Staffan Grenstedt, Ambaricho and Shonkolla, reads (p. 132-33):
“Ethiopian Evangelicals and foreign missionaries were also influenced by the EOC legacy within the EECMY represented by men like Qes Badima Yalew. He introduced a liturgy in the AAMY, which followed the ritual of the Church of Sweden (Lutheran), augmented with Orthodox prayers and “suitable” traditions.
[p. 133] Another example of EOC influence is the AAMY lectionary called Merahut, (the keys), which was printed in 1949 as a booklet. It is a mixture and compromise between the (Lutheran) Church of Sweden lectionary of 1942 and EOC influences. The origin of the lectionary can be traced to Qes Badima Yalew and the Swedish
missionary Rev. Stjärne. The epistle and gospel were read according to a Lutheran fashion but followed the indigenous four-year cycle of the Ethiopian calendar: Zemene Matheos, Markos, Lukas and Yohannes. Ethiopian festivals with appropriate bible-passages were included in the lectionary.
Holy Communion was, furthermore, prepared for by fasting and celebrated in the morning before the Sunday service. Such practices are most easily explained with reference to an EOC frame of reference, which influenced the AAMY (EECMY). As has been noted, the AAMY had a powerful impact on various EECMY groups and synods. One pertinent example is how the NLM was forced to abstain from changing to a new, and in the NLM view more suitable title for the pastors in the South, in favour of the traditional EOC-title Qes.”
Further reading
(1) Sources
Addis Ababa, Institute of Ethiopia Studies
Abbreviated Funeral Ritual in Amharic. Prepared by Qes Badima Yalew. ii + 9 folios. Ref. Code: IES 00394 [= EMML 1494; not yet accessible in the HMML reading room].
(2) Literature
Grenstedt, Staffan. Ambaricho and Shonkolla: From Local Independent Church to the Evangelical Mainstream in Ethiopia. The Origins of the Mekane Yesus Church in Kambata Hadiya. Uppsala: Swedish Institute of Missionary Research, 2000. [DIVA Portal]