Background
At the turn of the 19th Century, Ethiopian Christians began proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ with the help of Lutheran and Presbyterian Missions in Ethiopia. From these joint efforts the Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus (EECMY) was instituted as a national Church in January 1959. A year after her establishment as a national Church, the EECMY made it her priority to establish a higher theological training institution to train leaders and ministers for her life and mission.
In order to fulfill this aim, it was agreed to establish one Seminary which would begin to function as of October 1960. Since its establishment, the MYS has recorded continued growth to fulfill its objective of training leaders, ministers, and teachers for the various ministries of the EECMY, Churches in Ethiopia and beyond. The MYS has continued its effort of training people through the College of Theological Studies (CoTS) through educational programs of Masters of Arts (MA) in Theology, regular and summer Bachelor of Theology (B. Th), Theological Education by Extension (TEE), College of Distance Education (CoDE) and Post Graduate Diploma (PGD) program.
Mission
As God’s mission to the world and His purpose for the World are revealed and carried out in the light of Judeo-Christian scriptures and traditions, the MYS College of Theological Studies (CoTS) is established for and aims at theologically constructed education drawn from and based on the scriptures. Its mission is serving the love and mission of God to the world which was manifested through the incarnation and redemptive works of His only Son, Jesus Christ. It strives to serve this mission by educating and guiding male and female students in leadership and ministry skills to participate in God’s mission and purpose for the world.
Vision
At the heart of the MYS-CoTS vision is its commitment to build up and shape the church’s intellectual profile for its faith, mission, and ministry. In order to practically achieve this vision, it strives to produce male and female theologians who are theologically, biblically, doctrinally, ecclesiastically, and contextually well informed, competent and committed to serve God, the church, and communities, within which they live, with diverse skills required for ministry.
Objective
Objective of the MYS-CoTS is educating people in theological and biblical studies and producing theologically skilled and shaped leaders, ministers, and missionaries whose knowledge, life, and ministry could impact and transform the way people live in the world and bring it to what God intends it to be. As it is dedicated to intellectual interpretation and application of God’s mission to and purpose for the church and the world, it strives to form academically competent, theologically and doctrinally reliable, and spiritually committed male and female theologian leaders and ministers.
Core Values
The core values of the CoTS are the pursuit of distinctive:
- Student, faculty, and institutional theological and devotional experience
- Academic excellence through growing research and scholarly works
- Cross-cultural character of the Christian faith, mission, and ministry
- Christian moral, ethical, and social values and the wholeness of each human being
