The 2023/2024 Academic Year at the Ethiopian Graduate School of Theology (EGST) officially opened with worship and holy communion on September 18, 2023. In his welcoming address EGST Director Rev. Dr Misgana Mathewos introduced faculty, staff, students and invited guests to one another and officially welcomed both new and returning students.
Pastor Shiferaw Feyissa gave a sermon on Joshua 1:1-18. He shared that change is inevitable but can be handled with the help of the unchanging God who is sovereign over global dynamics. First, he encouraged the audience that we should not fear the changing crisis since God helps us handle the change. Secondly, God does not change His promises. Even after Moses has died and Joshua was frustrated God kept his promises and encouraged Joshua to lead the Israelites in different circumstances. The word of God, which has been translated to 1284 languages, guides and leads His people. Leadership and global situations change but God does not change. The third point was a reminder that in a changing world, God’s blessings sustain amid the enemy’s traps. Fourthly, God equips and mobilizes us in His word and blessings. If leaders mobilize the people, God works in the church to change the world. The church in Ethiopia is moving with the winds of the country’s frustration instead of leading the nation in God’s word and blessings. “To change the world for better let us get closer to the unchanging God who transforms the world,” he concluded.
After the sermon, Pastor Solomon read from 1 John 1:8-9, followed by a song and the Holy Communion service with other ministers, then closed with the benediction.
Announcements were made regarding the required Personal Development groups, focused on spiritual formation and the start of weekly prayer meetings for all students on Tuesdays beginning September 19, 2023.
We seek to subject our thoughts and actions to God’s Word and affirm the power of Scripture to effect change in individual lives, churches and society.
We come together as a community of learners not for our sake only but also for the sake of others. We seek to grow in our understanding of God and his ways, so that we may help others to acknowledge his governance over the world with its rich possibilities for both individual transformation and for social and cultural renewal.
We believe that theological education speaks to and out of its local context as a dynamic interaction between the local context, the global context and Scripture.
We strongly believe that unity among the churches of Ethiopia is important and can be fostered through cooperative, inter-denominational graduate-level theological education. We also seek to partner with individuals, institutions, churches and organizations within and outside Ethiopia.
We value learning alongside people from different traditions and churches. Exposure to varying traditions challenges thinking about God and the diversity of his work in the world. While EGST promotes unity, it also appreciates and respects diversity.
We value the importance of worshipping God with our minds and strive for excellence both in our rigorous study of Scripture and in our critical analysis of context.
We seek to be people who model Christ’s values such as love, humility, compassion, justice, integrity, self-control, and holiness.
We seek to promote ecumenical relationships among churches in Ethiopia in order to enhance mutual understanding.
