Lutheran mission work began in Eritrea in 1866 when Swedish missionaries arrived. Other missions followed, from Sweden, Germany, and the U.S. Following World War II, missions from Norway, Denmark, and Iceland began work in various parts of Ethiopia. In 1957, The American Lutheran Church, a predecessor of the ELCA, began work. The ALC sent many missionaries during the late 1950s and 60s. Some worked with the Radio Voice of the Gospel, a radio station which broadcast Christian programs to most of Africa.

The Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus was established in 1959 with the merger of Lutheran and other groups established by the missions mentioned above. The EECMY began with 20,000 members. In 1991 it had over a million members and in 1997 it had almost 2.3 million members. This phenomenal growth is both miraculous and challenging, as the church struggles to provide effective ministry with very limited resources. The country is one of the poorest in the world, and its people have as many as eighty different languages.

The needs continue to be overwhelming on all fronts. For example, it is expected that 600,000 children will be orphaned in the next five years due to the death of their parents by the AIDS epidemic. The EECMY has a very deliberate twofold witness to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, in word and deed, and the social needs of people are not forgotten in the midst of evangelizing and building hundreds of new church buildings.

The EECMY has experienced a 15% per year growth rate for many years. In order to provide pastoral care and instruction, the EECMY trains as many pastors and other church leaders as possible. Its primary site for theological education is the Mekane Yesus Seminary in Addis Ababa. Dr. Debella Birri, the principal of the seminary, received his advanced degree through an ELCA Global Mission international scholarship. The seminary has an enrollment of 150 students, including about twenty women. The seminary does not have adequate teaching staff for its many programs, and needs new staff from overseas.

In view of the rapid growth of the church, diploma programs in theology and a variety of short courses are being developed in the synods. Thus the Mekane Yesus Seminary will not only be a training school for pastors, but will prepare teachers for Bible Schools and training centers in the synods. In order to adequately prepare these professors and teachers, graduate theological education is being developed at the seminary.

The Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus is very active in ecumenical relationships, as a member of the Lutheran World Federation, the World Council of Churches, the All Africa Conference of Churches, and the Lutheran Communion in Central & Eastern Africa.