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.

I especially wanted to highlight the latest issue of an Affinity publication, The Bulletin. This is produced several times a year and contains well-written articles on a number of current social issues. Here’s the blurb from the latest issue (November):

What do the paintings of Henrik Avercamp have in common with the Large Hadron Collider?  The answer is probably very little, but they are both mentioned in the newly-published issue of The Bulletin, produced by Affinity’s Social Issues Team for the benefit of churches.

As well as covering a diversity of subjects, The Bulletin endeavours to be contemporaneous, and the latest edition includes an analysis by Dr John R Ling of last month’s House of Commons debate on the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill, which ended with MPs voting for a Bill which, in a range of ways, devalues human life.

Nigel Halliday guides us through themes within the Protestant mindset which influenced the Dutch schools of art in the 16th and 17th centuries, and makes some contrasts with the depressing concepts of some of today’s artists.  Rod Badams reports on the significance of the Collider, and on the hype of its scientific masters and of the media.

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