I’ve had several people ask me if I would be blogging about the talk I gave last week for the Queen’s University Religious Studies Research Forum, titled ‘The End of Irish Catholicism?: Exploring Extra-Institutional Spaces for Faith.’ The material I presented at the talk is still very much ‘work in progress,’ but I’m posting the [...]
Reflections on The End of Irish Catholicism
St Patrick’s Cathedral: That Would be an Ecumenical Matter?
I’m heartened by today’s news that Robert MacCarthy, the Dean of St Patrick’s (Anglican) Cathedral in Dublin, has proposed that St Patrick’s, the Irish national cathedral, ‘be made a national cathedral for all Irish Christians.’ MacCarthy has written to all the candidates in the Irish Presidential elections, asking them to support his proposal. Speaking to [...]
Against Remembrance? New Post on Slugger O’Toole
I have a new post on the Slugger O’Toole blog, ‘Against Remembrance: Seminar and Book by David Rieff.’ It includes my reflections on Rieff’s seminar, given last week at Trinity College Dublin.
Evangelical Journeys Book Launch – Tuesday 1 November in East Belfast Mission
Claire Mitchell and I are happy to announce the launch of our new book, Evangelical Journeys: Choice and Change in a Northern Irish Religious Subculture, on Tuesday 1 November at 6 pm at East Belfast Mission, 239 Newtownards Road, Belfast. Tea/coffee, nibbles and live traditional music will feature from 6 pm. At around 6.45 Glenn [...]
Ecumenical Matters: Talk at Queen’s on Thursday 20 October and Visioning 21st Century Ecumenism Seminar Series Starts Sat 22 October
As regular readers of this blog may know, I’m giving a lecture at Queen’s University Belfast on Thursday 20 October titled, ‘The End of Irish Catholicism?: Exploring Extra-Institutional Spaces for Faith.’ The talk kicks off at 5.15 pm in the Peter Froggart Centre and is the first event in Queen’s new Religious Studies Research Forum. [...]
Assembly Wants All-Party Talks on Dealing with the Past – New Post on Slugger O’Toole
I have a new post on the Slugger O’Toole blog, ‘Assembly Wants All-Party Talks on Dealing with the Past.’
Debating the Past in the Northern Ireland Assembly – New Post on Slugger O’Toole
I have a new post on the Slugger O’Toole blog, ‘Debating the Past in the Northern Ireland Assembly?’
Thursday 29 September in Belfast – Looking for an Evening Out? Spoiled for Choice
There are four events scheduled for Thursday 29 September in Belfast that are of great interest to me, and therefore also potentially of interest to readers of this blog. The biggest problem is how to choose where to go! Concerned citizens of Belfast and beyond can choose from the following: A Screening of ‘Unheard Voices’ [...]
International Museum of the Reformation, Geneva: Dinner with John Calvin
I was in Geneva recently for the European Sociological Association conference. Geneva, of course, is one of the cradles of the European Reformation, probably best known as the long-time home of John Calvin and a one-time haven for the Scottish Reformer John Knox. I’m no scholarly expert on Calvin or on Reformation history, though my [...]
The End of Irish Catholicism?: Talk at Queen’s Religious Studies Research Forum 20 October
Last week I presented a paper at the European Sociological Association conference in Geneva, titled: ‘The End of Irish Catholicism?: Exploring Extra-Institutional Spaces for Faith.’ I’ll be speaking again on the same topic on Thursday 20 October at 5.15 pm at the Peter Froggart Centre at Queen’s University Belfast. My talk is one in a [...]
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.
My Posts On Slugger O’Toole
Sponsor My Run For The Northern Ireland Children’s Hospice
- Jay Bakker: Book Review of Fall to Grace – Can Churches Find Enough Grace for Gay Marriage? February 15, 2011
- What can the Churches Learn from Zimbabwe’s Masowe Apostles?: Isabel Mukonyora Book Review, Wandering a Gendered Wilderness February 3, 2010
- Fr Brian D’Arcy and his Critics: How Should Christians Talk about each Other? January 10, 2011
- Heresies and How to Avoid Them?: Thoughts on Ikon, Heretics and a Plea to Listen to Them February 5, 2011
- Fr Brian D’Arcy on Terry Wogan: Rebuilding Ireland’s Shattered Faith? February 7, 2011
- The Church is Flat, Book Review – Tony Jones on How to Move the Emerging Church from Critique to Practical Change February 2, 2012
- Patrick Mitchel on Evangelical Journeys: Dublin Launch of New Book January 27, 2012
- Ken Newell on the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity – What Does Communion Mean? January 23, 2012
- Week of Prayer for Christian Unity–Marcin Lisak OP, ‘We will all be Changed’ January 18, 2012
- Doug Gay – Remixing the Church: Towards an Emerging Ecclesiology, Book Review January 17, 2012
- Tony Jones: Thanks for the kind review. I hope to be in dialog...
- jac podevin: the individual physical body is exchanging cells c...
- Lyle Taffs: I don't know either of the authors personally but...
- Evangelical Journeys « FaithinIreland: [...] has put up notes of my remarks at her websit...
- Richard: I have never been homosexual or had those tendenci...
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