2021 VUYANI VELLEM MEMORIAL: Resisting the culture of silence and the conspiracy to silence by Rev Dr Collin Cowan:

Rev Dr Collin Cowan: is the former General Secretary of the Council for World Mission, a partnership of 32 churches across the world. Prior to coming to this post he served as General Secretary of the United Church in Jamaica and the Cayman Islands of which he is an ordained minister. In his time as CWM General Secretary, he lead a dynamic team across 6 global regions united by the commitment to faith in God, and to the service of the body of Christ and all Creation.

Prof. Vuyani Vellem, a leading Black Theologian of Liberation who passed away on 4th December 2019, was part of the academic staff in the Faculty in the Department of Systematic and Historical Theology, University of Pretoria. Vuyani maintained an unwavering stance in favour of justice for all, pledging his solidary with the wounded and broken. In the recent history of our country, he helped students make sense of their struggles, connecting them with the struggles of the economically and socially marginalised, and fostering in them a sense of responsibility for divine creation.