An Ethiopian church in Washington preserves an ancient language and Orthodox tradition

WASHINGTON (AP) — In the U.S. capital, hundreds of Ethiopians dressed in traditional white shawls chant in the ancient liturgical language of one of the oldest branches of Christianity.

During hourslong worship services, the Ge’ez language reverberates throughout DSK Mariam Church. Congregants prostrate themselves in reverence to God and bow when a priest walks among them swinging a censer burning incense.

Formally known as Re’ese Adbarat Debre Selam Kidist Mariam Church, it was founded in Washington in 1987. It now has more than 1,500 registered members, and church leaders say more than 4,000 people attend services each week.

DSK Mariam is part of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Churches — one of the oldest Christian faiths in Africa. There’s keen interest in preserving Ge’ez, and other traditions of the faith, for future generations in the bustling District of Columbia region — home to the largest Ethiopian diaspora community in the United States.

“Our tradition is full of values that are relevant for today, for the modern age. So, these kids, if they learn the tradition, the language, and also the faith — they can balance,” Abraham Habte-Sellassie, a “kesis” or priest, said ahead of a recent Lent service that started at midnight and ended at midday.

“Life here is very hectic, and it’s geared toward material profit.”

Many Ethiopian families have come to the U.S. over the past 50 years, having left their home country after the 1974 overthrow of the late Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie, who is worshipped by most members of the Rastafari faith.

Estimates range widely on the number of Ethiopians in the U.S, from more than 250,000 to unofficial estimates by diaspora leaders that it’s closer to 1 million. By far the largest Ethiopian community is in the D.C. metro area — notably the Maryland and Virginia counties close to Washington.

They contribute significantly to the area's economic well-being and cultural vitality, said Tsehaye Teferra, founder and president of a D.C.-based refugee resettlement agency, Ethiopian Community Development Council.

To reach young people and new converts, DSK Mariam also offers services in Amharic and English. Congregants can follow the prayers on large plasma TVs that hang from church columns decorated with the green, yellow and red colors of the Ethiopian flag.

“It really feels like home,” said Kannazegelila Mezgebu, a 21-year-old born in Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa.

“The Ethiopian Orthodox Church has so many beautiful rituals and services. … Every day has its own meaning and a very deep one,” said Mezgebu, a senior at Morgan State University in Baltimore.

Sometimes, she said, it can be a struggle to keep up with traditions amid so many distractions in the city. But it’s worth it, she said, for the church to encourage other young Ethiopian Americans to find a fulfilling spiritual path and reconnect with their roots.

“Everything is so beautiful and so interesting to learn,” she said. “That’s what makes me really love this church.”

“There’s so many deep, rooted meanings behind every tradition,” said Beza Bililigne, a youth ministry leader.

He pointed out examples: Congregants take off their shoes before they enter the church as a sign of respect.

The “netela,” the white scarf-like cotton cloth worn by worshippers, signifies modesty and purity and symbolizes the cloth they believe Jesus was wrapped in at birth and crucifixion, Bililigne said. The incense from the censer, he said, represents the Virgin Mary, and the coal that burns it, the divinity of Jesus.

Worship is intergenerational and incorporates the senses. During the recent service, children’s laughter mixed with the priests’ chants as deacons held an umbrella, a symbolic covering of their holy liturgy.

When bells tolled for Communion, congregants lined up to receive it, waiting their turn for a priest to break bread and place a piece into their mouths.

Some worshippers lit candles and asked for heavenly intercession to safeguard relatives back home. Ethiopia faces recurring conflict in several of its regions; millions of people are in need of food aid and health care.

“People who are here in our congregation, some have some relatives imprisoned or killed back home,” said Habte-Sellassie. “They come here and pour out their soul before the Lord so that God can bring peace to the country.”

At the end of the service, church members recorded a video of an elder chanting a liturgy passed on from his ancestors. The footage is posted on the church’s YouTube channel to preserve it for future generations in hopes they maintain the tradition.

“A lot of our traditions, a lot of our prayers are asked for us to know by memory,” Bililigne said. “As long as the person is alive, the traditions will stay alive.”

Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.

A congregant of the Re'ese Adbarat Debre Selam Kidist Mariam Church, an Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo church, stands during a service in Washington, D.C., Saturday, April 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)

Congregants stand to receive Communion at Re'ese Adbarat Debre Selam Kidist Mariam Church, an Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo church, in Washington, D.C., Saturday, April 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)

Congregants pray during a service at Re'ese Adbarat Debre Selam Kidist Mariam Church, an Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo church, in Washington, D.C., Saturday, April 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)

A worshipper kneels before a depiction of "The Last Supper" at Re'ese Adbarat Debre Selam Kidist Mariam Church, an Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo church, in Washington, D.C., Saturday, April 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)

A congregant kneels to pray during a service at Re'ese Adbarat Debre Selam Kidist Mariam Church, an Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo church, in Washington, D.C., Saturday, April 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)

A congregant wears a netela, a white scarf-like cotton cloth, during a service at the Worshippers at Re'ese Adbarat Debre Selam Kidist Mariam Church, an Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo church, in Washington, D.C., Saturday, April 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)

A congregant worships at Re'ese Adbarat Debre Selam Kidist Mariam Church, an Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo church, in Washington, D.C., Saturday, April 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)

A worshipper holds a prayer staff during a service at Re'ese Adbarat Debre Selam Kidist Mariam Church, an Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo church, in Washington, D.C., Saturday, April 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)

The kesis, or priest, recites the liturgy during service at Re'ese Adbarat Debre Selam Kidist Mariam Church, an Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo church, in Washington, D.C., Saturday, April 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)

Congregants wear netela, a white scarf-like cotton cloth that signifies modesty and purity, during a service at Re'ese Adbarat Debre Selam Kidist Mariam Church, an Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo church, in Washington, D.C., Saturday, April 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)

Church leaders chant during the hours-long service in the Ge'ez language at Re'ese Adbarat Debre Selam Kidist Mariam Church, an Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo church, in Washington, D.C., Saturday, April 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)

A congregant bows to kiss the holy Gospel during a service at Re'ese Adbarat Debre Selam Kidist Mariam Church, an Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo church, in Washington, D.C., Saturday, April 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)

Congregants attend an hours-long service at Re'ese Adbarat Debre Selam Kidist Mariam Church, an Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo church, in Washington, D.C., Saturday, April 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)

A young child wears a netela, the white scarf-like cotton cloth worn by worshippers, during a service at Re'ese Adbarat Debre Selam Kidist Mariam Church, an Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo church, in Washington, D.C., Saturday, April 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)

Worshippers kiss the holy Gospel during service at Re'ese Adbarat Debre Selam Kidist Mariam Church, an Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo church, in Washington, D.C., Saturday, April 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)

A kesis or priest, waves a censer burning incense as he walks through rows of congregants at Re'ese Adbarat Debre Selam Kidist Mariam Church, an Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo church, in Washington, D.C., Saturday, April 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Federal agents carrying out immigration arrests in Minnesota's Twin Cities region already shaken by the fatal shooting of a woman rammed the door of one home Sunday and pushed their way inside, part of what the Department of Homeland Security has called its largest enforcement operation ever.

In a dramatic scene similar to those playing out across Minneapolis, agents captured a man in the home just minutes after pepper spraying protesters outside who had confronted the heavily armed federal agents. Along the residential street, protesters honked car horns, banged on drums and blew whistles in attempts to disrupt the operation.

Video of the clash taken by The Associated Press showed some agents pushing back protesters while a distraught woman later emerged from the house with a document that federal agents presented to arrest the man. Signed by an immigration officer, the document — unlike a warrant signed by a judge — does not authorize forced entry into a private residence. A warrant signed by an immigration officer only authorizes arrest in a public area.

Immigrant advocacy groups have conducted extensive “know-your-rights” campaigns urging people not to open their doors unless agents have a court order signed by a judge.

But within minutes of ramming the door in a neighborhood filled with single-family homes, the handcuffed man was led away.

