Fr Martin Magill’s Ecumenical Tithing: Trevor Ringland Speaks at McCracken on the Past, Future and Reconciliation

trevor_ringland_photo-sThis week Fr Martin Magill visited McCracken Memorial Presbyterian Church, where Trevor Ringland, former Irish and British Lion Rugby star and now Chairman of the Northern Ireland Conservatives, spoke on the courage needed for future Peace and Reconciliation in Northern … Read more...

Evangelical Journeys: Book Review by Patrick Mitchel in Evangelical Quarterly

imageAnother review of my book, co-authored with Claire Mitchell, Evangelical Journeys: Choice and Change in a Northern Irish Religious Subculture (UCD Press, 2011), has been published in Evangelical Quarterly (Vol LXXV, No. 3, p. 287).

The review is written … Read more...

Archbishop Eamon Martin’s “Covenants of Friendship”: Speaking the Other’s Language?

AMartinLast week the Ballymena Borough Church Members’ Forum hosted an evening with Archbishop Eamon Martin, coadjutor Archbishop of Armagh, and Rev Dr Heather Morris, President of the Methodist Church in Ireland. Martin’s address has been covered by a range … Read more...

The Re-humanizing Power of Stories? 4 Corners Festival’s “Our Stories at Stormont”: New Post on Slugger O’Toole

12011145346_b0b8437dc7_bI have a new post on the Slugger O’Toole blog: The Re-humanizing Power of Stories? 4 Corners Festival’s “Our Stories at Stormont.”Read more...

14 Days–Screening Tonight at Fitzroy Presbyterian

frreid_thumbOne of the most powerful documentaries about the Troubles, 14 Days, will be screened tonight at 7.30 at Fitzroy Presbyterian Church in Belfast.

The film traces a series of events in March 1988, beginning with the killing of the Gibraltar … Read more...

Are Evangelical Men Ready for Reconciliation? Blog Post and True Stories of Faith and Gender Tonight (19 Nov) at Contemporary Christianity

contemporarychristianityYesterday Contemporary Christianity published my contribution to their P.S. blog series, ‘Are Evangelical Men Ready for Reconciliation?’

The blog highlighted results from the Irish School of Ecumenics’ surveys of faith on the island of Ireland, which:

found that amongst all

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Declan Kearney on Grasping a Quiet, Collective Hope

hope and historyProf John Brewer has recently argued that ‘We are at our lowest ebb in the peace process.’

Writing about the way political leaders are using and abusing ‘the past’, Brewer claims:

“This shift in the moral landscape is very worrying.

Read more...

New ‘Peace Wall’ to be Erected in St Matthew’s Churchyard – Can we Re-Imagine a Better ‘Solution’?

stmattsFor a blog like mine, titled ‘Building a Church Without Walls,’ the news that a new ‘peace wall’ is to be erected in the grounds of St Matthew’s Catholic Church in the Short Strand in Belfast is especially disheartening.

A … Read more...

Churches Contributing to Reconciliation? Reflections on the Clonard-Fitzroy Fellowship

clonard banner1Regular readers of this blog will know that one of its main concerns is exploring how Christians can contribute to reconciliation on this island.

The longstanding Clonard-Fitzroy Fellowship has been well-researched (see Ronald Wells’ Friendship Towards Peace and Hope and Read more...

Telling Stories about the Future: David Porter and Heather Morris on the Role of Christian Activists–New Post on Slugger O’Toole

DSC09634I have a new post on the Slugger O’Toole blog based on last night’s Catherwood Lecture by Canon David Porter, ‘Telling Stories about the Future: David Porter and Heather Morris on the Role of Christian Activists.’Read more...

Re-Launch of For God and His Glory Alone: How Can this Generation of Christians Be Responsible for Reconciliation?

4gahga2This morning at Skainos in Belfast, Contemporary Christianity re-launched For God and His Glory Alone, a document first published 25 years ago by Contemporary Christianity’s forerunner, Evangelical Contribution on Northern Ireland (ECONI).

Canon David Porter, a former director of ECONI … Read more...