Meet Your MSPs/Meet Your MPs
Since 2016 we have encouraged and supported church congregations and Christian organisations to 'Meet Your MSPs ' and 'Meet Your MP '.
This programme aims to build links between congregations and elected representatives for the constituency and region.
Churches are at the heart of their communities and often see the consequences of political decisions that i MP act on everyday life, both at home and internationally.
Meet Your MSPs /Meet Your MP is a way for a church group to build or strengthen a constructive relationship with their political representatives.
The idea is very simple: invite your MSP / MP to meet with you or people from your church and discuss what matters to you. This could be as easy as arranging a getting-to-know-you meeting, if they are newly elected.
Meet Your MSPs /Meet Your MP activities have included:
- Public meetings for open questions and answers (sometimes called a 'town hall meeting')
- Asking your local representative to visit a church project
- Asking them to join an act of worship and be involved by helping lead prayers or do a reading; Advent is often a good time for this
- Meeting for a coffee and an informal chat
- Going on a walk together round the local area to highlight issues and places
Finding your MSPs and MP
In Scotland everyone is represented by one constituency MSP and seven regional MSPs . These people represent you at the Scottish Parliament at Holyrood. To find yours, enter your postcode in the Find MSPs by postcode box at the Scottish Parliament website.
You also have one MP , who represents your constituency in the UK Parliament at Westminster. You can find out who they are at the UK Government website.
Contacting your MSPs and MP
Get in touch with your representatives by email, telephone, letter or through social media
You could use this as a template:
Dear [ MSP's or MP's name],
I would like to invite you along to [insert event here] at [insert church/venue here] on [insert date here].
We are taking part in [Meet Your MSP or Meet your MP ] a scheme organised by the Scottish Churches Parliamentary Office ( SCPO ), which encourages churches to contact their local representatives and to build constructive and positive relationships. As well as breaking down barriers, we hope to encourage our church to contribute to discussions about issues that affect people's everyday lives.
[Say something here about what you are inviting them to and something about your church/church group]
You can contact me at [email] or [telephone]. I look forward to your reply.
Best wishes,
PDF Posters
When thinking about organising meetings, please feel free to use our PDF posters for print to promote the project locally or online. If you would like to invite your local MSPs to Christmas events please feel free to use our Christmas posters for promotion in print and online.
Scottish Churches Parliamentary Office is administered by the Church of Scotland, Scottish Charity Number SC011353