More than 2,000 immigration arrests have been made in Minnesota since the enforcement operation began at the beginning of December, said Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem told Fox News on Sunday that the administration would send additional federal agents to Minnesota to protect immigration officers and continue enforcement.

The Twin Cities — the latest target in President Donald Trump’s immigration enforcement campaign — is bracing for what is next after 37-year-old Renee Good was shot and killed by an immigration officer on Wednesday.

“We’re seeing a lot of immigration enforcement across Minneapolis and across the state, federal agents just swarming around our neighborhoods,” said Jason Chavez, a Minneapolis city councilmember. “They’ve definitely been out here.”

Chavez, the son of Mexican immigrants who represents an area with a growing immigrant population, said he is closely monitoring information from chat groups about where residents are seeing agents operating.

People holding whistles positioned themselves in freezing temperatures on street corners Sunday in the neighborhood where Good was killed, watching for any signs of federal agents.

More than 20,000 people have taken part in a variety of trainings to become “observers” of enforcement activities in Minnesota since the 2024 election, said Luis Argueta, a spokesperson for Unidos MN, a local human rights organization .

“It’s a role that people choose to take on voluntarily, because they choose to look out for their neighbors,” Argueta said.

The protests have been largely peaceful, but residents remained anxious. On Monday, Minneapolis public schools will start offering remote learning for the next month in response to concerns that children might feel unsafe venturing out while tensions remain high.

Many schools closed last week after Good’s shooting and the upheaval that followed.

While the enforcement activity continues, two of the state’s leading Democrats said that the investigation into Good's shooting death should not be overseen solely by the federal government.

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and U.S. Sen. Tina Smith said in separate interviews Sunday that state authorities should be included in the investigation because the federal government has already made clear what it believes happened.

“How can we trust the federal government to do an objective, unbiased investigation, without prejudice, when at the beginning of that investigation they have already announced exactly what they saw — what they think happened," Smith said on ABC’s "This Week."

The Trump administration has defended the officer who shot Good in her car, saying he was protecting himself and fellow agents and that Good had “weaponized” her vehicle.

Todd Lyons, acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, defended the officer on Fox News Channel’s “The Sunday Briefing.”

"That law enforcement officer had milliseconds, if not short time to make a decision to save his life and his other fellow agents,” he said.

Lyons also said the administration’s enforcement operations in Minnesota wouldn't be needed “if local jurisdictions worked with us to turn over these criminally illegal aliens once they are already considered a public safety threat by the locals.”

The killing of Good by an ICE officer and the shooting of two people by federal agents in Portland, Oregon, led to dozens of protests in cities across the country over the weekend, including New York, Los Angeles, Washington D.C. and Oakland, California.

Contributing were Associated Press journalists Giovanna Dell’Orto in Minneapolis; Thomas Strong in Washington; Bill Barrow in Atlanta; Christopher Weber in Los Angeles; and John Seewer in Toledo, Ohio.

A woman gets into an altercation with a federal immigration officer as officers make an arrest Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)

A federal immigration officer deploys pepper spray as officers make an arrest Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)

A family member, center, reacts after federal immigration officers make an arrest Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)

Bystanders are treated after being pepper sprayed as federal immigration officers make an arrest Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)

A family member reacts after federal immigration officers make an arrest Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)

Federal agents look on after detaining a person during a patrol in Minneapolis, Minn., Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (Christopher Katsarov/The Canadian Press via AP)

Bystanders react after a man was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents during a traffic stop, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Robbinsdale, Minn. (AP Photo/John Locher)

People stand near a memorial at the site where Renee Good was fatally shot by an ICE agent, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Jen Golbeck)

A man looks out of a car window after being detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents during a traffic stop, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Robbinsdale, Minn. (AP Photo/John Locher)

Border Patrol agents detain a man, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)

People shout toward Border Patrol agents making an arrest, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)

Demonstrators protest outside the White House in Washington, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, against the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent who fatally shot Renee Good in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey holds a news conference on Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Jen Golbeck)

Protesters react as they visit a makeshift memorial during a rally for Renee Good, who was fatally shot by an ICE officer earlier in the week, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)