Coming home for Keswick Convention
THE REVEREND Dr Sam Vassel will be the main speaker at the Mandeville Keswick Convention scheduled for July 22-29 at the Ridgemount United Church, Main Street, Mandeville. The meetings begin nightly at 7 p.m.
Vassel, a Jamaican-born cleric, has been serving as the senior pastor at the New Bronx Bethany Church of the Nazarene, in New York, since 2000. Before migrating, he served for a number of years as staff worker with the Students Christian Fellowship and Scripture Union (SCF-SU).
His stint with SCF-SU also saw him representing Jamaica at various forums of the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students.
In 1986, Vassel left the SCFSU and became a full-time lecturer in New Testament at the Jamaica Theological Seminary (JTS).
While teaching at JTS, he also became the senior pastor at the Bethune Avenue Holiness Christian Church in Rose Town, St. Andrew, a position he held for 10 years. During his time there, he was appointed to serve for two years as its bishop.
Vassel is a much sought-after speaker to deliver keynote addresses, lecture series and panel discussions, national or community events for political and business leaders and church groups.
He had the distinction of being the main speaker at the Annual National Leadership Prayer Breakfast 1997.
Vassel holds a Doctorate in Ministry from Columbia Theological Seminary, a Master’s in Theological Studies from Wheaton College, and a Bachelor of Science from the University of the West Indies.
He is a lecturer at the Alliance Theological Seminary in New York and a contributing writer for Preacher’s Magazine:A Preaching Resource in the Wesleyan Tradition.