Social responsiveness and transformation in the Ethiopian Evangelical churches : a missiological appraisal

Abstract

Socio-economic crises are looming from time to time globally as well as locally. Millions of people, both believers and non-believers, fall victim to the crises caused by poverty, civil unrest, forced displacement, ill-administration, corruption, and other worldwide tragic events, and their call for help and justice echoes around us every minute and hour. The church as the agent of God's kingdom on earth needs to take primary position with regard to addressing this dilemma; but from the Ethiopian context, this fact seems the other way round. This study set out to uncover the root causes for the trivial involvement of the Ethiopian evangelical churches in addressing socio-economic problems, as well as recommend biblical missiological solutions from the perspective of the call of the church to build the kingdom of God through holistic ministry, part of which is social and economic responsiveness and transformation. While the research is conducted within the framework of global evangelicalism, attention is mostly focused on addressing the subject matter from the Ethiopian evangelical context.