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St Patrick’s Cathedral: That Would be an Ecumenical Matter?

By on October 25, 2011 in Churches & Reconciliation, Dealing with the Past, Ecumenism, Evangelicalism, Irish Catholic Church

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 [...]

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Ecumenical Matters: Talk at Queen’s on Thursday 20 October and Visioning 21st Century Ecumenism Seminar Series Starts Sat 22 October

By on October 18, 2011 in Churches & Reconciliation, Dealing with the Past, Ecumenism, Irish Catholic Church, Irish politics, Muslim Christian Relations, NI Politics, Victims

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. [...]

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Fr Michael Hurley on Ecumenism

By on October 12, 2011 in Book Reviews, Churches & Reconciliation, Ecumenism, Irish Catholic Church, Muslim Christian Relations, Peace Studies

Last month I promised to share some thoughts based on Fr Michael Hurley’s 1998 book Christian Unity: An Ecumenical Second Spring? (Veritas). I’d been prompted to check the book out of our library after last month’s remembrance celebration for Fr Hurley, founder of the Irish School of Ecumenics. The busy-ness of the start of term [...]

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Thursday 29 September in Belfast – Looking for an Evening Out? Spoiled for Choice

By on September 28, 2011 in Churches & Reconciliation, Dealing with the Past, Ecumenism, Evangelicalism, Irish Catholic Church, Morality, NI Politics, Social Justice, Spirituality & Sport, Victims

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’ [...]

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International Museum of the Reformation, Geneva: Dinner with John Calvin

By on September 22, 2011 in Charismatic/Pentecostal Christianity, Churches & Reconciliation, Dealing with the Past, Ecumenism, Evangelicalism, Irish Catholic Church, Ulster Scots

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 [...]

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Remembering Fr Michael Hurley in Belfast

By on September 19, 2011 in Churches & Reconciliation, Ecumenism, Irish Catholic Church, Morality, NI Politics, Peace Studies, Social Justice

Fr Michael Hurley SJ, founder of the Irish School of Ecumenics, passed away in April. Following on from his funeral in Dublin, last week the Irish School of Ecumenics organised a special Service of Remembrance and Thanksgiving in Belfast. As readers of this blog may know, I’m a lecturer at Hurley’s creation (now part of [...]

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KJV at 400 in Monkstown: Week-Long Ecumenical Celebrations Begin 24 September

By on September 14, 2011 in Churches & Reconciliation, Ecumenism, Evangelicalism, Irish Catholic Church, NI Politics, Ulster Scots, Unionism

This year is the 400th anniversary of the translation of the King James Version (KJV) of the Bible. This anniversary has received considerable attention in the media, and there have been many events marking the occasion throughout the English-speaking world. Here in Northern Ireland, BBC Radio Ulster’s two-part series with William Crawley, The Good Book, [...]

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The End of Irish Catholicism?: Talk at Queen’s Religious Studies Research Forum 20 October

By on September 13, 2011 in Churches & Reconciliation, Dealing with the Past, Ecumenism, Irish Catholic Church, Victims

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 [...]

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Updates: Re-constructing Ikon and LGBT, Faith and Church Report

By on September 12, 2011 in Churches & Reconciliation, Emerging Church, Evangelicalism, Irish Catholic Church, LGBT, Morality, NI Politics, Post Modern Theology, Postmodern Theology, Social Justice

I spent most of last week at or preparing for the conference of the European Sociological Association in Geneva. During that time, there have been some useful follow-ups to two stories I’ve discussed recently on this blog: Ikon at Greenbelt: Reconstructing the Deconstruction In this post, I pieced together Ikon’s performance at Greenbelt, using the [...]

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"Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Communities’ Experiences of Faith and Church in Northern Ireland" – Report Launch 7 September

By on September 5, 2011 in Churches & Reconciliation, Dealing with the Past, Evangelicalism, Irish Catholic Church, LGBT, Morality, NI Politics, Social Justice

The Irish Peace Centres (IPC) will launch its latest report, “Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Communities’ Experiences of Faith and Church in Northern Ireland” on Wednesday 7 September at 3.30 pm at the Crescent Arts Centre, Belfast. The report, researched and written by academics Dr Claire Mitchell and Dr Gail McConnell, is already available on [...]