For many years Karen and I went to St Andrews Methodist Church in Undercliffe Bradford and one of the features of life in that Church was Scarborough Weekend. Every year during November a large group of us would take over Green Gables hotel (pictured above) and in its heyday we would number a hundred plus spending a weekend together.
As I look back, I owe a great debt of gratitude to those who organised those weekends, the speakers who inspired us, the people I shared the journey to and from Scarborough with and the dozens of ordinary people, who made the weekends special events, I have so many happy memories. One of the most important parts of the weekends was mealtimes when we shared food with whoever fancied sharing the table with us, often different people at each mealtime. By and large the food was good, I remember a few questionable dishes over the years, but fellowship over a meal is always something special for me. Mealtimes are informal, unstructured, and an opportunity to share food and fellowship, and I treasure times like this.
Looking at the Bible, we read of times when Jesus shares meals with his disciples. There are the mammoth occasions like the great feeding miracles, we read in some accounts how the disciples wanted to send the people away, but Jesus made time to share food with them.
You might recall at the beginning of St John’s Gospel when Jesus attends a wedding feast, or where he shares food with Martha and Mary. The story of the last supper, which we mark during Holy Week was always special for me when we were living in Norwich, when we shared ecumenically a Passover Meal, and relived what it would have been like to walk in the footsteps of the disciples.
I love the moment in the story of the Road to Emmaus, recorded later in St Luke’s Gospel where Jesus shares a meal with the two and they recognise him as he breaks the bread. One of my favourite meal stories is when Jesus meets with the disciples on the shore of the sea of Galilee and they cook fish for them to eat together, right at the end of the Gospel of St John. Mealtimes seem to be an important part of the Gospel story.
One of the final moments that we shared together on those weekends in Scarborough was a communion service, not in a chapel, but in the lounge at the hotel. During the course of the weekend, we would intermingle, but in that service we would sit in families and share bread and wine in our family units, which was always special for me. I always find Holy Communion a humbling experience, it doesn’t matter who we are, where we are on the journey of faith, as we come to the table, we are all equal in the sight of God, and I believe that is precious.
• How important are mealtimes for you?
• Do you find it special, being able to sit around a table with friends or family and share good food and good conversation?
• Is Holy Communion special to you?