This study is by two authors of different areas of specialization, each of whom used different scientific methods. The development sociologist, who comes from the Bielefelder Schule, provided the training in interviewing and the evaluation of the results of the 410 usable interviews with "population" and "experts". The ecumenical comparativist from Heidelberg provided the church historical contextualization of the inquiry. The interviews were carried out by teams of matched students from the University of Heidelberg and from Holy Trinity College (HS I University in Addis Abeba), from July to November, 1973, and offer, therefore, a church sociological snapshot approximately one quarter of a year before the political upheaval which began in February, 1974.