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

Offer of help with truth recovery process at Irish Council of Churches centenary service by Allan LEONARD 22 January 2023 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. … Continue reading Offer of help with truth recovery process at Irish Council of Churches centenary service

Considering Grace: An invitation to listen

Considering Grace: An invitation to listen by Allan LEONARD 5 November 2019 Considering Grace, by Gladys Ganiels 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. … Continue reading Considering Grace: An invitation to listen

The end of Catholic Ireland?

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 … Continue reading The end of Catholic Ireland?

The Passion Walk – Belfast 2015

On BBC Radio Ulster’s Sunday Sequence programme, I learned of a Passion Walk event that would take place on Good Friday. Passion Walk seeks to recreate the experience of Jesus of Nazareth’s final days in a contemporary environment, using local landmarks in place of those around Jerusalem. Based on the success of a previous Passion … Continue reading The Passion Walk – Belfast 2015

Book review – Coffee with Jesus (David WILKIE)

I came across Coffee with Jesus on a display table at the front of a Barnes & Noble bookstore. Just as well, as I doubt I would have perused the religion section to discover it. Coffee with Jesus originated online, under the consortium Radio Free Babylon. It is a irreverent perspective of Christ in everyday -- … Continue reading Book review – Coffee with Jesus (David WILKIE)

The prevailing wisdom of A Love Divided

The prevailing wisdom of A Love Divided by Allan LEONARD for Shared Future News 4 April 2014 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 … Continue reading The prevailing wisdom of A Love Divided