RELIGIOUS AND ETHNIC IDENTITY AMONG POST-1965 IMMIGRANT CONGREGATIONS IN THE PROTESTANT MAINLINE: AN OROMO CASE STUDY

Abstract

This dissertation is an ethnographic study of Oromo Presbyterian Evangelical Church located in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. The case study of this congregation contributes to our understanding of how "new immigrants" are changing the American religious landscape. By assessing religious and ethnic identity among immigrant Oromo Ethiopians, this study traces Oromo conceptions of identity from the homeland to the diaspora. As identities are renegotiated in the new land, this immigrant group establishes a faith community whereby religion serves as a meaning-making institution to meet the social, cultural, and spiritual needs of the immigrant group. Furthermore, the relationship between post-1965 immigrant Christians with Protestant mainline churches is a dynamic affecting ethnic diversity and church growth. Thus, this case study points to the normative challenges faced by the Protestant mainline as new immigrants contribute to the redefining of American Protestantism.