This is a text-only version of an article first published on Monday, 3 September 2018. Information shown on this page may no longer be current.
Once a week in the University Chaplaincy we invite students and staff to learn how to make bread.
It's been a passion of mine for several years (that, and making beer). At first, it was simply a way to encourage people to step into our building.
We talked about it being a time for students to learn a new skill.
We also thought it was a good excuse for staff to take a proper lunch break.
(The average lunch hour in the UK now lasts only 29 minutes).
But soon I became aware of deeper reasons. The ecologist in me likes it because bread-making puts people back in touch with real food.
Our bread contains four ingredients (flour, water, salt, yeast).
Shop-bought bread will have over a dozen, some as many as 20.
The Marxist in me likes to put people back in touch with their creative powers.
And finally the Priest in me likes it when they see the result.
They leave their dough with me to rise and I bake it.
So when they nervously come back several hours later to a building filled with the smell of fresh bread, there's always a moment of surprise.
It usually goes like this: "Wow, is that mine?!""Yep: you made that""That looks amazing!" "Tastes good, too". It's a moment of wonder - people's faces are transformed with pride, surprise, and delight.
So here's the final reason I like bread-making.
As creators those students and staff suddenly become so alive with joy looking at what they've made. And it occurs to me if we feel that way about bread, how much more proud, delighted, and enraptured must our Creator be when looking at us fragile, beautiful creatures?The Revd Mark Laynesmith is a chaplain at the University of Reading