What is God like? Is doubt harmful to faith? Who do Christians marginalise? Those are just some of the questions explored in a new book by Jay Bakker, Faith, Doubt, and Other Lines I’ve Crossed: Walking with the Unknown God (Jericho Books, 2013). Bakker, who will forever be known as the son of scandal-ridden American [...]
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Phyllis Tickle Book Review: Emergence Christianity – Are Emergence Christians Making History?
In her previous book, The Great Emergence: How Christianity is Changing and Why (Baker Books, 2008), Phyllis Tickle was among the first to argue that what has been variously called the emerging church, the emergent church, fresh expressions, emergence Christianity, the church: emerging, and the missional church, among other monikers – could prove to be [...]
Fr Brian D’Arcy and Vocation – Reflecting the Changing Nature of Priesthood?
I plan to blog later in the week about last night’s BBC One documentary about Fr Brian D’Arcy, The Turbulent Priest. A flurry of media coverage leading up to the documentary had honed in on the controversy around D’Arcy’s censoring by the Vatican, due to his views on issues such as mandatory celibacy, the ban [...]
The Year of Faith – That would be an Ecumenical Matter?
Is the Year of Faith just for Catholics? Earlier in the week I blogged about the Catholic Church’s proclamation of the Year of Faith and asked whether it could be a means to further realising the vision of Vatican II. Though it is often forgotten or unrecognised, part of the vision of Vatican II is [...]
Ireland’s Troublesome Priests: Promoting ‘Evolution’ in the Irish Catholic Church?
Last month (23 September 2012) BBC Radio 4 aired a documentary titled ‘Ireland’s Troublesome Priests,’ which seemingly set out to focus on the Association of Catholic Priests (ACP)and the members of it who have been censored by the Vatican for their views on issues ranging from women priests, the role of the laity, clerical celibacy, [...]
Culture: Source of Unity or a Barrier?–Remarks at Uganda Cultural Day
Last night I had the pleasure of providing the keynote address at the celebrations for Uganda Cultural Day, held at St Mary’s College in Belfast. Fr Charles Lwanga Kaweesi, who is based in Portglenone, had invited me to speak on the topic of ‘Culture: Source of Unity or a Barrier?’ My talk ranges from anthropological [...]
“It’s Not a Problem for God”: Reflecting on the Decline in Trust in Religious Institutions
Last month, a Gallup Poll revealed that Americans’ trust in religious institutions continues to decline. Just 44% of Americans say that they ‘have a great deal or quite a lot of confidence in “the church or organized religion” today.’ This doesn’t surprise me. After all, these latest Gallup figures are largely in line with those [...]
James Bielo’s Emerging Evangelicals: Book Review
Most accounts of the emerging church have been written by insiders to the movement like Tony Jones or Doug Pagitt; or by critics such as Kevin DeYoung or D. A. Carson. But in Emerging Evangelicals: Faith, Modernity, and the Desire for Authenticity (New York University Press, 2011), anthropologist James Bielo offers a sharp analysis of [...]
The Church is Flat, Book Review – Tony Jones on How to Move the Emerging Church from Critique to Practical Change
Tony Jones’ new book The Church is Flat: The Relational Ecclesiology of the Emerging Church Movement (self-published, 2011) offers a fresh perspective in its passionate plea for people in the emerging church to start thinking about ecclesiology. In the process, Jones tries to help emerging churches get beyond their critiques (especially of evangelical Protestantism). He [...]
Patrick Mitchel on Evangelical Journeys: Dublin Launch of New Book
My recent book, co-authored with Claire Mitchell, Evangelical Journeys: Choice and Change in a Northern Irish Religious Subculture (UCD Press 2011), was launched last night at the Irish School of Ecumenics, TCD, in Dublin. This follows the Belfast launch of the book late last year. Patrick Mitchel, Director of Studies and lecturer in theology at [...]
Doug Gay – Remixing the Church: Towards an Emerging Ecclesiology, Book Review
Last month I posted about Doug Gay’s examination of the relationship between the ecumenical movement and the emerging church, as put forward in his new book, Remixing the Church: Towards an Emerging Ecclesiology (SCM Press, 2011). Gay’s insightful and original treatment of this matter, almost entirely overlooked in the popular and academic literature on the [...]
About me
Welcome to Building a Church Without Walls, a website for people who are excited about how Christianity is developing in the 21st Century. I am a Lecturer and Coordinator of the Conflict Resolution and Reconciliation Studies Programme at Trinity College Dublin at Belfast (the Irish School of Ecumenics).
Please note this is my personal site. All views are my own and are not representative of TCD.
I also write for the popular NI Politics site Slugger O'Toole. Click here to view my posts on Slugger...
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