What’s the point of studying religions? This is an apt question to be asking on the island of Ireland. Here, the academic study of religions is at an early stage in its development, particularly from social science or humanities perspectives, in contrast to theological or confessional approaches. A keynote address by Prof Alicia Turner of [...]
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Crawford Gribben on Ireland, America and the End of the World – ISASR Conference at UCD
‘Apocalyptic beliefs are one of this island’s most successful exports.’ That was one of the closing lines of a keynote address given by Prof Crawford Gribben of the School of History and Anthropology at Queen’s University Belfast, at the Irish Society for the Academic Study of Religions (ISASR) Conference at UCD (10-12 May 2013). ISASR [...]
Michael McRay – Letters from Apartheid Street: Interview and Book Reading, Tues 26 March
Michael McRay will discuss and read excerpts from his book, Letters from Apartheid Street: A Christian Peacemaker in Occupied Palestine, at 7 pm on Tuesday 26 March at St Oliver Plunkett in Lenadoon, Belfast. The event is titled, ‘Blessed are the Peacemakers,’ and will include a question and response session. Letters from Apartheid Street will [...]
The Churches and Reconciliation in Ireland: Challenges (at the Centre for the Study of Irish Protestantism)
Last night I participated in a colloquium organised by the new Centre for the Study of Irish Protestantism (CSIP) and the Kennedy Institute for Conflict Resolution at the National University of Ireland in Maynooth. The colloquium helped to mark the visit of Rev Dr Roy Patton, the Moderator of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, to [...]
Fr Charlie Burrows on Sharing: Experiencing Jesus in Islam and Christianity
Last year I blogged about Charlie Burrows, an Irish priest working in Indonesia who had been the subject of an RTE documentary. Fr Burrows’ work had seemed to me an embodiment of the ‘church without walls’ concept which this blog seeks to develop and (at least in some posts) promote. I am now on Fr [...]
Visioning Ecumenism Goes Online–Course by Johnston McMaster & Cathy Higgins
My school, the Irish School of Ecumenics (ISE), has gone online with two new interactive modules developed by Dr Johnston McMaster and Dr Cathy Higgins. The modules have been designed in conjunction with the School’s IRCHSS-funded Visioning 21st Century Ecumenism research project, and are called ‘The Bible in Dispute’ and ‘Where in the World is [...]
Fr Charlie Burrows on Christian Witness
Several months ago I blogged about Fr Charlie Burrows, an Irish priest working in Indonesia. Burrows was the subject of an RTE documentary, which told the story of how his work in Indonesia has been a spur to local economic development and better inter-religious (Christian-Muslim) relationships. In line with the theme of my blog, I [...]
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. [...]
Fr Michael Hurley on Ecumenical Theology and Ecumenics
Last week I introduced Fr Michael Hurley’s definition of Ecumenism. This was drawn from a chapter in his 1998 book, Christian Unity: An Ecumenical Second Spring? Today I again draw from that chapter to outline his definitions of Ecumenical Theology and Ecumenics. Hurley’s definitions are taken from a chapter in the book called, ‘Ecumenism, Ecumenical [...]
Fr Michael Hurley on Ecumenism
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 [...]
Speaking About Faith: Lessons from Northern Ireland’s Faith Minorities
On Wednesday the Irish School of Ecumenics (Trinity College Dublin at Belfast), where I work, hosted a meeting of the Northern Ireland Inter Faith Forum. I was the guest speaker, and presented some results from our Visioning 21st Century Ecumenism research project. This project, while focusing primarily on Christianity, has also included some research into [...]
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.
I also write for the popular NI Politics site Slugger O'Toole. Click here to view my posts on Slugger...
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