Building a Church Without Walls
In September (3rd-5th), Belfast will host the bi-annual meeting of the European Sociological Association’s Sociology of Religion Research Network, the theme of which is ‘Religion in the Public Domain.’
Among the keynote speakers is Dr … Read more...
I have a new post on the Slugger O’Toole blog, a review of The Second Coming of Paisley: Militant Fundamentalism and Ulster Politics, by Richard Lawrence Jordan.… Read more...
‘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...
What is God like? Is doubt harmful to faith? Who do Christians marginalise? Those are just some of the questions explored in a new book by Jay Bakker, Faith, Doubt, and Other Lines I’ve Crossed: Walking with the Unknown God… Read more...
Michael McRay will discuss and read excerpts from his book, Letters from Apartheid Street: A Christian Peacemaker in Occupied Palestine, at 7 pm on Tuesday 26 March at St Oliver Plunkett in Lenadoon, Belfast. The event is titled, ‘Blessed are … Read more...
The BBC’s whirlwind tour through Presbyterian history in Ireland continued last night with the second instalment of “An Independent People: The Story of Ulster’s Presbyterians.” The programme excelled in introducing viewers to men – often largely forgotten today – whose … Read more...
Last month, a Gallup Poll revealed that Americans’ trust in religious institutions continues to decline. Just 44% of Americans say that they ‘have a great deal or quite a lot of confidence in “the church or organized religion” today.’ … Read more...
Letters to a Future Church: Words of Encouragement and Prophetic Appeals (Intervarsity, 2012) is a delightfully conceived volume that is part commentary on the contemporary North American church, part vision of what that church could become.
Edited by Chris Lewis, … Read more...
One of the United States’ most distinguished historians of religion has been in Belfast this past week, delivering the annual religious studies lecture at Queen’s University and speaking at Fitzroy Presbyterian Church.
The topic of Noll’s lecture at Queens … Read more...
Is religion preventing people from the LGBT community living full and happy lives in Northern Ireland? That’s a question at the heart of ‘God’s Country,’ a new play by Colin Bell.
The play is part of Tinderbox Theatre’s True North … Read more...
A few weeks ago when I was speaking to my parents in the US on the phone, my mother told me I had received something in the post from ‘socialists.’
‘Really?’ I asked. ‘Are you sure it’s not from a … Read more...