Cornerstone No. 186, page 10
"All are Welcome"
The Moderator-Designate of the General Assembly, the Rev Dr Derek
Browning, tells Lynne McNeil about being expelled from Sunday
School - and a call to the ministry that surprised him as much as
everyone else.
A gleaming double oven has pride of place within
the kitchen of the Victorian manse of
Morningside Parish Church in Edinburgh. Shelves
weighed down by recipe books provide the
telltale signs of a ministerial passion for cookery
and it will be no surprise to learn that hospitality
will be the theme of the Rev Dr Derek Browning’s
year as Moderator of the General Assembly of
the Church of Scotland. “The overall theme of
this year’s General Assembly is ‘Word of Life’
and, thinking about different significant words in
the life of the church, for me, one of them is and
has been hospitality and also welcome and how we do that. It is also about
inclusion. Inclusion has been a significant part of my ministry,” he explains.
Derek, the minister at Morningside since 2001, is both erudite and charming and
with a quick wit – tempered by compassion and a passion for ministry and
people. He is also no stranger to regular visitors to the General Assembly,
having served in recent years as Convener of the Business Committee.
Born in Edinburgh, he grew up initially in Penicuik, Midlothian, where he found
himself removed from Sunday School, and later in North Berwick. “I was
removed from Sunday School at the age of seven for being a disruptive
influence because I was asking too many questions. That sense of wanting to
ask questions is important to both my ministry and parish work and at the
General Assembly. Questions are always in order,” he explains.
After being dispatched from Sunday School, the only time he participated in
anything church-related was compulsory attendance at school assemblies
(despite his protests of agnosticism) and with friends at the Watchnight Service
at North Berwick’s Blackadder Church. Worship at the services was led by the
Rev Dr Donald McAlister, who would prove to be an important influence. “I was
always impressed by his integrity and his honesty. He would never give us a
hard time for turning up on Christmas Eve or say: ‘Have you thought why you
are here?’ I respected the man.”
Derek became one of the first alumni of North Berwick High School to go to
Oxford University, when he was offered a place at Corpus Christi College to read
history. During his last year of studies he developed an interest in the