Across the world, messianic ‘congregations’ have been growing in number, blending Jewish liturgy, symbols, and artefacts with prophecies about the End Times and the return of Jesus. Once on the margins, the messianic movement is now increasingly recognised as part of the wider evangelical landscape, bringing Jewish traditions and imagery into mainstream Christian practice. Through an in-depth ethnographic study of a messianic congregation in Northern Ireland, this book offers fresh insight into how religion is changing in contemporary society. It also sheds light on the connections between conservative evangelicals, Jewish communities, the state of Israel, and the significance of Christian Zionism within Northern Ireland’s complex religious and political setting.

This book will be discussed by Tristan Sturm (QUB, Geography) and Gladys Ganiel (QUB, Sociology). This is a joint event with the Mitchell Institute for Global Peace, Security and Justice.

Dr Veronique Altglas is a Senior Lecturer in Sociology at QUB. A graduate of the Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes in Paris, she researches transformations of religion in modern societies, and cross-national comparisons of responses to religious diversity. She has published Le nouvel hindouisme occidental (2005), From yoga to kabbalah: religious exoticism and the logics of bricolage (2014), Bringing the social back into the sociology of religion (2018) and religion and conflict in Northern Ireland: what does religion do? (2022).

This seminar will be available in hybrid form, in-person and online via Teams. Please indicate your preference when registering.