I have a new post on the Slugger O’Toole blog, ‘Celebrating Northern Ireland’s Olympic Past and Future in Antrim and Dervock.’ While this departs from the theme of the Church Without Walls blog, some readers may be interested to know that: This week features two events highlighting Northern Ireland’s Olympic past and future in athletics. [...]
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Alberto Salazar’s 14 Minutes: Book Review – The Miracle of Everyday Faith?
Many sports autobiographies feature a religious or spiritual element, but long-distance runner Alberto Salazar’s 14 Minutes: A Running Legend’s Life and Death and Life (Rodale 2012), has the rather unique hook that its author was clinically dead for 14 minutes, but lived to tell the tale. In 2007, at age 48, Salazar collapsed while walking [...]
Picking up the Pieces Through Sport in Northern Ireland
Last summer, a student from France came to interview me about my work and research in Conflict Resolution and Reconciliation at the Irish School of Ecumenics. Eventually, he asked me a question about integration in my own personal life. Despite all my school’s contacts with churches and community groups doing much good work for reconciliation, [...]
Running for the Northern Ireland Children’s Hospice
I spend a lot of my leisure time running. Along with a teammate, Marty Rea, from my club, North Belfast Harriers, I’ve been asked to be an ambassador for the official charity for the 2012 Belfast City Marathon: the Northern Ireland Children’s Hospice. I’ve written previously on this blog about the Belfast City Marathon, and [...]
Thursday 29 September in Belfast – Looking for an Evening Out? Spoiled for Choice
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’ [...]
Belfast City Marathon–30 Years of Going the Distance
I have a new post on the Slugger O’Toole blog on the 30th anniversary of the Belfast City Marathon. It may not be obviously related to ‘building a church without walls,’ but it may be of interest to some all the same. Happy Running!
Ian O’Riordan’s Miles to Run: An Invitation to Madness?
I’ve reviewed the new book by the Irish Times’ athletics correspondent, Ian O’Riordan, Miles to Run, Promises to Keep on the Slugger O’Toole blog.
A Marathon Debate Continues …
I blogged previously about the controversy around moving the Belfast City Marathon from Bank Holiday Monday to a Sunday. The Alan in Belfast blog has a constructive and thought-provoking new post on this topic.
Should the Belfast City Marathon Run on Sunday?
The Belfast City Marathon is one of Northern Ireland’s premier sporting events. More than 20,000 people hit the streets on Bank Holiday Monday for the race, including 3,300 marathon runners and 11,000 who participated in five-person relay teams. The event raised thousands for charity. It is mass participation sport at its very best. Now that [...]
Tyrone Football Manager Mickey Harte Book Review: Presence is the Only Thing
I don’t consider myself a fan of the GAA, having grown up in a part of the United States where awareness of Gaelic Games is non-existent. But I’m deeply intrigued by the relationship between spirituality and sporting excellence, so the new book by Tyrone Gaelic football manager Mickey Harte was a compelling read. The title [...]
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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