The Most Reverend Professor J. Kwabena Asamoah-Gyadu is set to speak at the Dr. Milo A. Rediger Endowed Lecture this Wednesday, April 29, at 7:00 pm in Nussbaum 101, and address Promise, Fulfillment and Experience: The Holy Spirit and the Making of World Christianity.
Asamoah-Gyadu is the Presiding Bishop of the Methodist Church in Ghana and Baëta-Grau Professor of Contemporary African Christianity and Pentecostal Theology at Trinity Theological Seminary in Legon, Ghana.
The annual Lectureship is named for two-time Taylor University president, Milo Rediger, and coordinated by the Biblical Studies, Christian Ministries, Intercultural Studies & Philosophy department.
During his visit, Asamoah-Gyadu will also speak in chapel at 10:00 on Wednesday morning.
Jennifer Collins, associate professor of intercultural studies, said she wanted a speaker with a great understanding of global Christianity and the worldwide church.
She wanted the speaker to be someone “who could help us understand those things or grasp some of the beauty of the global church and its amazing growth, especially in Africa, and someone who could help us appreciate church emphases and practices that are different from our own in the West.”
Dan Darko, global scholar-in-residence and professor of biblical studies and leadership, worked with Asamoah-Gyadu in Ghana and has known Asamoah-Gyadu for at least 25 years.
One thing Darko admires about Asamoah-Gyadu is his sense of humility.
“He's a very, very down-to-earth person,” Darko said. “He's the Presiding Bishop of Methodist Ghana now, but if you're on the ground…you will see him in Methodist high school and at the church; you could see him dancing with the students.”
Though a Methodist, Asamoah-Gyadu specializes in the history of Pentecostal and charismatic movements in Africa. Darko said this shows his humility, as one who genuinely seeks to learn from other denominations.
A sharp scholar and minister of the gospel, Darko said Asamoah-Gyadu takes his walk with the Lord very seriously.
“His love for God is remarkable,” Darko said.
His influence on others is also extensive, and he has spoken at events like the Fourth Lausanne Congress in September 2024.
“I have known Professor Asamoah-Gyadu as someone who is a Methodist minister who was advising key megachurch charismatic pastors,” Darko said. “I've seen how his influence has helped in the way those guys run their ministries with a moderate tone, not hyper charismatic, super sensational, but being charismatics who are reasonable, who are focusing on the word and all that, and I have seen that impact at that top level.”
Even in his current role as presiding bishop, Asamoah-Gyadu’s former students, ministers and bishops voted and urged him into his position.
“Those are evidence of his impact on Christianity, his impact in Ghana,” Darko said. “I don't know any major Christian leaders who don't know him across the denomination lines.”
Asamoah-Gyadu’s focus lies in preaching and the Bible.
“He's open to the work of the Holy Spirit, but he's also critical about those who appeal to the gift of the Holy Spirit and do their own things with extremes,” Darko said.
This attitude resonates with many in the Ghanaian context.
If the opportunity comes, Darko urges students to ask Asamoah-Gyadu practical questions about Christianity.
How are others experiencing and seeing the power of God at work? How is Christianity lived in secular universities in Ghana? How do Christians in Ghana (a 75% Christian country) relate with Muslims? How is Christianity infused in education? How does the average Methodist church service look in Ghana compared to the United States?
Recent decades of church growth around the world have been among people who are aware of the Holy Spirit’s role to reveal truth, Collins said.
“I think that it's great to have Christians from the majority world doing theological work on the study of the Holy Spirit, because they're in contexts where so many of the Christians deeply embrace the role of the Holy Spirit in their lives,” Jennifer Collins said.
Collins said to come to the lecture with an open mind and gain a new perspective. It’s a busy time of the school year, but the world is coming to Taylor, and there is an opportunity to learn.
