Join Us for the Sixth Annual Paul Wattson Lecture
“Global Christian Forum: Reshaping the Global Ecumenical Landscape”
with the Rev. Dr. Casely Baiden Essamuah, Secretary, Global Christian Forum
Wednesday, October 23rd, 7:00 pm (Central Time)
Catholic Theological Union
5416 S Cornell Ave
Chicago, IL 60637
And online via Zoom
About The Paul Wattson Lecture Series
This yearly lecture, sponsored by the Franciscan Friars of the Atonement and Catholic Theological Union along with the Association of Theological Schools (ACTS), honors the founder of the Friars, Fr. Paul Wattson, and focuses on ecumenical and interreligious dialogue and understanding as an important part of the mission to which Fr. Paul devoted his life.
About the Speaker
Born in Ghana, Rev. Dr. Casely Essamuah (ord. Meth Ch., Ghana; B.A., Univ of Ghana, Legon; M.Div, HDS; ThD., BUSth) is Secretary of the Global Christian Forum. He has studied and worked in Africa, Belgium and the US. A reflective practitioner of his faith, he is a bi-cultural bridge-builder, straddling the spheres of the global South and North, while working in missions, ecumenism, the church and the academy. The Rev. Dr. Casely B. Essamuah serves as Secretary to the Global Christian Forum. In this role, he offers executive and servant leadership to a platform that enables encounter between and among churches that confess Jesus Christ as fully human and fully divine, and that recognizes and accepts God as revealed in the Trinity. The GCF creates space for encounter between, among and beyond the following: The World Council of Churches, World Evangelical Alliance, the Pentecostal World Fellowship, and the Roman Catholic Church through the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity. At the GCF table these Christian organizations offer each other and others a safe and precious space for encounter, prayer and faith sharing.
Previously in the last 20 years, Dr. Essamuah served as Global Missions Pastor for Park Street Church in Boston, Mass. and Bay Area Community Church in Annapolis, MD. He facilitated those churches global engagements, that included million-dollar partnerships, and involving thousands of short term and vocational missionaries. A few of the projects were church planting, leadership development, youth evangelism and discipleship, HIV/AIDS-prevention and medical ministries, and others. Originally from Ghana, West Africa, and an ordained minister of the Methodist Church Ghana, since 1990, Dr. Essamuah holds a masters degree from Harvard Divinity School and a doctorate from Boston University. He also serves as Secretary to the World Relief board and was Synod Secretary to the North America Mission Diocese of the Methodist Church Ghana, which has 50 churches in Canada and the United States.
Dr. Essamuah is married to Dr Angela Wakhweya-Essamuah and blessed with three children. His life verse is: “by the grace of God I am what I am,” (1 Corinthians 10) and he prays that grace will not be in vain and that, as empowered by the Holy Spirit, he with others will bring the gospel of hope to a world desperately in need.