Official Report 979KB pdf
Good afternoon. The first item of business is time for reflection. Our leader today is Dr Leslie Milton, minister, St Andrew’s High parish church, Musselburgh.
Presiding Officer and members of the Scottish Parliament, I thank you for the opportunity to address you this afternoon.
The question, “What are you doing for Christmas?” is one that you will often hear in the weeks leading up to the day itself. In part, at least, this question means, “Who will you be with?” Christmas holds a special place in our nation’s life as a time when we think about family and friendship and the place that we have in the communities that we are part of.
A couple of years ago, our local churches group, with the homeless charity Cyrenians, set up a weekly cook club. The idea is simple: anyone who wishes comes along and, with excess food from supermarkets, we cook and eat a two-course meal together. Something wonderful happened almost immediately with cook club. Any idea that there was a difference between church volunteers and guests fell away, as everyone is simply a member. People come for all sorts of reasons. No one is ever asked, “What brings you here?” Through cook club, many of our members have grown in confidence and have made friendships around the simple pleasure of cooking and eating together.
It is not by chance that the central act of worship in most Christian traditions is gathering around a table to share the bread and wine of communion. Eating together forms bonds between people in a unique way: we find inclusion and sociability, as well as regard for the needs of others. Many religious traditions express those same values in different ways through the sharing of food.
Cook club is always a highlight in my week. I find in it what the celebration of Christmas might mean in a nation where Christian faith is but one tradition among many. The story that Christians tell at Christmas is about God’s favour coming to those who are too often overlooked. It is about God’s generosity coming to all without distinction. Cook club takes up those values and celebrates them throughout the year.
To all of you who are here, I wish joy at this Christmas time. It is my privilege to share just one local initiative as a reminder that the values of an inclusive society, which we look to our Parliament to provide, are embodied in the faith, commitment, and actions of ordinary folk all across our nation.
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