St Barnabas Parish Newsletter
Issue 4
Ogden Nash is probably best remembered for his pithy comic verses, the most famous of which is the first one he ever published:
Candy
Is dandy
But liquor
Is quicker.
As is the case for other writers celebrated chiefly as humourists his wit often contained sharp insights about human nature. But only on one occasion, to my knowledge, did he produce a solemn poem, and it was a carol. Titled, ‘A Carol For Children’ it begins innocently enough:
God rest you, merry Innocents,
Let nothing you dismay,
Let nothing wound an eager heart
Upon this Christmas day.
But then it takes a darker turn:
The ancient altars smoke afresh,
The ancient idols stir;
Faint in the reek of burning flesh
Sink frankincense and myrrh...
Two ultimate laws alone we know,
The ledger and the sword...
It will probably come as no surprise that he wrote that in the 1930s.
Although I bridle every time I hear a politician compare, rhetorically, our current economic woes to those of that era, I can see there are some parallels.
We are undoubtedly in the midst of a similar age of anxiety, where optimism about the possibility of living in a peaceful world, and faith in markets have taken a hefty knock, but so far we have had a bust after a boom, not a crash. Surely we are therefore much better placed to reflect on what went wrong, and respond rationally to the challenge of addressing the causes of the crisis and the fallout from it.
But reason alone surely won’t do. Ogden Nash’s poem expresses a range of emotions, including sadness, fear and outrage, but concludes with faith and hope.
Without that full variety of irrational responses, buoyed up by a strong dose of compassion, I doubt that we can cope with many social or personal challenges.
Traditional Christmas carols, which are actually mainly Victorian, can just seem like background music to a familiar festival, but the best of them also dare to look reality in the face and still proclaim grounds for hope. For example ‘It came upon the midnight clear’, written by a fellow American, Edmund Sears, a century before Nash put pen to paper, was also inspired by wars in Europe, and closer to home in Mexico.
Yet with the woes of sin and strife
The world has suffered long;
Beneath the angel-strain have rolled
Two thousand years of wrong;
And man, at war with man, hears not
The love- song which they bring:
O hush the noise, ye men of strife,
And hear the angels sing.
You will be very welcome at any of our services this Christmas, and we wish you a peaceful and blessed Christmas.
Ian Tattum, Vicar of St Barnabas
Southfield's favourite baker
Robin Green, owner of Cakes by Robin, can’t remember a time when she wasn’t cooking. Still in nappies, she toddled after her mum who made a mean curry and introduced her daughter to exotic spices. Baking wasn’t her mum’s forte, though, and so Robin took up the mantle. By age five, she and her younger brother Paddy were selling biscuits and fairy cakes outside their Notting Hill home, mostly to the local policemen working at a nearby station. Robin baked while her brother counted the money. (Today he’s an accountant.)
Robin also pursued a business career. She spent years in private banking as a portfolio manager for rich clients. After being made redundant, she thought long and hard about her next move. Fate intervened when a friend confided that she’d spent £1500 pounds on her wedding cake. “Oh wow,” Robin remembers thinking, “There must be money in cake.”
For the first two years, she baked from home – mostly wedding cakes for friends – for which she charged about £200 for a three-tiered cake. Fortunately, her husband Andy remained in banking at Barclays, as the first year yielded less than a cake a month. Word-of-mouth, repeat business, and some networking in the wedding industry bumped that number up to three cakes a month.
Two years ago, she accidentally came across a story in the trade press listing a bakery for sale on Southfields’ high street. She wondered if it was Suzelle Cakes, a shop she’d passed many times – she lives in Earlsfield – and had imagined owning. The listing struck a nerve. It seemed fate had stepped in again. “I’m sure you’re not supposed to make business decisions this way and that’s not how I advised my banking clients,” she says. “But I took a bit of a punt on it.”
