Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Ethiopian Orthodox Tehadeso Church

The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the article below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was Delete. Michig (talk) 16:08, 26 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Ethiopian Orthodox Tehadeso Church[edit]

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As far as I've been able to determine, there is no such entity or organization bearing the name "Ethiopian Orthodox Tehadeso Church." I had tagged this article with {{Unreferenced}} in August 2006, and more than 8 years later, no one has added a reference. I believe the article describes a real or imagined phenomenon, perhaps best described as entryism, whereby a Pentecostal church (see P'ent'ay) supposedly lures believers and clergy away from the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church (note the similarity to this article's name). I recall performing a Google search on the word "tehadeso" (Amharic: "reform") which turned up message boards etc. (nothing that I'd consider a reliable source) describing this purported trend, and in that specific context, "tehadeso" would seem to be used in a purely negative sense. At this far remove, I'm unable to find any of those sources, although this page may have been written in response to such criticism (and I'm not at all certain that that website is officially affiliated with the Orthodox Church). Potentially relevant websites such as facebook.com/TICEthiopia and Tehadeso.com are instead apparently related to Ethiopian Pentecostalism in general, while Tehadso.com seems to represent a Catholic lay organization. I'm hesitant to have this article deleted, because (as I've mentioned on the article's talk page) it seems to be the only English-language resource about the (real or imagined) "tehadeso" phenomenon, but again I'm referring to "tehadeso" in general rather than a "Tehadeso Church," which does not seem to exist. Gyrofrog (talk) 20:41, 11 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Note: This debate has been included in the list of Ethiopia-related deletion discussions. Gyrofrog (talk) 20:45, 11 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Note: This debate has been included in the list of Christianity-related deletion discussions. Gyrofrog (talk) 20:47, 11 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Notified WP:ETH and WP:OO WikiProjects. -- Gyrofrog (talk) 20:59, 11 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Comment: The explanation above does not match that given in the article; I can't tell whether the proposer was aware that Reformed theology refers to Calvinism – I have now linked this phrase in the article. There are quite a lot of "Ethiopian Orthodox Tehadiso" videos on Youtube, including a long series called "Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Vs Tehadiso", but I didn't see any in English. – Fayenatic London 23:12, 11 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

There does seem to be a "tehadeso" effort which, you correctly point out, is not really covered in the article. However, someone had rewritten it (relatively) recently so that the lede now alludes to it -- if this article has or had any value at all, I think it may have been from that, but it's insufficient for keeping the article. I could have been more clear that the article (1) doesn't (much) cover the "tehadeso" effort, which does seem to exist in a general sense, and (2) instead names an institution ("Ethiopian Orthodox Tehadeso Church") which does not seem to exist. I believe that "tehadeso" in the general sense would warrant its own Wikipedia article (like P'ent'ay , although now even that article implies a centralized institution), if we could locate good sources to corroborate it. But I don't think this article does that, and will not do so under its current title. WP:TNT if we can find good sources. (I also wonder if the phrase "Ethiopian Orthodox Tehadeso" itself has perhaps taken on a life of its own, following the appearance of this article on the internet. For a while this article was the only such result from a Google search.) -- Gyrofrog (talk) 17:20, 12 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

To put it another way (so much for making things clearer): For a while, I believed it was worth keeping the article as a resource about the "tehadeso" effort even if it's explicitly about "Ethiopian Orthodox Tehadeso Church." But I no longer believe it's a useful source about anything. -- Gyrofrog (talk) 17:47, 12 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Delete - A "Tehadeso Church" institution comparable with the Tewahedo Church indeed doesn't appear to be exist. According to the historian and Orthodox specialist Tibebe Eshete, the term tehadiso denotes a "renewal" ethos within the existing Orthodox adherent community, so that perhaps may have something to do with it [1]. One Ethiopian Orthodox Reformation Communion, which is apparently affiliated with "Ethio Tehadiso", also indicates on the OurChurch Christian webhosting service that it maintains its own training website someplace, but doesn't specify anything beyond that [2]. Middayexpress (talk) 16:24, 12 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Note: This debate has been included in the list of Organizations-related deletion discussions. • Gene93k (talk) 01:18, 13 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Relisted to generate a more thorough discussion so a clearer consensus may be reached.

Please add new comments below this notice. Thanks, NorthAmerica¹⁰⁰⁰ 13:12, 19 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Delete - unreferenced and unable to verify and claims. Bearian (talk) 17:12, 21 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.