Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon (EMO) invites you to join us for the 2024 Collins Lecture, “Faith and Politics in a Divided World.” Two leaders from the Global South will engage us in conversations around leadership, faith and politics from their unique perspectives. The event will be hosted at the University of Portland on Aug. 8 at 7 p.m. Use the form below to reserve tickets.
Our lecturers will be Ambassador Cecilia Adeng, South Sudan’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, and Juan Guaidó, Venezuelan opposition leader and former Interim President of Venezuela. See their bios below.
Rare is the opportunity to sit in conversation with global leaders of this stature. Our hope is to engage in conversation about how a leader who identifies as a person of faith draws from their faith in the face of adversity. EMO is excited to provide this opportunity to learn and to create space for dialogue in our community.
2024 COLLINS LECTURERS
Ambassador Cecilia A.M. Adeng is a South Sudanese national. Her country descended into a civil war from 2013 to 2020, enduring rampant human rights abuses, forced displacement and ethnic massacres. South Sudan continues to recover from the war while experiencing ongoing and systemic ethnic violence. This February, Adeng was appointed as the Permanent Representative of the Republic of South Sudan Mission to the United Nations—the country’s first female representative to the UN. From 2018 to 2023, she was Deputy Permanent Representative of South Sudan’s Mission to the United Nations in New York. Adeng obtained a master’s degree in public administration from Howard University, Washington, D.C., and a bachelor’s degree in political science from Fisk University, Nashville, Tenn.
Juan Gerardo Antonio Guaidó is a Venezuelan opposition politician. In 2018, the Venezuelan National Assembly elected Guaidó as its new leader. In January 2019, after the allegedly fraudulent 2018 election of Nicolás Maduro left the country without a president, Guaidó was sworn in as Interim President of the Republic of Venezuela. He was recognized as the Interim President by 60 countries and served in that role until December 2022. Guaidó studied industrial engineering at the Universidad Católica Andrés Bello (UCAB) in Caracas and went on to earn two graduate degrees in public administration. At UCAB, he was one of the founders of the Venezuelan Student Movement. Guaidó also helped establish the “Voluntad Popular” party in 2009, which pledged to “build a more secure, united and prosperous country where everyone will be entitled to all rights.”
The annual Collins Lecture/Summit explores issues related to religion and social ethics. These have been a signature event of EMO and its predecessor organization the Portland Council of Churches since 1967. The event is funded by The Collins Foundation. Learn more about past Collins Lectures, including video and/or audio.
