Kwesi Abotsia Dickson (7 July 1929 – 28 October 2005) was a Ghanaian Christian theologian. He was the seventh President of the Methodist Church Ghana and a professor at the University of Ghana, Legon.

Early life and education

Kwesi Dickson was born at Saltpond in the Central Region of Ghana. He was educated at the

Mfantsipim School Mfantsipim is an all-boys boarding secondary school in Cape Coast, Ghana, established by the Methodist Church in 1876 to foster intellectual, moral, and spiritual growth on the then Gold Coast. Its founding name was Wesleyan High School and ...

Cape Coast Cape Coast is a city, fishing port, and the capital of Cape Coast Metropolitan District and Central Region of Ghana. It is one of the country's most historic cities, a World Heritage Site, home to the Cape Coast Castle, with the Gulf of Guinea ...

. He completed his basic ministerial training at the Trinity Theological Seminary (then Trinity College in Kumasi) in 1951. He then attended the University of Ghana, then the University College of the Gold Coast. Next he went to the United Kingdom where his postgraduate education was at Mansfield College, Oxford at Oxford University.

Career

Dickson was ordained into the ministry of the Methodist Church of Ghana at the British Methodist Conference of 1957. He served in various capacities at the University of Ghana over three decades until 1989. He has been the Head of the Department for the Study of Religions, Dean of the Faculty of Arts, Master of Commonwealth Hall, the first dean of students and the director of the Institute of African Studies. when he was succeeded by Kwame Arhin. At various times, he served as adjunct professor of Old Testament and Hebrew at the Trinity Theological Seminary, Legon. He was also a fellow of the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences. He was its president on two occasions. He also worked at the University of Swaziland as a visiting professor. In 1989, he was elected as President of the Methodist Church Ghana. He served two consecutive 4 year terms ending in 1997. He has served as Chairman of the Christian Council of Ghana and as All Africa Conference of Churches President of the All African Council of Churches.

Hobbies

He loved tennis and music and was a good pianist.

Family

He was married with four children.

Death

Dickson died at the

Korle Bu Teaching Hospital Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital (KBTH) is a public teaching hospital located in the Ablekuma South Metropolitan District in Accra, Ghana. It is the only public tertiary hospital in the southern part of the country. It is a teaching hospital affiliate ...

Accra Accra (; tw, Nkran; dag, Ankara; gaa, Ga or ''Gaga'') is the capital and largest city of Ghana, located on the southern coast at the Gulf of Guinea, which is part of the Atlantic Ocean. As of 2021 census, the Accra Metropolitan District, , ...

after a short illness. His funeral and burial were attended by many notable Ghanaian citizens including

John Agyekum Kufuor John Kofi Agyekum Kufuor (born 8 December 1938) is a Ghanaian politician who served as the President of Ghana from 7 January 2001 to 7 January 2009. He was also Chairperson of the African Union from 2007 to 2008. Kufuor's career has been sp ...

who was President of Ghana at the time and John Atta Mills who was a colleague at the University of Ghana and was to become the next Ghanaian president.

Publications

Kwesi Dickson has many publications to his name. He has authoritative works such as Theology in Africa and others on

Religious exclusivism Religious exclusivism, or exclusivity, is the doctrine or belief that only one particular religion or belief system is true. This is in contrast to religious pluralism. Buddhism Some attempts have been made to portray Buddhism in an exclusivist ...

. Some of his texts were also used for GCE Ordinary Level and GCE Advanced Level curricula. Some of his works include the following: * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

References

External links and sources

AASRBulletin
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dickson, Kwesi 1929 births 2005 deaths Alumni of University of London Worldwide Alumni of the University of London Alumni of Mansfield College, Oxford Mfantsipim School alumni University of Ghana alumni Ghanaian theologians Academic staff of the University of Ghana Ghanaian clergy Ghanaian Methodists Ghanaian religious leaders Fellows of the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences Academic staff of the University of Eswatini