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’
As part of my School’s research project, ‘Visioning 21st Century Ecumenism,’ we will be teaming up with the Glenstal Ecumenical Symposium to host a two-day workshop on ‘The Eucharist in Ecumenical Perspective: A Conversation with John Gibaut and Aikaterini Pekridou,’ May 13-14, 2010 at Trinity College Dublin. The event will be held at the Irish School of Ecumenics in Milltown Park (Dublin 6) and the main TCD campus.
John Gibaut, Director of the Faith and Order Commission of the World Council of Churches, Geneva, will deliver a keynote address, ‘Eucharist and Liturgy: Creating an Ecumenical Culture,’ on Thursday May 13 at 7.30 p.m. in the Joly Theatre, Hamilton Building, TCD.
Continue reading ‘Symposium on the Eucharist in Ecumenical Perspective in Dublin May 13-14, 2010′
Yesterday Trinity College Dublin at Belfast (the Irish School of Ecumenics) hosted a seminar on ‘Faith and Community Relations: Perspectives on Diversity, Dialogue and Reconciliation.’ I presented an update on the progress on my School’s research project, ‘Visioning 21st Century Ecumenism.’ The event was part of Community Relations Week.
I opened the seminar with a powerpoint presentation of the major findings of our surveys of faith leaders and laypeople. These have been in the public domain for some time, having been launched last October with a two-day workshop. As often happens in such seminars, it is the discussion that follows that pushes thinking further, or in new directions altogether.
Continue reading ‘Faith and Community Relations Seminar – What now for the Churches?’
Patrick Mitchel, a lecturer in theology at the Irish Bible Institute in Dublin, has posted a blog about ‘Irish evangelicals: unity in diversity or just disunity?’ In the post, Mitchel engages with a chapel message delivered by Crawford Gribben last month at Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia.
Gribben is Senior Lecturer in Early Modern Print Culture at Trinity College Dublin. His talk is aimed at an audience of American seminarians from the Reformed tradition, and his purpose is to provide them both with a general perspective on the lie of the land on Christianity in Ireland, and a particular view of evangelicalism in the Republic.
Continue reading ‘Evangelicalism in Ireland: Slow Motion Revival or Faction Fighting?’
I’ll be conducting a seminar based on the findings of my School’s IRCHSS-funded research project, ‘Visioning 21st Century Ecumenism,’ on Wednesday April 28, 2010 from 12 noon- 1p.m. at The Irish School of Ecumenics, Trinity College Dublin at Belfast, 683 Antrim Road.
The title of the seminar is ‘Faith and Community Relations: Perspectives on Diversity, Reconciliation and Ecumenism.’ I’ll outline key findings from recent the surveys of faith leaders and laypeople, as well as insights from the on-going case studies of faith communities.
Continue reading ‘Seminar on Faith & Community Relations April 28, 2010′
Today this blog continues with another guest post by Fr Michael Bennett, a priest with the St Patrick’s Missionary Society (Kiltegan Fathers). Today’s topic is restoring the community to the centre of the church.
Fr Michael provides a historical perspective on relationships between clerics and the Christian community, argues against mandatory celibacy, urges a greater role for women within the church, and offers some practical suggestions for how this might happen in the Irish Context. Continue reading ‘Crisis in the Irish Catholic Church – Restoring the Community to the Centre by Fr Michael Bennett’
Richard Clarke, Church of Ireland Bishop of Meath and Kildare, was last month elected President of the Irish Council of Churches. His term will last until 2012.
The April 9 edition of the Church of Ireland Gazette features Clarke’s election on its front page. It reports that Clarke says there are ‘three major tasks facing Irish ecumenism today’:
Continue reading ‘Bishop Richard Clarke Elected President of Irish Council of Churches’
Today my School awarded our James Haire Memorial Prizes for the best dissertation and best essays produced by students on our Master’s in Reconciliation Studies programme. Andrew McMahon, a priest based in Lurgan, wrote the best dissertation among the class of 2009, while Ruth Sastre Sanchez of Spain was recognised for producing the best essays over the course of the year.
There’s always stiff competition for the best dissertation, as our students routinely produce high quality, original research. McMahon’s dissertation, ‘A Force for Good’: The contribution of the South Down Ecumenical Study Group to Reconciliation, 1968-1978, provides a new perspective on how Ireland’s fledgling ecumenical movement got off the ground in the grassroots of South Down.
Continue reading ‘Andrew McMahon: Research on the South Down Ecumenical Clerical Study Group’
What do young Irish Catholics think about their church? There was a fleeting insight into this in today’s Education Supplement in the Irish Times. Brief interviews with four teenage students from Coláiste Cillian in Clondalkin, Dublin, covered a range of topics, including church and going to mass.
Continue reading ‘Abuse Scandals in the Irish Catholic Church: What do Young Catholics Think?’
Yesterday, March 9, was the feast day of St Frances of Rome. Hailing as I do from a Protestant background, my knowledge of saints’ days is pretty thin on the ground. But yesterday I was visiting the Holy Cross Monastery in Rostrevor, and much of the day’s liturgical activities were given over to remembering and celebrating the life of the saint.
St Frances – not to be confused with St Francis of Assisi – lived between 1384 and 1440. She was a wife and a mother, but in later life became superior of the Benedictine Oblate Congregation of Tor di Specchi.
Continue reading ‘Lessons from the Benedictine Monks on the Life of St Frances of Rome’
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