Losing Our Religion (2009)

William Crawley travels the length and breadth of Northern Ireland to explore the relevance of religious ideas and practices in the lives of both believers and non-believers. He also reveals the role of religion in his own life, both past and present. William wasn't raised with religion, but at the age of 16 he underwent a religious conversion and began a lifelong fascination with religious ideas. Soon, while still a teenager, he was preaching in pulpits across Northern Ireland. In the documentary, he returns to some of the first pulpits he ever preached from. Eventually, he trained as a minister and theologian, preaching and teaching in churches and universities on both sides of the Atlantic. Today, he no longer is a churchgoer. In Losing Our Religion, he tells the story of his changing understanding of faith and religion. He also goes back to church to see if he is missing anything - and to see how things have changed. He visits new churches that sound more like rock concerts, and meets young converts who are being baptised in the sea at the north coast. He visits the Belfast Islamic Centre and asks whether our Christian society here is ready to make room for other faiths, and considers whether Christian ceremonies that have marked the key moments in our lives are losing out to non-religious alternatives.