Cathy Higgins’ new book, Churches in Exile: Alternative Models of Church for Ireland in the 21st Century, was launched on 22 May at Skainos in East Belfast. One of the launch speakers was Rev Dr Johnston McMaster, who worked with Higgins for more than 15 years on the Irish School of Ecumenics’ adult community education [...]
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Have a Chat at the Human Library – Community Relations Week Conversations Tomorrow (24 May) at Belfast City Hall
The annual Community Relations Week may have passed some readers of this blog by – especially if you don’t live in Northern Ireland – but this year it has been particularly enriching for me. I’ve had the chance to have some good conversations with people at two events I’ve attend – Rev Mercia Malcolm’s talk [...]
Fr Martin Magill’s Ecumenical Tithing–Reflections on the Ecumenical Pentecost Faith Fest
This week’s instalment of Fr Martin Magill’s Ecumenical Tithing consists of his reflections on the Ecumenical Pentecost Faith Fest. I profiled the event last week and also included a post featuring the thoughts of Rev Arlene Moore of the Anglican/Methodist Church of the Good Shepherd in Monkstown, one of the partners in the Faith Fest. [...]
Cathy Higgins’ “Churches in Exile”: Book Review and Book Launch 22 May – What’s Emerging among Churches in Ireland?
Cathy Higgins’ new book, Churches in Exile: Alternative Models of Church for Ireland in the 21st Century (Columba, 2013) starts from the premise that churches in Ireland are in crisis, wedded to an outdated ‘Christendom’ model of church that has not served Christianity well. But in this thoughtful and easily digestible book, Higgins reflects on [...]
Rev Arlene Moore on Prayer and the Ecumenical Pentecost Faith Fest, 17-19 May
Earlier in the week I blogged about the ecumenical ‘Faith Fest’ organised for the Feast of Pentecost in Belfast. Events during the 17-19 May weekend are undergirded by two 24/7 prayer rooms – at the Church of Ireland/Methodist Church of the Good Shepherd (Cogs) in Monkstown and St Oliver Plunkett’s parish in Lenadoon. Since then [...]
Churches Urged to Get Together for Ecumenical Pentecost Faith Fest, 17-19 May
An ecumenical “Faith Fest” for the Feast of Pentecost is set for 17-19 May. St Oliver Plunkett’s Catholic parish in West Belfast and Church of the Good Shepherd (Church of Ireland and Methodist) in Monkstown will both be hosting 24/7 Prayer Rooms throughout the three day programme. Other events include: Friday 17th May at Oliver [...]
Exploring the Significance of Peter Rollins and the Ikon Collective – Talk on Sunday 12 May at UCD
I’ll be presenting a paper titled, “Northern Ireland, America and the Emerging Church Movement: Exploring the Significance of Peter Rollins and the Ikon Collective” on Sunday 12 May at the Clinton Centre, University College Dublin, in a panel from 12.00-1.30 pm. The paper is based on my forthcoming book, co-authored with Gerardo Marti of Davidson [...]
Fr Martin Magill’s Ecumenical Tithing–Prof John Brewer at Fitzroy Presbyterian
This week we continue with Fr Martin Magill’s experiences of ecumenical tithing. Last night he visited Fitzroy Presbyterian in Belfast, where Prof John Brewer of Queen’s University spoke on the findings in his new book, Religion, Ex Combatants and Peace in Northern Ireland, co-authored with David Mitchell and Gerard Leavey. (I earlier reviewed the book [...]
The Past Still Haunts the Present–my post on the 15 Years On Blog
My post titled “The Past Still Haunts the Present” has been published on the “15 Years On” blog. The blog was set up to mark the 15th anniversary of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement and to stimulate conversation about where we go from here. It is described this way on the “15 Years On” website: We [...]
Fr Martin Magill’s Ecumenical Tithing – A Visit to Fitzroy Presbyterian
Some time ago I blogged about ‘ecumenical tithing,’ a concept written about by Fr Michael Hurley, founder of the Irish School of Ecumenics. I defined it as: a commitment for Christians to pledge to spend a significant percentage of their time in worship and service with Christians from a tradition other than their own. Fr [...]
The Catholic Church in Ireland in Transition – Reflections for Zimbabwe, Published in Mukai/Vukani
I have had an article published in the latest issue of Mukai/Vukani (meaning “Wake up!”), the Jesuit Journal for Theological Reflection in Zimbabwe. This edition (volume 64, April 2013) discusses “The Church in Transition.” With kind permission from the editor, Gift Mambipiri, I’ve reproduced the article below. The Catholic Church in Ireland in Transition – [...]
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.
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