 Yr eisteddaeth yma sy'n gyflaes. Rhaid i gyflaes i gyflaesio'n meddwl i ddim yn rhaid i gyrd twofyddiad David Robertson… …r Minister of St Peter's Free Church Dundee, y gennifrwynydd yw'r Seindd y 52 o'r Siamd gyffredig coronavirus. I am a free church minister, so confining this to four minutes is going to be miraculous. You will all be believing that by the end. As moderator of the free church, I bring you prayerful greetings from our growing denomination. I'd like to reflect upon the relationship between church and state, which has sometimes had a troubled history in Scotland. My own church was formed as the Church of Scotland free because of the intrusions of the state into matters that were none of its business. I think my favourite story about all of that is in the 16th century, the story of the famous encounter between Andrew Melville and King James VI in Falkland Palace. Melville told James, you are but God's silly vassal, language which I'm sure the Presiding Officer would rule out of order in this chamber. Before going on to inform him, there is Twa Kings and Twa Kingdoms in Scotland. There is Christ Jesus the King and His Kingdom the Kirk, whose subject King James VI is and of whose kingdom not a king, nor a lord, nor a heed, but a member. I would submit to you that the church in Scotland has been the most radicalising, equalising, democratising force in Scottish history. I realise that we live in different times and that not every member of this august body is a member of Christ's church yet, but we do need to work out what the role of the state and the church is. From our perspective, we do not believe that the church has the right to tell the state how to govern, except in the most general principles. Despite rumours, we do not want a theocracy. We all have our opinions as private citizens, but as public bodies the churches do not have the right to tell you, or you as our elected representatives, the rate of tax, whether we belong to the EU or not, or other such issues. Our role is to pray for you, to serve the poor, to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ, and to have a prophetic witness to challenge the powers that be. History teaches us that when the church seeks to run the government, or the government seeks to control the church, trouble awaits. Just as the church should not seek to govern politics, so the state should not seek to act as God, but we can work together in partnership now, as we have done in the past, on vital issues such as education, welfare provision and healthcare. The teaching of the Twar kingdoms is not just an important part of our common history, but an excellent model for today. It would be good for all of us to recognise that we are all servants of God, but in different interlocking kingdoms. The relationship of the church and the state in Scotland should be that of good neighbours and good friends. I pray that each of you would know individually and collectively the presence, peace and power of Jesus Christ.