Telling the Story of Pentecostals and Charismatics in Northern Ireland: Tomorrow on Radio Ulster

life churchTomorrow at 1.30 pm BBC Radio Ulster will air a documentary, “Tongues of Fire: How Pentecostals are Changing the Church.” Presented by Robbie Meredith, the programme is framed around investigating the steady growth of Pentecostal and charismatic churches in … Read more...

‘Staring at a Wall: Exploring Belfast’s Separation Barriers in the Light of Faith’ with Jon Hatch, Thursday 20 June

cuparDr Jon Hatch will lead faith-based reflections on Belfast’s separation barriers in a walk this Thursday, 20 June. The event, organised by the peace group at Knock Presbyterian Church, leaves from the Knock Church car park at 7 pm and … Read more...

Cathy Higgins’ Churches in Exile – What Can Churches in Ireland Learn from the Emerging Church Movement? (Book Review, Part 3)

writings-on-the-wallThe last paragraph of the final substantive chapter of Cathy Higgins’ new book Churches in Exile: Alternative Models of Church for Ireland in the 21st Century, reads (p. 185):

‘Unless the churches in Ireland are prepared to shake up

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Getting to Know the Association of Catholics in Ireland–Q & A with Martin Murray, Part 2

imageToday we continue with Part 2 of our Question and Answer series with Martin Murray of the Association of Catholics in Ireland (ACI), which began last week with this post.

In the first post, he dealt with the questions … Read more...

Cathy Higgins’ Churches in Exile – Challenges for the Churches in Ireland (Book Review, Part 2)

cathyIn a previous review of Cathy Higgins’ Churches in Exile: Alternative Models of Church for Ireland in the 21st Century, I promised to note some of her most compelling challenges for the churches in Ireland.

Higgins’ challenges are present … Read more...

Johnston McMaster on Cathy Higgins’ Churches in Exile: Remarks from the Book Launch

imageCathy 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 … Read more...

Alicia Turner: What’s the Point of Studying Religions? – Keynote at ISASR Conference

turneraWhat’s the point of studying religions? This is an apt question to be asking on the island of Ireland. Here, the academic study of religions is at an early stage in its development, particularly from social science or humanities perspectives, … Read more...

Fr Martin Magill’s Ecumenical Tithing–Reflections on the Ecumenical Pentecost Faith Fest

lenadoon prayer room

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 … Read more...

Crawford Gribben on Ireland, America and the End of the World – ISASR Conference at UCD

homer‘Apocalyptic beliefs are one of this island’s most successful exports.’

That was one of the closing lines of a keynote address given by Prof Crawford Gribben of the School of History and Anthropology at Queen’s University Belfast, at the Irish Read more...

Exploring the Significance of Peter Rollins and the Ikon Collective – Talk on Sunday 12 May at UCD

imageI’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 … Read more...

Ryan Bolger’s The Gospel After Christendom Book Review–Part 3

beanToday is the third and final post taking in my review of Ryan Bolger’s edited collection, The Gospel After Christendom. In my first two posts, I provided a general outline review, and then descriptions of three of the chapters Read more...