church

Addressing the evil of sectarianism: Bill Shaw on life, faith, and hope

Allan LEONARD (Mr Ulster) on September 27, 2023, 10:47 am

| Readers 3231

The retreat and conference centre run by the Passionate community, Tobar Mhuire, was the venue for a guided interview with Bill Shaw, presented as an opportunity “to explore their experience of life, faith, and where they find sources of hope in their lives”. The event was included as part of Good Relations Week 2023. Brian McKee, a professional facilitator and director of Seedlings, welcomed the attendees and invited Shaw to start from the beginning. Declaring himself, “I’m from Sandy Row,” …

Being churches together: celebrating a reconciling vision of hope

Allan LEONARD (Mr Ulster) on September 16, 2023, 9:30 am

| Readers 1348

A “Being Churches together in 21st Century Ireland” symposium took place at Dublin City University (DCU), as part of a number of events marking the centenary of the Irish Council of Churches (ICC) and 50 years since the Ballymascanlon talks that led to the formation of the Irish Inter-Church Meeting (IICM). Bishop Brendan Leahy (IICM Co-Chair) began with a prayer before putting this year’s anniversary events in the context of continuing a “celebration of our reconciling vision of hope”: “We …

Offer of help with truth recovery process at Irish Council of Churches centenary service

Allan LEONARD (Mr Ulster) on January 24, 2023, 12:03 pm

| Readers 1429

The Irish Council of Churches (ICC) — an all-island body with membership from Protestant, Orthodox, Reformed, and independent church traditions — marked its centenary with a joint service of worship at St Anne’s Cathedral, Belfast. With the theme of “Celebrating our Reconciling Vision of Hope”, the special service also marked the 50th anniversary of the Ballymascanlon Talks, which led to the establishment of the Irish Inter-Church Meeting (IICM), the means by which the ICC continues to engage and collaborate with …

Re-placing Christianity After Lockdown

Jonny Currie on May 12, 2020, 9:45 pm

| Readers 1289

“The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near.” – Mark 1:15  “ We will not save a place we do not love. We cannot love a place we do not know.” – Baba Dioum (Senegalese Environmentalist) Ched Myers’ writing on Watershed Discipleship advocates for a Christianity that recognises we are in a watershed moment of interlocking crises of climate, consumption and ecological degradation. He calls for a refocussing of radical Christian discipleship on a bioregional basis of environmental …

Considering Grace: An invitation to listen

Allan LEONARD (Mr Ulster) on November 6, 2019, 9:18 am

| Readers 1301

Considering Grace: An invitation to listen by Allan LEONARD for Shared Future News 5 November 2019 Considering Grace, by Gladys Ganiel and Jamie Yohanis, is a new book that explores how Presbyterians responded to the Troubles, through a series of narratives from 120 people who tell their stories of how they coped with trauma and tests of their faith. The book was launched with a set of readings and short presentations at Assembly Buildings, Belfast, to an audience of several …

The end of Catholic Ireland? @ESRCFestivalNI

Allan LEONARD (Mr Ulster) on November 8, 2018, 4:37 pm

| Readers 4197

The end of Catholic Ireland? by Allan LEONARD 6 November 2018 In what Alan Meban described the event as a symposium (“but don’t say it was in a bar” [The Dark Horse Inn]), Dr Gladys Ganiel, a sociologist of religion from Queen’s University Belfast, laid out quantitative and qualitative findings about the apparent secularisation process in Ireland. This was discussed by fellow panellists Pádraig Ó Tuama (poet, theologian and leader of Corrymeela) and Professor Margaret O’Callaghan (historian, Queen’s University Belfast). …

Presbyterians, Salvation, and God

Gerry Lynch on June 9, 2018, 8:00 am

| Readers 2622

We cremated my friend James on the freakishly warm Friday before St Patrick’s Day, between the two bouts of even freakier snow. We did this after a celebration of the Supper of the Lord Jesus Christ who was his Saviour and the anchor of his life. The daffodils bobbed in the sunshine as we took his coffin through the traffic from the church in the shadow of St Paul’s Cathedral to the crematorium in East Finchley, his terminus ad quem …

Listening to the psychogeography of Belfast

Allan LEONARD (Mr Ulster) on February 7, 2016, 3:25 pm

| Readers 813

One of the final events of the Four Corners Festival was a discussion on what was described as the psychogeography of the city of Belfast. A panel of four — with one connected via a video call — ruminated on their walking through the streets, along borders and through them, sharing their perspectives to an audience of about two dozen gathered at the freshly opened Girdwood Community Hub. The question to answer was what can we learn about a city …

The prevailing wisdom of A Love Divided

Allan LEONARD (Mr Ulster) on April 5, 2014, 11:45 am

| Readers 564

Based on a true story, “A Love Divided” chronicles the aftermath of a mixed marriage in Co. Wexford, Ireland, where Protestant-raised Sheila refuses to send her children to a local Catholic school. She flees with her two young girls, leaving her husband Sean confused and frustrated. “A Love Divided” was shown at Culturlann, as part of the Belfast Film Festival and organised in collaboration with Pieces of the Past oral history project. Sheila signed the Ne Temere contract, which obligated …

Time for a clerical child abuse inquiry in Northern Ireland

Patrick Corrigan on July 15, 2011, 9:53 am

| Readers 130

Momentum is building for an inquiry into clerical child abuse in Northern Ireland. With four inquiries now completed south of the border – Ferns, Ryan, Dublin and now Cloyne – northern abuse victims are rightly asking: what about us? Their calls have now been echoed by SDLP MLA Conall McDevitt and deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness: I absolutely believe there should be the same thorough investigations in the northern dioceses as there have been in previous dioceses in the south. We …