted congregation moved by the Great Commission, which equips and enables men and women to communicate Christ through significant relationships with God and with one another believers.
WHAT WE DO
OUR COMMUNITY
The Church provides Regular Sunday worship, weekly Bible study, prayer time every Saturday morning and evening, Sunday school for children, annual spiritual conferences, congregation fellowship every Sunday after service, confirmation class, Baptizing, pre-marriage counseling, marriage ceremony, and entertain social events.
After several years of worshiping in rental places, OEC now owns a formal Church that is fully furnished and equipped to provide different community services to members and local community. Planed services include: daycare, after school, English as a second language and different social services as needed.
WHAT WE BELIEVE
The Triune God
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and the Gospel as the power of God for the salvation of all who believe.
Jesus Christ is the Word of God incarnate, through whom everything was made and through whose life, death, and resurrection God fashions a new creation.
The Holy Scripture
The canonical Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are the written Word of God. Inspired by the Holy Spirit speaking through their authors, they record and announce God's revelation centering in Jesus Christ.
Through them the Holy Spirit speaks to us to create and sustain Christian faith and fellowship for service in the world.
Salvation
When Jesus walked the earth He made a very simple invitation, "Come follow me." Today he makes the same invitation. The bad news is that because of our sin we are all in need of a savior. The great news is the work of Salvation was done when Jesus was crucified, buried, and rose from the dead.
Marriage
The Bible teaches that marriage is a sacred covenant between one man and one woman originally established by God in Genesis 2:24: "Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh." Jesus reaffirmed this in the New Testament.
OUR HISTORY
Timeline History
In early 2011, majority congregations of OEC departed from Oromo Lutheran Church affiliated with Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) due to the disagreement on the Social Statements of Human sexuality. In the same year, the congregation voted to join the Northern American Lutheran Church (NALC).
With no place to worship around mid-2011, the congregation was forced to worship at one of the Columbus Cities Park and Recreation event facility. After two weeks, the congregation was prohibited from worshipping due to the rules and regulation of the city park.
In October 2011, OEC members started worshiping at "Crossroad Wedding and Event Center" for three months during which the Oromo Evangelical Church in Columbus Ohio was born and registered with the state of Ohio.
In early 2012, OEC members started worshipping at Nazarene Church in Whitehall for about six months. In the same year, OEC congregation rented office building for a worship service on South Hamilton Street in Columbus, Ohio.
In early 2018, with the help of NALC, OEC bought a permanent and fully furnished Church in Baltimore Ohio, east side of Columbus.
In summary: OECs biggest challenge was a place of worship. The congregation faced and overcome several ups and downs. As of February 2018, OEC is growing at 20% per year, has 260 members (of which 90 members are children).
JOIN US THIS SUNDAY
We'd love to have you join us for worship. Come experience the warmth and welcome of our church family.