Yesterday was Ecumenical Day at the novena in West Belfast’s Clonard Monastery. As I’m in a Northern Irish style ‘mixed’ marriage, and live close to Clonard, I appreciate the spirit behind ecumenical day and try and make a point of being there.
So last night I dropped in on an evening session, where Rev. Steve Stockman, the minister from Fitzroy Presbyterian, was speaking. The theme for this year’s novena is ‘Our Church: A Time for Hope,’ and the theme for ecumenical day was ‘a time for justice.’
Continue reading ‘The Clonard Novena: Steve Stockman on Ecumenical Day’
In the latter sessions of a conference held last week at Trinity College Dublin, ‘From World Mission to Interreligious Witness: Visioning Ecumenics in the 21st Century,’ the theologians and others gathered there began to get around to some crucial questions not only about the importance of interreligious dialogue, but of moving beyond that to ‘witness.’
In the closing session of the conference, which was hosted by the Irish School of Ecumenics at TCD and the academic journal Concilium, a participant from the floor asked:
Continue reading ‘From World Mission to Interreligious Witness: Why Dialogue?’
The Irish School of Ecumenics, Trinity College Dublin, is marking the midpoint of its three-year research project this week with a conference, ‘From World Mission to Interreligious Witness: Visioning Ecumenics in the 21st Century.’
The conference is recognising the centenary of the 1910 Edinburgh Missionary Conference, which is considered the birth of the modern ecumenical movement. Prof. Linda Hogan, Head of the Irish School of Ecumenics, opened the conference on Wednesday by acknowledging that ecumenical heritage. But she noted that the concept of ‘mission’ articulated at Edinburgh has become problematic in our pluralising, globalising world.
Continue reading ‘Questioning World Mission: Trinity College Conference on Ecumenics in the 21st Century’
Ecumenism in Northern Ireland is in what might be described as a quiet stage. Gone are some of the outrageous events of the 1960s, when the Rev. Ian Paisley and his Free Presbyterians staged regular protests against ecumenism outside the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland.
But ecumenism hasn’t gone away, you know. In some ways it is taken for granted, in that now there is an easier, more regular sharing of space in the churches throughout Northern Ireland. There’s still a long road to walk, though, to get beyond the hesitant beginnings of mutual understanding to a place of mutually enriching relationships.
Continue reading ‘Sharing Sacred Spaces in County Fermanagh – A Walk with the Churches Forum’
Next week the Irish School of Ecumenics, Trinity College Dublin, will host a three-day conference, ‘From World Mission to Interreligious Witness: Visioning Ecumenics in the 21st Century.’
The conference runs June 16-18, 2010, in the Arts Building at TCD. It features a range of internationally-respected theologians from around the world, all of whom are concerned with tackling questions relating the character and concept of ecumenical Christian witness across cultures and faiths. These questions are being asked in light of the centenary of the 1910 Edinburgh Missionary Conference, which is regarded as the birth of the modern ecumenical movement.
Continue reading ‘Visioning Ecumenism Conference, June 16-18: From World Mission to Interreligious Witness’
David Stevens, Leader of the Corrymeela Community, died from cancer on Sunday at the age of 62. A founding member of the Community Relations Council, Stevens also worked for 25 years in the Inter Church Centre in Belfast, serving for 12 years as General Secretary of the Irish Council of Churches and Executive Secretary of the Irish Inter Church Meeting.
Stevens’ book, The Land of Unlikeness: Explorations into Reconciliation (Columba, 2004) is essential reading for students on our Master’s in Reconciliation Studies. It is a theological work, grounded in the context of Northern Ireland. In it, Stevens asks Christians to honestly examine the past and reflect on what they might bring to the search for reconciliation.
Continue reading ‘David Stevens – In Memory of a Peacemaker’
What does it mean that Christians all over Ireland have begun to quietly defy the official teachings of their churches, choosing to receive Eucharist/ communion in churches that are not their own?
No one really knows how widespread this practice is in Ireland. Unlike the Catholic Church, not all denominations officially forbid the sharing of the Eucharist among Christians of different denominations. Last week’s symposium at the Irish School of Ecumenics, Trinity College Dublin, on ‘The Eucharist in Ecumenical Perspective’ raised some questions about what this practice means, and whether some of the gaps between grassroots openness and ‘official’ church reticence can be bridged.
Continue reading ‘Communion with One Another? Questions from the Symposium on ‘The Eucharist in Ecumenical Perspective’’
What’s faith got to do with human rights? That’s one of the questions explored in a new publication, edited by Dr David Tombs of Trinity College Dublin at Belfast (the Irish School of Ecumenics), Rights and Righteousness: Perspectives on Religious Pluralism and Human Rights.
The publication was featured this morning on BBC Radio Ulster’s Sunday Sequence (see chapter 7 of the online recording, ‘Righteousness vs. Human Rights?’) The segment includes input from Tombs, Prof. Monica McWilliams of the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission, and Dr Norman Richardson, Lecturer in Religious Studies at Stranmillis College in Belfast.
Continue reading ‘What’s Faith Got to do with Human Rights? Publication of Rights and Righteousness’
My School’s recent surveys of faith leaders and lay people on the island of Ireland asked a series of questions about ecumenism. While most people claim to have positive conceptions of ecumenism, others say it is elitist, irrelevant, or boring, or that they simply don’t know what it is. One survey respondent referred rather disparagingly to those involved in ecumenism as ‘ecu-maniacs.’
In a lecture last night at Trinity College Dublin, John Gibaut, Director of the Faith and Order Commission of the World Council of Churches, Geneva, raised the question of whether or not ecumenism is the preserve of the dedicated and perhaps rather eccentric few, or if there is indeed a discernible ecumenical culture that has something to contribute to the Christian churches.
Continue reading ‘Beyond Ecu-Maniacs: Is there an Ecumenical Culture?’
Reflections on and results from my School’s major research project, ‘Visioning 21st Century Ecumenism: Diversity, Dialogue and Reconciliation,’ have become available in a variety of outlets over the last few weeks. The research team is hoping that the publication of these results will stimulate new conversations about faith and religion on the island of Ireland.
The May/June 2010 issue of Doctrine and Life (Vol. 60, No. 5) has published an article by me titled, ‘Visioning 21st Century Ecumenism: The View from the Pulpits, the View from the Pews.’ This article outlines the major findings from our surveys of faith leaders and laypeople. These are organised under the following headings:
Continue reading ‘Visioning 21st Century Ecumenism: More Research Results Now Available’
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