George F. Pickens

I’ve been blessed to have lived for extended periods of time on four continents (North America, Europe, Africa, Asia), and to have studied and experienced Christianity as a world religion. Not only is Christianity the largest religion in the world, it’s also the most diverse, and I enjoy introducing this rich and dynamic global Church to my students. I also directed Messiah’s Program in Peace and Conflict Studies for thirteen years, and I’m particularly interested in the relationships between religion and global peacemaking.

My current research and writing include promoting Interfaith Leadership as an urgently needed form of global peacemaking and studying the interfaith leadership of the Apostle Paul.  I’m also interested in the legacies of pre-modern Christian spiritualities (Celtic, Syrian, Mar Thomas, Ethiopian, North African) for the contemporary global Church.

I enjoy spending time with my family and participating in local interfaith peace building. I’m an ordained minister and an avid traveler and reader.  I especially enjoy historical fiction and British mysteries. 

• B.A., 1980, Kentucky Christian College
• M.A, 1984, The Ohio University
• Ph.D., 1997, The University of Birmingham, England