The Rev. Dr. Tilahun Mekennen Mendedo became the seventh president of Concordia College on January 1, 2010. Prior to assuming the presidency, Dr. Mendedo served as the pastor of Faith Lutheran Church in Mobile, Alabama, and taught as an adjunct professor of Philosophy at the University of South Alabama and Spring Hill College in Mobile.

For the last 17 years, Dr. Mendedo has served in the church as an evangelist, youth leader, church elder, Bible School teacher, project director, curriculum advisor for the theological centers in Ethiopia, and school administrator of the Theological Training Center of the EECMY-Central Ethiopia Synod in Addis Ababa. In addition, he has served in Christian counseling ministries within multiple congregations of EECMY. He has had opportunities to visit and render services for Lutheran churches in Africa, Germany, England, Canada and the United States.

Dr. Mendedo also served as coordinator of the Mobile Bible Schools of the Mekane Yesus Church. The purpose of these schools is to meet the demands of the leadership of rapidly growing Lutheran churches in the world. Since its establishment as a national church in 1959, the MeKane Yesus Church (the Lutheran Church in Ethiopia) has grown from 10,000 members to 5.2 million members. Just in the past one year, the church has grown by 480,000 members.

Through his leadership, several churches have been established. Some confessional books such as Church and Ministry (C.F.W. Walther), Law and Gospel (C.F.W. Walther), and This is My Body (Hermann Sasse) have been translated into Ethiopian vernacular languages. Currently, through his leadership and the support of Lutheran Heritage Foundation, the entire Book of Concord is being translated into Amharic—the official language of Ethiopia—and was published in February 2010.

Dr. Mendedo is a member of the Southern District Mission Committee, board member of African Radio Ministry (ARM), president of the Master Builder Center, and coordinator of the Lutheran translation works in Ethiopia. He has academic memberships in American Missiology Society, Evangelical Missionlogical Society, Lutheran Society of Missiology and other Academic Societies in the United States.

Dr. Mendedo has a diploma of Theology. He earned his B.A. degree in counseling and a Master’s degree in Systematic Theology (STM). He earned a Ph.D. in Missiology from Concordia Theological Seminary, Ft. Wayne, Indiana.

Dr. Mendedo is a native of the Arssi region in Ethiopia. He is married to Aberash Aklilu, and they have three children: Hawii, Yeabsira, and Amen.