Author Biography
Claire Mitchell is Senior Lecturer in Sociology at Queen's University Belfast, and is the author of Religion, Identity and Politics in Northern Ireland: Boundaries of Belonging and Belief. Gladys Ganiel is Lecturer in Conflict Resolution and Reconciliation at Trinity College Dublin at Belfast, and is the author of Evangelicalism and Conflict in Northern Ireland.
Description
Why do some people become more religiously conservative over time, whilst others moderate their views or abandon faith altogether? Drawing on 95 interviews with evangelicals and ex-evangelicals in Northern Ireland, this book explores how religious journeys are shaped by social structures and by individual choices. It tells the stories of pro-life picketers, liberal peace-campaigning ministers, housewives afraid of the devil, students deconstructing their faith and atheists mortified by their religious past. Through hearing everyday stories about love, family, work and health, as well as politics, this book explores the many different worlds of ordinary evangelicals in Northern Ireland and the surprising ways in which their beliefs and practices can change over time. "Evangelical Journeys" is a well written book in a jargon-free style that will make it of interest to general as well as specialist readers.
Introduction
Perspectives on Personal Religious Change
Evangelical Subculture in Northern Ireland
Methods
Converting to Evangelicalism
Deepening Evangelicalism
Maintaining a Steady Faith
Moderating Evangelicalism
Transforming Evangelicalism
Leaving Evangelicalism
Conclusions
- Explaining Religious Journeys
Notes
Bibliography
Index.
‘This book makes an important contribution to understanding religious diversity within Protestantism in Northern Ireland … the extensive qualitative material which is used throughout the chapters affords the reader an excellent glimpse into the lives of respondents. This undoubtedly adds to our understanding of the mosaic quality of the evangelical community in Northern Ireland.’
Journal of Contemporary Religion, December 2014
‘Highly readable, engaging and informative for scholars and non-scholars, Mitchell and Ganiel's work makes an important contribution to both our understanding of Evangelical Protestantism in Northern Ireland and to the wider field of identity studies, evoking the fractious, complex cultural and political environment of Northern Ireland and the fluidity of contemporary religious identity.’
Irish Studies Review, October 2013
‘an interesting and easy book to read that describes Northern Irish evangelicalism from the ‘bottom up’ and which poses some searching challenges to that community.’
Evangelical Quarterly, July 2013
‘Overall, this book is a thoughtful, honest, professional piece of work, a notable addition to the literature and accessible to a wide readership.’
Irish Journal Of Sociology, 2013
'As an academic study it is remarkably free of jargon and enables the general reader to gain a deeper understanding of how individuals experience their religion over time and of the facts and circumstances which influence expressions of faith. …
This is a well-written book with extensive notes, bibliography and index sections. It will serve as a valuable textbook for those wishing to carry out further research in the complex subject of religion in Northern Ireland.'
Church of Ireland Gazette
30 September 2011
A book launch was held at East Belfast Mission, 239 Newtownards Road, Belfast on Tuesday 1 November 2011.
The guest speaker was Glenn Jordan, Director of EBM's Skainos Project. You can listen to an audio of Glenn Jordan's talk and find out more about the book here:
www.gladysganiel.com/churches-reconciliation/evangelical-journeys-book-launch-glenn-jordan-on-honouring-evangelicals-stories/
Church of Ireland Gazette Review by George Erwin, November 2011
http://www.gladysganiel.com/churches-reconciliation/evangelical-journeys-book-review-in-the-church-of-ireland-gazette/
'Claire Mitchell and Gladys Ganiel’s book is representative of a growing trend among writers in the last decade who have turned their attention to the variety and complexity of evangelical Protestantism in Northern Ireland. By doing so, they have offered a welcome and insightful challenge to the stereotype that all evangelicals are preoccupied with politics, are disciples of Ian Paisley and are rigid and puritanical in their lifestyles … The book succeeds in describing a much more complex set of human beings than is often appreciated by commentators who either wilfully or otherwise describe evangelicals in sweeping generalisations.'
Journal of Church and State
Twitter: @UCDPress