The term was coined in the late 1960s and was used as a pejorative for churches that believed in the Pentecostal experience and spiritual gifts of the Holy Spirit, used to describe local Protestant Christians who are not members of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo and Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo churches (collectively known as the Orthodox Tewahedo). The term "P'ent'ay" is a shortening of the word "Pentecostal"; however, it is widely used when referring to all Protestant Christians but especially Evangelical Protestant Christians whether they are actually Pentecostal by denomination or not. Some Oriental Orthodox will also apply the term to the small Catholic population of Ethiopia and Eritrea (but this is rare). The equivalent rendition in many other languages is "Evangelical"; the term "Wenigēlawī" means "Evangelical" and has been used alongside "P'ent'ay". Many of these groups describe their religious practices as culturally Eastern Christian, but Protestant Evangelical by doctrine.
The major Protestant denominations in Ethiopia and Eritrea are a group of indigenous, closely linked (part of the or community of churches) Baptist, Lutheran, Pentecostal, and Mennonite denominations.
Some P'ent'ay communities—especially the Mekane Yesus Lutheran Church for example—have been influenced by the Orthodox Tewahedo churches, which represents the dominant traditional Ethiopian and Eritrean Christian demographic, but for the most part are very Pentecostal in their worship and theology.
The ECFE, or Evangelical Church Fellowship of Ethiopia, is a consortium of born-again, Trinitarian Christians. The ECFE has 22 member churches, and based on 2004 statistics, 11.5 million members with an increase of 4 million annually. All P'ent'ay churches, regardless of denomination, are domestically known as አብያተ ክርስቲያናት (Abiate kristianat' or ābiyate kirisitīyanati') meaning 'churches' in the senses of a 'community of Christians' in Amharic, the official language of Ethiopia. Most of these churches also operate ministries, colleges and bible societies like the Ethiopian Graduate School of Theology, Golden Oil Ministries, Evangelical Theological College, the Ethiopian Bible Society and Meserete Kristos College. These churches often work together by exchanging preachers and organizing church conferences.
According to the 2005 statistics from the World Christian Database, Ethiopian Pentecostal/Charismatic members cover a bit over 16 percent of the country as P'ent'ays of Ethiopia. The individual groups are the Word of Life Church (Kale Heywet) Church, Mekane Yesus, Churches of Christ, Misgana Church of Ethiopia, Assembly of God, Hiwot Berhan Church, Emnet Kristos, Meserete Kristos, Light of Life Church, Mulu Wongel (Full Gospel Believers Church) and other churches constituting slightly over 12 million P'ent'ays in Ethiopia. However, according to World Christian Encyclopedia, the Evangelical community is down to only 13.6% of Ethiopian population. According to the 1994 government census, Protestant Christians comprise 10% of the population (about 7-8 million today). According to membership and adherent records provided by the various churches and denominations, Ethiopian Protestants claim as high as 18.59% of the country's population which is inline with the recent data from the US Department of State.
Evangelicals in Ethiopia and Eritrea believe that one is saved by believing in Jesus as Lord and Saviour for the forgiveness of sins. They believe in the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, the one essence of the Trinity. Like all other Christian groups that accept the canonical gospels, P'ent'ays also believe in being "born again" ("dagem meweled"), as it is written numerous times in the Gospel of John, and demonstrated by one's baptism in the Holy Spirit as well as water baptism. Speaking in tongues is seen as one of the signs, but not the only sign, of "receiving Christ", which should include a new lifestyle and social behavior.
Although almost all Evangelical Protestant branches in Ethiopia and Eritrea have one or two theological differences or different approaches in the interpretation of the Bible, all of the four major branches follow the beliefs common to born-again Christians. The four major denominations also exchange pastors ("megabi") and allow the preachers to serve in different churches when invited (full communion). All of the four main churches and others also share and listen to various gospel singers, "mezmur" (gospel music or hymn) producers and choirs.
Peter Heyling was the first Protestant missionary in Ethiopia, and is regarded as the founding father of the P'ent'ay or Wenigēlawī movement.
For the most part, Ethiopian and Eritrean Protestants state that their form of Christianity is both the reformation of the current Orthodox Tewahedo churches as well as the restoration of it to the original Ethiopian Christianity. They believe Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity was paganized after the 960s, during the reign of queen Gudit, who destroyed and burned most of the church's possessions and scriptures. They claim those events have led to the gradual paganization of the Oriental Orthodox Churches which they claim is now merely dominated by rituals, hearsay and fables. P'ent'ay Christians use the alleged "secularized teaching" of the current Ethiopian and Eritrean Orthodox churches, the alleged inability of most Orthodox followers to live according to the instructions of the Bible and the deuterocanonical books used by rural priests, as a proof to their belief in the Orthodox Tewahedo teaching is also mainly syncretized. P'ent'ay Christians use the history of the Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity prior to the 1960s as their own history, despite lacking historical continuity.
It was only during the early 20th century that American and European missionaries spread Protestantism with Mennonite and Pentecostal churches through the Sudan Interior Mission (SIM). When the SIM continued its movement after a brief ban during Ethiopia's war with Italy, it is written that the missionaries were taken aback by the fruits of their initial mission. Protestant Christians still face persecution in rural regions and are assisted by the Voice of the Martyrs; however, there is a growing tolerance between the Ethiopian Orthodox, Muslims and the growing population of P'en'tay Christians in the urban areas of the country. With the dominance of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo and the growing Muslim population, the population of P'en'tay Christians was estimated around 16.15 million (19 percent of total population), according to the information released by the U.S. Department of State.
Recent misidentification of certain groups as "P'ent'ay" has caused confusion. One controversy involves Oneness Pentecostalism and Jehovah's Witnesses, which are strictly opposed by the other Protestant denominations.
The Metropolitan "sui iuris" Eastern Catholic particular churches of the Eritrean Catholic Church and Ethiopian Catholic Church are not "P'ent'ay (Evangelical Protestant)" churches but some Orthodox Tewahedo adherents have used the term P'ent'ay as a pejorative by conflating and 'othering' them with P'ent'ay (Evangelical Protestants)"."
According to Voice of the Martyrs there have been brutal killings of P'ent'ay Christians in rural areas that tend to be overlooked by the Ethiopian rural officials and stay undisclosed to international organizations. Some Oriental Orthodox families expel children out of their house if the children convert to Protestantism. Since the majority population is Orthodox, Voice of the Martyrs claims no criminal investigations are carried against Oriental Orthodox mobs who burn Evangelical churches, destroy houses and even murder P'ent'ay Christians.