Mennonite World Conference regrets to announce that Meserete Kristos Church in Ethiopia has voted to withdraw from MWC membership.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After an extended period of prayerful deliberation and earnest discernment, the Meserete Kristos Church, assembled in national convention on 4 September 2026, reached a formal decision to withdraw from Mennonite World Conference. The motion was carried with 98.3% approval.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Church leaders from Meserete Kristos currently serving on MWC Commissions and Networks will resign from their positions effective that date.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Meserete Kristos was the largest MWC member church.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMeserete Kristos Church confesses the full and final authority of the Holy Scriptures in all matters of faith and practice. Accordingly, we hold unwaveringly that Christian marriage is divinely instituted, covenantal in nature and constitutes a sacred and lifelong union between one man and one woman alone as the Word of God clearly teaches. It is with profound grief and heaviness of heart that we acknowledge the widening theological fracture within the global body of believers: a division that threatens the very unity of the Body of Christ. The decisive factor that has compelled us to separate from the Mennonite World Conference is its continued inclusion of churches and conferences that not only tolerate but also endorse, affirm and practice homosexuality, in direct contradiction to the clear and unchanging witness of the Holy Scripture,\u201d says a statement from MKC leadership.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In November 2025, concerns were raised within Meserete Kristos\u2019 membership about being linked with national churches whose policies affirm same-sex relationships. Over months of discussion within Meserete Kristos\u2019s community \u2013 both in Ethiopia and among the global diaspora \u2013 the concerns culminated in the vote to leave.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cLike many global Christian denominations, MWC faces serious challenges as we seek to preserve the unity of the Holy Spirit amid divisive viewpoints on same-sex relationships,\u201d says C\u00e9sar Garc\u00eda, MWC general secretary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
MWC has not taken a position on same-sex relationships. \u201cFor more than 12 years, we have prayerfully sought the best way forward amid disagreement, misunderstanding and unverified rumours about how MWC is addressing same-sex relationships,\u201d says C\u00e9sar Garc\u00eda. \u201cThrough it all, one principle has guided us: when churches face disagreement, we are called by God to enter into dialogue and to discern God\u2019s will together.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAs they depart MWC, we pray a blessing on our brothers and sisters in Meserete Kristos. Their vibrancy and passion for evangelism has been an inspiration for many within our global communion. We pray that they continue to grow as they follow Jesus in the ways they have discerned,\u201d says Henk Stenvers, MWC president.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMWC honours the authority and diversity of local and national church structures, and their self-governance,\u201d adds Henk Stenvers. \u201cWe will continue to focus on the seven key points expressed in our Shared Convictions<\/a>, adopted by consensus by the General Council in 2006.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cPlease keep MWC in your prayers as we seek to bear witness to God\u2019s new creation, discern God\u2019s will together and respond faithfully to our call to follow Jesus as a global communion, maintaining the unity of the Spirit,\u201d says Henk Stenvers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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