It was the summer of 1997 when founding co-moderators John Buchanan and Robert W. Bohl, a committed board of respected church leaders, and Covenant Network of Presbyterians’ founding executive director, Pam McLucas Byers, united Presbyterians from all theological backgrounds to pursue justice for LGBTQIA+ Presbyterians.

West Gambella Bethel Synod, found in the Gambella region of Western Ethiopia, is a member of the Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus. It was founded in 1962 as a result of the gospel preaching of the missionaries from the PC(USA) after Dr. Thomas Lambie and his teammates erected the first Nuer-Christian church in Nasir in present day South Sudan.