An ancient tradition kept in a new land, a parish gathered as a Mount of Peace in the diaspora.
Debre Salem (meaning Mountain of Peace) St. John the Baptist Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church is a parish under the Diocese of New York and Surrounding Areas of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church.
Established in 2025, our parish was founded to serve the growing community of English-speaking Ethiopian Orthodox faithful. We are committed to preserving the sacred traditions, teachings, and worship of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church while making them accessible to younger generations, those inquiring about Orthodoxy, and English-speaking individuals more broadly.
We place special emphasis on college and university students as well as young professionals in the workforce, walking alongside them through worship services, fellowship, spiritual teaching, and mentorship as they grow in their relationship with Christ and remain connected to the Church while navigating academic, professional, personal, and spiritual challenges.
Our church strives to provide a welcoming spiritual home where English-speaking faithful can worship, learn, and grow within the ancient faith and living traditions of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church.
The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church is one of the oldest Christian churches in the world. The word Tewahedo (ተዋሕዶ) means "made one," confessing the perfect union of the divine and human natures in our Lord Jesus Christ, without confusion, change, division, or separation.
Our tradition was planted in Ethiopia in the fourth century by Saint Frumentius (Abuna Selama), consecrated by Saint Athanasius of Alexandria. From that day to this, our church has kept the apostolic faith in the liturgy of Saint Hippolytus, in the chants of Saint Yared, and in the canon of eighty-one books of Holy Scripture, the broadest of any Christian church.
Saint John the Baptist, Yohannes ዮሐንስ, is called the greatest of those born of women by our Lord himself. He came in the spirit and power of Elijah; he leapt for joy in his mother's womb at the voice of the Theotokos; he baptized Christ in the Jordan; and he was beheaded for the truth, witnessing in death as he had in life.
Our parish honours him as our patron and intercessor. We keep the feast of his Beheading on the eleventh of September (the dawn of the Ethiopian new year), and we look to his example: to speak truth, to keep the fast, and to point always toward Christ rather than ourselves.
"He must increase, but I must decrease." (John 3:30)
We confess the Holy Trinity, one God in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We confess the Lord Jesus Christ, true God and true man, born of the ever-virgin Theotokos Mary, crucified for our salvation, risen on the third day, ascended in glory, and coming again to judge the living and the dead. We confess one baptism for the remission of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life of the age to come. Amen.
Lay leaders who serve alongside our clergy, stewarding the temporal life of the parish: its finances, ministries, and care of the community.