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Trevor Morrow on the Ulster Covenant, the Reformed Churches, and Irish Identity (at the Centre for the Study of Irish Protestantism)

By on April 2, 2013 in Churches & Reconciliation, Dealing with the Past, Ecumenism, Evangelicalism, Irish politics, NI Politics, Peace Studies, Sociology of Religion, Ulster Scots, Unionism

I recently blogged about a colloquium at the Centre for the Study of Irish Protestantism 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 the University. It was [...]

Flags in Fermanagh: Fermanagh Churches Forum and How Churches Can Contribute to A Shared Future in Northern Ireland

By on March 28, 2013 in Churches & Reconciliation, Dealing with the Past, Ecumenism, Evangelicalism, Irish Catholic Church, NI Politics, Peace Studies, Post Modern Theology, Postmodern Theology, Social Justice, Sociology of Religion, Unionism, Victims

The Fermanagh Churches Forum recently hosted a conference on “Flags, God and Divided Loyalties.” Although I was away and unable to attend, by all accounts there was lively discussion and some productive thinking about how churches can contribute to the common good as Northern Ireland navigates its journey from Troubles to (hopefully) peace. The conference [...]

An Independent People Part 3: The Journey from Radicalism to Conservatism?

By on March 27, 2013 in Churches & Reconciliation, Dealing with the Past, Ecumenism, Evangelicalism, NI Politics, Ulster Scots, Unionism

BBC Northern Ireland’s landmark series, “An Independent People: The Story of Ulster’s Presbyterians,” concluded on Sunday with its third and final episode, “Union and Division,” taking viewers through two centuries of contentious history. This episode maintained the high standard of narrative and cinematography established in the first two programmes. But the compressed nature of the [...]

The Churches and Reconciliation in Ireland: Opportunities (at the Centre for the Study of Irish Protestantism)

By on March 14, 2013 in Churches & Reconciliation, Dealing with the Past, Ecumenism, Evangelicalism, Irish Catholic Church, Irish politics, NI Politics, Peace Studies, Social Justice, Sociology of Religion, Ulster Scots, Unionism

Yesterday I blogged about the first part of a paper I presented at a colloquium organised by the new Centre for the Study of Irish Protestantism (CSIP) and the Kennedy Institute on Conflict Resolution at the National University of Ireland in Maynooth. I spoke on ‘The Churches and Reconciliation in Ireland: Challenges and Opportunities,’ in [...]

The Churches and Reconciliation in Ireland: Challenges (at the Centre for the Study of Irish Protestantism)

By on March 13, 2013 in Churches & Reconciliation, Dealing with the Past, Ecumenism, Evangelicalism, Irish Catholic Church, Muslim Christian Relations, Social Justice, Sociology of Religion, Ulster Scots, Unionism

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 [...]

Building Peace in Northern Ireland by Maria Power – Book Review in Irish Literary Supplement

By on March 5, 2013 in Book Reviews, Churches & Reconciliation, Dealing with the Past, DUP, Irish Catholic Church, Irish politics, NI Politics, Peace Studies, Sinn Fein, Social Justice, Sociology of Religion, Unionism, Victims

My review of Maria Power’s Building Peace in Northern Ireland (Liverpool University Press, 2011) has been published in the latest edition of the Irish Literary Supplement (Spring 2013, V32, N2, pp. 18-19) under the headline, “Peace in the Valley.” While encouraging you to get out and get your hands on a copy of the Irish [...]

4 Corners Festival – Can “Faith in Action” Transform Politics? Insights from Richard Wood

By on January 10, 2013 in Book Reviews, Churches & Reconciliation, Dealing with the Past, Ecumenism, Evangelicalism, Irish Catholic Church, NI Politics, Peace Studies, Social Justice, Sociology of Religion, Ulster Scots, Unionism

I’ve written a number of posts recently about the 4 Corners Festival, which kicks off tonight at 7.30 pm with Tony Macaulay reading from his book Paperboy in Ballygomartin Presbyterian Church in Belfast. I’m on the organising committee of the festival. While we are promoting it as an initiative that “seeks to inspire people from [...]

What’s the Point of the Peace Rallies? New Post on Slugger O’Toole

By on December 17, 2012 in Churches & Reconciliation, Dealing with the Past, Ecumenism, NI Politics, Peace Studies, Secularisation, Unionism

I have a new post on Slugger O’Toole, ‘What’s the Point of the Peace Rallies?’ It includes reflections on Saturday’s Prayer for Peace and Sunday’s Peace Rally, both at Belfast City Hall. I expect to write more on this (Church Without Walls) blog in the coming days, including a response to Caroline Orr’s comment on [...]

Prayer for Peace in Belfast, Saturday 15 December, 8.30 am, City Hall

By on December 12, 2012 in Churches & Reconciliation, Dealing with the Past, DUP, Ecumenism, Evangelicalism, NI Politics, Peace Studies, Secularisation, Unionism

Like many citizens of Belfast, I’ve felt helpless about the protests and riots that have scarred the city over the last week. As local readers of this blog will already know, Belfast City Council’s decision to fly the British flag on select, designated days – in line with policy across the United Kingdom – has [...]

Evangelical Journeys Reviewed in Sociology of Religion

By on December 11, 2012 in Book Reviews, Churches & Reconciliation, Dealing with the Past, Ecumenism, Emerging Church, Evangelicalism, NI Politics, Secularisation, Ulster Scots, Unionism

My latest book, Evangelical Journeys: Choice and Change in a Northern Irish Religious Subculture (UCD Press, 2011), co-authored by Claire Mitchell, has been reviewed in a leading academic journal, Sociology of Religion (Volume 73, issue 4, Winter 2012). The review is written by Kevin McElmurry of Indiana University Northwest. I quote selectively from the review [...]

David Tombs and the Ulster Covenant Part III: A New Covenant in 2012?

By on October 16, 2012 in Churches & Reconciliation, Dealing with the Past, Ecumenism, Evangelicalism, Morality, NI Politics, Orange Order, Secularisation, Ulster Scots, Unionism

Now that the centenary of Ulster Day has passed, it is instructive to reflect back on how the churches have remembered (or have not remembered) the Ulster Covenant this year. In the third and final in his series of posts on the Ulster Covenant, Dr David Tombs asks if the churches missed an opportunity to [...]