What does it mean to be a Christian? That’s a question that is at once too simple and too broad. One answer that could be given is in the subtitle of Kester Brewin’s latest book, Other. That subtitle is: Loving Self, God and Neighbour in a World of Fractures. To me, that subtitle sums up [...]
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Cary Gibson Guest Post on Emerging Churches – Beyond Generalisations, Retreats and Institutions?
Today this blog features a guest post from Cary Gibson, whose thought and involvement have helped to shape the Belfast-based Christian collective Ikon. Gibson originally posted a comment in response to my post on ‘What does the Emerging Church Want?: Reflections on a Dark Gospel.’ With her permission, I’ve reproduced that comment here, to draw [...]
What does the Emerging Church Want?: Reflections on a Dark Gospel
What do people in the emerging church want? This is a question that is being posed increasingly in one form or another by academics, critics of the emerging church, and people who are themselves involved with the movement. Of course, if you ask the people who are involved with the emerging church, you will probably [...]
Ian Paisley and the Pope: The Return of Dr No?
It’s been awhile since we’ve heard the Rev. Ian Paisley rail publicly against the pope, identifying him as an ‘anti-Christ.’ But in an interview with the BBC World Service, Paisley reverted to ‘anti-Christ’ mode as he voiced his opposition to the pope’s state visit to the UK in September. On his blog, BBC religion correspondent [...]
Christians v. Atheists? The Battle for the Buses and the Ulster Museum
In its annual report, the UK’s Advertising Standards Authority’s (ASA) has noted that it received 392 complaints about the British Humanist Association’s campaign slogan: ‘There’s probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life.’ The presence of this slogan on city buses became almost iconic. But what received the most complaints? It was the [...]
Are there any Christians in Religionless Christianity?
In the West, where ‘institutionalised’ forms of Christianity seem more tired, creaky and discredited by the day, some people involved with ‘emergence Christianity’ or the ‘emerging church’ are advocating a ‘religionless’ approach to Christianity. The term ‘religionless Christianity’ is associated with Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the German pastor implicated in the plot to assassinate Hitler during the [...]
British Religion in Numbers: Launch of New Website
Searching for an up-to-date source on the latest quantitative research on religion in Britain? The launch of a new website, British Religion in Numbers, looks to be an invaluable source for scholars and others seeking a one-stop-shop for statistical research and opinion polls on religion. The site features a searchable database of religious data sources, [...]
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.
