Northern Ireland is dealing with its past every day – but usually not in a way that is helpful or constructive. That was the message from a panel discussion, ‘Can we Handle the Truth?’ that I attended on Saturday 30 … Read more...
Dave Tomlinson Book Review – Re-Enchanting Christianity, & The Re-Emergence Conference (Belfast)
Dave Tomlinson is one of the keynote speakers at the Belfast Re-Emergence Conference, ‘The Church is Dead, Long Live the Church,’ scheduled for March 16-18, 2010, at the Irish School of Ecumenics (Trinity College Dublin at Belfast). In his most … Read more...
From World Mission to Interreligious Witness – Visioning Ecumenics in the 21st Century: Conference in Dublin June 16-18, 2010
After a century of ecumenism, where are we? Most scholars date the beginning of the modern ecumenical movement to the 1910 Edinburgh Conference, where church leaders gathered to forge a way forward for greater cooperation in missionary endeavours. But 100 … Read more...
The Platform for Change Northern Ireland: Dare We Dream of Normal Politics?
Northern Ireland’s two largest parties are locked in yet another round of negotiations on policing and justice, the spectre of the Orange Order and its marches casting its usual shadow over proceedings. But the new ‘Platform for Change Northern Ireland’… Read more...
Week of Prayer for Christian Unity 2010: Can Ecumenism Be Born Again?
‘Born Again,’ is a term that is used derisively in Ireland to denote conservative evangelical Christians. Outsiders sometimes refer to them collectively as ‘the born agains,’ with either a smirk or a sigh, signalling their disagreement with their religion and … Read more...
Johnston McMaster Book Review: A Passion for Justice – Social Ethics in the Celtic Tradition
The ancient Celtic world and its larger-than-life inhabitants have too often been manipulated for political and religious ends. A glance at some of the gable walls of Northern Ireland’s cities make that all too clear.
But the Celtic tradition … Read more...
Week of Prayer for Christian Unity 2010: ‘Don’t Give Up!’
The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity has a whiff of the ‘worthy cause’ about it, for those who are not opposed to the idea of ecumenism altogether. Perhaps ‘Christian Unity’ sounds like something that would be a good idea, … Read more...
God & Guns, Dodging a Bullet On Thou shall not kill?
Pardon the pun, but a US gun manufacturer has just given more ammunition to those who think that religion is an inherently violent force for evil in the world.
The manufacturer, Trijicon, has inscribed “2COR4:6” and “JN8:12” on its … Read more...
Pope Summons Irish Bishops To Rome
The Irish bishops are to travel to Rome to face the man in charge, Pope Benedict, and discuss possibilities for the church in the aftermath of the clerical sex scandals.
The talks are scheduled for the 15th and 16th of … Read more...
Week of Prayer for Christian Unity 2010: Is Ecumenism Boring?
Ecumenism is boring. In the same journal article I discussed in yesterday’s post, Dr Andrew Pierce quotes Archbishop Trevor Huddleston, who called ecumenism the ‘great yawn of our time,’ and H.A. Williams, who dismissed ecumenism as the ‘last refuge … Read more...
Week of Prayer for Christian Unity 2010: A failure of the ecumenical imagination?
My colleague Dr Andrew Pierce has identified a failure of the ecumenical imagination in an article, ‘Re-imagining Irish Ecumenism: Enlarging a Sense of the Possible,’ in the journal Doctrine and Life (2008). It seems that ecumenism, both in Ireland and … Read more...