These days Robin makes about 35 cakes a week. Anyone who has ever been to the shop and café won’t soon forget her striking designs. Most days are spent making Peppa Pig cakes, but to keep her team of five enthusiastic, she encourages more creative thinking. In the shop you’ll find an Africa-inspired cake with leopard spots and zebra stripes, topped with a peacock, and a spectacular Cinderella’s castle with fine sugary turrets and spires. When not catering to the local community, which Robin calls incredibly supportive, she’s making cakes for the rich and famous. Harrods buys her cakes, as have celebrities for their birthdays including X Factor judge Gary Barlow and pop star Lily Allen.
A christmas prayer by robert louis stevenson
O God, our loving Father, help us rightly to remember the birth of Jesus, that we may share in the songs of the angels, the gladness of the shepherds, and the worship of the wise men. May the Christmas morning make us happy to be thy children, and the Christmas evening bring us to our beds with grateful thoughts, forgiving and forgiven, for Jesus’ sake. Amen.
st barnabas christmas fair 3rd december 2011
coming events
Christmas Carol Service: On Sunday 18th December at 5pm. 9 Lessons and Carols, with traditional choral music.
Nativity Service: On Saturday 24th December at 4pm. Dramatic retelling of the story of the first Christmas with Carols. Ideal for all the family.
Midnight Mass: On Saturday 24th December at 11.30pm.
Christmas Eucharist: On Sunday 25th December at 10.30am.
For more information on any of the events above or any other church activities, please go to the St Barnabas website at www.st-b.info or phone the parish office on 020 8480 2290.
Activities at the church halls
Monkey Music
Patio room, Mon. 9:50am -12:00am
Music, singing and instrument-playing with classes for different age groups. Ages 3 months - 4 years.
Contact Bronwen Jones
Email: bronwen.jones@monkeymusic.co.uk
www.monkeymusic.co.uk
Ballet Lessons
Combined halls, Mon.-Fri. 3:30pm-7:30pm
Ballet lessons for children and adults. Ages 2.5 and up.
Contact Eliane Gerhard
Tel: 020 8683 0222
Little Kickers
Patio room, Tue. 9:30am and 10:30am
A fun football class to increase fitness, flexibility and listening skills. Ages 2-5.
Contact David Emes
Email: demes@live.co.uk
www.littlekickers.co.uk
Smiley Time
Parish room, Tue. 10:30am
An interactive session with nursery rhymes, songs, stories and bubbles. Ages: 3 months – 5 years.
Contact Kate Rickman
Email: katerickman@hotmail.com
www.smileytime.co.uk
Zumba
Combined halls, Tue. 7:30pm
A Latin-inspired dance fitness class for adults.
Contact Hannah Cramer
Email: hannahcramer2003@yahoo.co.uk
http://56267.zumba.com/
Cygnet Players
Parish room, Tue. 7:30pm; Patio room, Thur.7:30pm
An amateur dramatic society that produces musicals and plays. New members welcome.
www.cygnetplayers.com
Yoga
Patio room, Wed. 7:30pm, Sat. 9:15am
Power yoga for adults of all levels.
Contact Jason Pooley
Email: Jason@thehouseofyoga.co.uk
http://thehouseofyoga.co.uk
Messy Matters
Friday 9:30-11:45am
Creative, messy and fun play for parents and children under 5
MaureenTurner@wppa.co.uk
Diddi Dance
Friday 9:45am
Salsa, hip-hop, country and disco for girls and boys 2-4 yrs
Contact Clair Bradley
Email: clair.bradley@diddidance.com tel: 07877 664809
Chi Gung
Thursday 8pm
Practice of aligning breath, movement, and awareness for exercise, healing, and meditation. Adult classes
Contact Jennifer Newbery
Email: jmnewberymassage@mac.com.
Children’s parties, wedding receptions, family get-togethers and business meetings.
These are just some of the activities for which St Barnabas’ new halls are suitable. We have four distinct areas, which can be rented individually or as a whole. One has access to an attractive patio, three have tea points or kitchens, and one is a tranquil carpeted space. Full details can be found on the website and availability can be checked by looking at the halls calendar.
For bookings please contact Anna on stbarnabaschurchhalls@googlemail.com. Or tel. 07988 223818
