Debre-Genet St. Tekle-Haymanot Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church was established in January 2010 in the City of Toronto with the main objectives.

Preach and promote the faith of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church;
Establish and maintain a house of worship and conduct regular services to congregation (Baptism, Confirmation, Holy communion, ordination, Holy Matrimony, Mystery of penance, and Unction of the sick);
Support and maintain spiritual missions and missionaries in order to propagate faith;
Establish and maintain a religious school of instruction for children, youth and adults;
Provide social services to members of the church and others;
Work to build a strong and healthy community by connecting the society with aim of sharing expertise and providing counselling to overcome life’s challenges;
Cooperate and assist Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Parish Churches and Monasteries back in Ethiopia and in different parts of the world;
Promote Christian unity and pray for the peace of the world guided by the work of the Holy Spirit.

The church is a registered charity in the province of Ontario and governed by Canada Not-for-profit Corporations Act. The church follows the Doctrine and Canon of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, as well as the resolutions of its Holy Synod. Any person over the age of 18 who is baptized and professes the teachings of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church can become a member.

Early Years

At the time of establishment, approximately 40 committed Christians founding members, used to congregate in the basement of Greek Orthodox church at 40 Donlands Avenue in Toronto, located beside the Donlands subway station. In those initial days, the service schedule was entirely dependent on the availability of rental space. As a result, church services were held on Saturday mornings instead of Sunday mornings, which is traditionally normal for Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo churches. It took a great deal of effort and commitment from the congregation to prepare the rental hall for service, maintain it in good order throughout the service, and finally return the hall to its original condition after the service concluded. The congregation faced ups and downs for about five years, however, they managed not only to survive the challenges but also to grow the church to the next level. Our members worked together in unity, made generous financial contributions, and put in all the necessary hard work to grow membership and to save enough for the down payment required for a building purchase.

Service at Current location

In September 2015, the church managed to acquire a building of its own, located at 72 Birchmount Rd in Scarborough, marking a significant milestone in our church history. This acquisition opened the door to improving church services and reaching out to more people. Running consistent church programs became possible, and the congregation grew in size, serving more than 400 people every Sunday on a consistent basis. We opened Saturday classes to teach children and youth Bible study, rehearse church hymns, and train young deacons. On Friday evenings, we hold a Bible study class for youth, and every Thursday, we have a prayer service. However, space limitations once again became a bottleneck for our services. During feast days, the church hall reaches full capacity, often forcing us to turn away latecomers or ask them to attend from outside the building due to limited space.

Major activities

The Church runs regular activities to fulfil its mission as much as its resources allow. It serves as a beacon of hope for our community. The growth of the church is closely linked to the relevance of the services offered. The fact that the majority of activities in the church run by volunteers demonstrates community engagement. The following activities are listed to showcase the range of events happening in our church:

Liturgy service and Bible lesson for the congregation every Sunday and on selected days of the month based on feast dates
Baptism, Fithat (Prayers for deceased), perform wedding ceremonies following the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo tradition.
Bible study for children, youth and adults.
Counselling service to our congregation
Youth mentorship
Run social events to gather our community together on different occasions and seasons
Support new immigrant to settle by providing information, networking opportunity and give volunteer opportunity which will help them develop contacts to give them leads for permanent employment and education opportunity
Support the needy

Through the grace of God, with intercession of Abune Teklehaymanot and Abune Gebremenfes kidus, Debre Genet St Teklehaymanot church came a long way since its establishment. It is a blessing to have our Father Melake Hiwot Haregewoin Alemayehu who leads by example, not to mention his selfless contributions. With his prayers and guidance at the forefront, Debre Genet St Teklehaymanot EOT church achieve various miles stones through out its existence to date. God willing, Members of the clergy together with congregation strive to uphold the dogma and tradition of Orthodox Tewahedo church, to develop church to serve as many people as possible, to work on future generation to pass on Orthodox Tewahedo faith and values. All our achievement is only possible because of active involvement of believers through their prayers, generous financial contributions, volunteering mostly with self initiation. The commitment from our members and the support from fellow Christian brothers and sisters from sister churches were a key factor in our growth. We are accepting new members and recently put effort to make registration very easy. Therefore, we call up on for Orthodox Tewahedo believers who lives in GTA to joint Debre Genet St Teklehaymanot EOT church. We encourage fellow Christians to fill online form or come to the office to fill paper form to formally become a member.

God be with us.

Browser Not Supported

Location