CWM General Secretary Rev. Dr Jooseop Keum has been appointed as a Professor Extraordinarius at the University of South Africa (UNISA) in recognition of his outstanding contributions in the field of mission and ecumenism, starting 1 April 2023.
This honorary position in the Department of Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology in the College of Human Sciences is given to scholars who have made exceptional contributions in their fields. UNISA is the first national university in South Africa where Nelson Mandela studied Law.
Dr Keum, who is also a Distinguished Professor of World Christianity at the Yonsei University in South Korea, said, “I humbly accept this appointment to contribute to the development of ecumenical missiology and Black theology of liberation in Africa, particularly in memory of the late Professor Vuyani Vellem.”
Last year, Dr Keum received the United Congregational Church of Southern Africa (UCCSA) Justice and Peace Award, which is given to an institution or individual who are deemed to have distinguished themselves as envoys of justice and peace in their societies.
Prior to his appointment as CWM General Secretary, Dr Keum served as Director of the Commission on World Mission and Evangelism (CWME) of the World Council of Churches (WCC) from 2007-2018. During this period, he was the Editor of the International Review of Mission (IRM), the oldest international missiological journal incepted by the World Missionary Conference in Edinburgh in 1910.
Banner image caption: (Left) Prof. Puleng LenkaBula, Vice Chancellor and Principal of UNISA and Dr Keum