Arthur F. Kulah, son of Saye and Zonpu Kulah, was born in Kanyea, a small village in rural Liberia, on October 5, 1936. As the eldest son of a tribal chief, he spent his early years, together with the rest of the family, in farming and other rural activities. While attending Cuttington College and Divinity School, Arthur was also pastor of First Church in Suakoko. He then became superintendent of the Gbarnga District. He was ordained both deacon and elder by Bishop S. Trowen Nagbe and joined the Liberia Annual Conference in 1968. Arthur Kulah continued his formal education at St. Paul School of Theology, receiving an M.R.E. in 1970, and then returned home to be a director of Christian education and then dean of the Gbarnga School of Theology. He again went to the United States to receive both an M.Div. (1978) and a D.Min. (1980) from Wesley Theological Seminary. During 1978- 79, he was Director of the Conference Course of Study.

A few months after he returned to his responsibilities at the Gbarnga School of Theology, the Liberia Central Conference elected Arthur F. Kulah to the episcopacy. He was consecrated in Miller McAllister United Methodist Church on December 7, 1980. With the formation of the West Africa Central Conference, Bishop Kulah was assigned to the Liberia Area. At the 1984 meeting of this central conference, Arthur F. Kulah was elected for life.