It’s hard to believe that nearly a month has passed since I arrived as a visiting researcher at the Southwest Institute on Religion and Civil Society at the University of New Mexico (UNM). During that time, my main task has … Read more...
Category: Secularisation
The Emerging Church: Religion at the Margins by Josh Packard – Book Review, or How to Maintain an Anti-Institutional Religion
A new book by Josh Packard, The Emerging Church: Religion at the Margins (First Forum Press, 2012), offers some welcome insights on questions I’ve repeatedly been asked (and have asked myself) about the Emerging Church Movement (ECM), such as:
- Will
At Home in Exile by Peter McDowell – Book Review and Launch, January 15th: What if Revival Doesn’t Come?
“He felt that he had to tell them that revival had not come, and that it probably was not coming.”
Peter McDowell introduces his new book, At Home in Exile: The Journey Towards a New Paradigm (Belfast: Contemporary Christianity, 2012) … Read more...
Belfast’s Peace Prayer Vigil – How are Churches Speaking to the Wider Community?
Earlier in the week, I asked ‘What’s the point of the peace rallies?’ on the Slugger O’Toole blog. The post had a particular focus on Christian activists’ involvement in organising the Saturday morning prayer vigil.
What’s the Point of the Peace Rallies? New Post on Slugger O’Toole
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 … Read more...
Prayer for Peace in Belfast, Saturday 15 December, 8.30 am, City Hall
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 … Read more...
Evangelical Journeys Reviewed in Sociology of Religion
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
… Read more...Peter Rollins’ The Idolatry of God: Book Review – An Antidote for Black Friday?
“You can’t be satisfied, life is difficult, and you don’t know the secret.”
This quote is taken from the back cover of Peter Rollins’ latest book, The Idolatry of God: Breaking the Addiction to Certainty and Satisfaction (Hodder and Stoughton … Read more...
Reconciliation in Post Violence Northern Ireland: Can the Churches Contribute? Tuesday 20 November at Fitzroy Presbyterian
I will be leading a seminar this week on Tuesday 20 November at 7.30 pm at Fitzroy Presbyterian Church titled: ‘Reconciliation in Post Violence Northern Ireland: Can the Churches Contribute?’ The event is organised by the long-standing Clonard-Fitzroy Fellowship group.… Read more...
What Would Dirk Willems Do?: Prophetic Voices from the Margins
I had never heard of Dirk Willems until last week, when I attended Irish Baptist Networks and Contemporary Christianity’s conference: ‘Prophetic Voices from the Margins: The Contemporary Witness of Celts, Anabaptists, and the New Monastic Movements,’ on Friday 9 … Read more...
Phyllis Tickle Book Review: Emergence Christianity – Are Emergence Christians Making History?
In her previous book, The Great Emergence: How Christianity is Changing and Why (Baker Books, 2008), Phyllis Tickle was among the first to argue that what has been variously called the emerging church, the emergent church, fresh expressions, emergence … Read more...