Last month Bishop Paul Verryn was suspended from the Methodist Church of Southern Africa. Bishop Verryn was a prominent anti-apartheid campaigner and has in recent years become well-known for opening the doors of the Central Methodist Church in Johannesburg to Zimbabwean refugees. About 2,000 displaced Zimbabweans sleep in the church every night. Everyone seems to [...]
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Evangelicals & Gay Rights in Ireland: Evangelical Alliance’s Surprise Support for Civil Partnerships Bill
One issue that is sure to bring Christian voices out in the public sphere is gay rights. The overwhelming impression that one gets is that Christians are opposed to extending gay rights, particularly when it comes to marriage or civil partnerships. A surprising exception to this has been the Evangelical Alliance in the Republic of [...]
EU Year Against Poverty & Social Exclusion: Social Justice Ireland Critiques the Irish Budget
Ireland’s economic miracle is over. And for those who were passed over by the Celtic Tiger, times could get even tougher. That’s the analysis offered by Social Justice Ireland (the organisation formerly known as the Council of Religious in Ireland – CORI), in its Policy Briefing on Poverty, released this week. Social Justice Ireland points [...]
Church Action Poverty: Northern Ireland Launch and Call to Action
“The churches in Northern Ireland are too posh-looking, their hedges are too high.” This was the assessment offered by Margaret Blair, a volunteer at The Gap Christian outreach project in Coleraine, speaking on BBC Radio Ulster’s Sunday Sequence. Blair’s interview was part of a piece by reporter Mark McCleary on a new Northern Ireland branch [...]
Johnston McMaster Book Review: A Passion for Justice – Social Ethics in the Celtic Tradition
The ancient Celtic world and its larger-than-life inhabitants have too often been manipulated for political and religious ends. A glance at some of the gable walls of Northern Ireland’s cities make that all too clear. But the Celtic tradition need not be divisive, or the preserve of one ‘side’ in the longstanding conflict on [...]
God & Guns, Dodging a Bullet On Thou shall not kill?
Pardon the pun, but a US gun manufacturer has just given more ammunition to those who think that religion is an inherently violent force for evil in the world. The manufacturer, Trijicon, has inscribed “2COR4:6″ and “JN8:12″ on its gun sights. The BBC reports that Trijicon was ‘founded by a devout Christian’ who runs the [...]
The Iris Robinson Scandal and Evangelical Culture in Northern Ireland: Rejecting or Redeeming the ‘Sinner’?
Today’s Sunday Sequence programme on BBC Radio Ulster featured a segment by Malachi O’Doherty on the effect of the Iris Robinson scandal on evangelical culture in Northern Ireland. Amongst others, O’Doherty interviewed Dr Claire Mitchell of Queen’s University Belfast, a collaborator in my own research on evangelicalism. Dr Mitchell’s comments highlighted a significant tension within [...]
Pat Robertson on Haiti Earthquake: Knowing the Mind of God
American televangelist Pat Robertson has declared that the earthquake in Haiti was a direct result of a ‘pact’ Haitians had made with the devil. He also said it is a ‘blessing in disguise’ for the beleaguered nation. Robertson, a one-time American presidential candidate, has built a multi-million dollar religious broadcasting empire and is the founder [...]
Iris Robinson scandal – What now? Meaningful Change or Business as Unusual?
Last night’s BBC Panorama programme on the Iris Robinson affair, ‘The MP and the Whistleblower,’ followed much the same script as the original Spotlight programme. The Panorama showing, geared towards a wider UK audience, merely updated the on-going saga to include yesterday’s most important development: Peter Robinson’s decision to vacate the office of First Minister [...]
The Robinson Scandal, Evangelical Pietism and Waiting for God to sort things out?
On today’s BBC Radio Ulster programme, Sunday Sequence, I discussed with Free Presbyterian minister Rev. David McIlveen, and former editor of the News Letter Austin Hunter, how the Robinson scandal may change Northern Irish social, political and religious culture. Rev McIlveen, a senior Free Presbyterian cleric who is a close confidant of former DUP party [...]
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.
