Abstract:
This thesis focuses on a history of St. Mikael Orthodox Church in Dire Dawa (1917-1991).It is
the first EOTC that was established along the Ethio-Djibouti railway terminal. This study
examines the early foundation and development of the St.Mikael Orthodox Church since its
establishment by Ras Mekonnen up to the collapse of Derg Regime in 1991. It also examines how
the Franco-Ethiopian Railway contributed to the foundation of Dire Dawa and the establishment
of St. Mikael Orthodox Church. The roles of Ras Mekonnen and his son Teferi Mekonnen were
great in supporting the church with land grant and financing its buildings. In the highly
diversified city of Dire Dawa, the church embarked upon evangelical, cultural, social and
economic activities both before and after the Italian occupation of Ethiopia. In the post
liberation period, the St. Mikael Orthodox Church showed its sophistication in administrative
structure with the role of the clergies and the laities towards the growth and expansion of the
church as well as the socio-cultural activities which have been conducted by members of the
church. The research further describes the economy of the church and the basic source of
income from land grant. The socio-economic and socio-cultural aspects of the church are also
analyzed. Although the church somewhat suffered under the Italians, the pro-government policy
of generous land grants and Häile Sellassié’s close support and visits to the church enabled it to
thrive until 1974 revolution during which time the church faced substantial economic losses with
the confiscation of land and its properties. The impact of “Land to the Tiller” proclamation in
1975 is carefully examined. Since St. Mikael Orthodox Church engaged in socio-economic and
cultural activities, it had to generate incomes and run up business to scale up its income for its
evangelical activities in Dire Dawa.Moreover, the St. Mikael Orthodox Church played
significant role in order to solve problems related to inter-faith conflict and other problems
through the Church’s different administrative structure. Methodologically, the research is
crafted qualitatively. The views of 50 informants are taken in to consideration. The methods of
data collections are also diversified in order to maintain reliability and authencity. Hence, oral
interviews, published, unpublished materials and documents were exhaustively consulted
