Bethel Baptist Church

Bethel is a partner church member of Affinity, a church-centred partnership of Christian organisations. A couple of times a year, their Social Issues team produces a resource called The Bulletin which assesses and comments on various current issues from a Christian viewpoint.

It is always a provoking read and the latest issue (March 2009) is now available on the Affinity site. Here is the summary of what’s in this issue:

Dementia has been said to be the current “demographic time-bomb.” Millions of people in the UK now have a longer life expectancy, but it has come with a projection that as many as 1.4 million people will be suffering from a dementia related illness by 2040. What are the church’s responsibilities and opportunities in ministry and pastoral support, both to the sufferers and their carers? In the latest March 2009 issue of The Bulletin, Roger Hitchings assesses the statistics, and suggests some ways forward.

Also in this issue, John Ling addresses two subjects which focus on opposite ends of the age spectrum – teenage pregnancies and euthanasia. Neither are good news at the moment.

Elsewhere in this edition, Sheila Stephen reports on families, Peter Fearnley on the education curriculum and Rod Badams on the proposed content of the 2011 Census. John Hayward reviews a significant new book on the modern attitude to sex.

Visit the Affinity site for a look around, browse the various Teams pages or go straight to The Bulletin page for March 2009.