Contemporary Society and Contemporary Religion
The Christ Church Thinktank has been in existence for over 10 years. It draws on speakers from all the churches in the Lewes area. Â Our speakers provide their services without charge, so our meetings are free and open to all. Whether you go to church or not, join us whenever the topic interests you.
Our meetings are usually held in the church and are also available via Zoom. The format is 45 minutes talk and 45 minutes discussion and our average attendance is about 30. All meetings are from 7.30 pm to 9 pm.
If you would like to attend any of our meetings by Zoom, please email the Church Secretary  for further details.
Meeting on Wednesday 21 June at 7.30 pm
Peter Shears will be speaking on
"Lifelong Learning; what does it mean, who is it for and why does it matter?’ "
Peter Shears is a teacher in a Catholic comprehensive school with 30 years` experience as an Assistant Head and Head of English. He has recently completed a two-year part-time MA in Christianity and the Arts at King`s College London and, before that, spent two years training part-time for Reader ministry in the Church of England. Peter will share insights he has gained from his own experiences as a mature learner. If lifelong learning is important, both to individuals and to society as a whole, how can it be made available to everyone? What organisations within our society - schools, community centres, churches, U3A - should be responsible for its provision and funding?
Meeting on Wednesday 19 July at 7.30 pm
Revd. Ben Brown will be speaking on
"Christ and the Transformation of Hell "
The concept of Hell has dominated our culture and religious life for centuries. For many, both churchgoers and non-churchgoers, there is an idea that faith implies belief in a place of never-ending torment such as is imagined in Dante's Inferno, or a place of ultimate loss and alienation from God. This talk will suggest that such a belief is not corroborated by a careful look at the language of the New Testament and is in radical contradiction with the life and teaching of Jesus. We shall look at where the concept of hell has come from, how it has been tragically mis-used, and how the vision of a hell of unending punishment and loss is not what the Bible, as a whole, implies. The talk is not only for those who come to church. It is also about our wider culture and its addiction to fantasies of punishment. Ben is Rector of St Anne's Church. Before he came to Lewes two years ago from Merstham in Surrey, he worked as an actor and in publishing. His interests include Christian Spirituality, books, film, and music.
Meeting on Wednesday 16 August at 7.30 pm
Dr Sarah Pitt will be speaking on
"Reflections on COVID-19: the future management of infectious diseases "
After graduating with a degree in microbiology at the University of Bristol, Sarah trained as an NHS biomedical scientist, specialising in hospital diagnostic virology, in London, Bristol, Manchester and Liverpool, and through work for charities and the World Health Organisation in Zimbabwe and Tajikistan. She was awarded an MSc at the School of Tropical Medicine in Liverpool, and a PhD from John Moores University. She came to the University of Brighton in 2004 and is now Principal Lecturer in the School of Applied Sciences and a Life Member of the Institute of Biomedical Science. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she trained volunteers in the testing programme in Brighton and has given many talks and interviews on radio and television, for non-specialists. Here, she will focus on the response to the pandemic at local, national, and international level. What have we learned to guide management of infectious diseases in future? Has it affected responses to recent outbreaks of other infectious diseases, e.g., Mpox, StrepA? Will any changes implemented be lasting? She will also introduce the concept of One Health, which considers human health and wellbeing as inextricably bound to that of other animals, plants, and the environment in which they all live together.