On Friday 21st March, 2014 a service of thanksgiving for the life of Barbara Jan Kester was held at St Bride’s Church, Fleet Street. Download Order of Service (pdf)
The Venerable David Meara, Rector of St Bride’s and Archdeacon of London delivered the opening bidding:
We gather in St Bride’s today to remember with great love and affection Barbara Kester, who loved Fleet Street and worked in this area: indeed she had ambitions to be a journalist herself, but she spent her life helping and caring for others.
We remember today a gracious and warm-hearted person, kind and generous, humble and reflective, who thought deeply about life, and cared deeply about those she loved. She had a quiet and private faith which sustained her, believing that she was loved by God, and that positive thinking about her life and those around her would carry her through the difficult times and bring her peace and contentment.
As we celebrate her life today we give thanks for the privilege of having known her, and we commend her to God, trusting that at the end of our brief day is the eternity of his love. AMEN.
Addresses
Blair & Miray
Nadia & Amy
Reading
Francesco read Mark 10: 13-16
13 And they brought young children to him, that he should touch them: and his disciples rebuked those that brought them.
14 But when Jesus saw it, he was much displeased, and said unto them, Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God.
15 Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein.
16 And he took them up in his arms, put his hands upon them, and blessed them.
Eddie read Sea Fever by John Masefield
I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky,
And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by;
And the wheel’s kick and the wind’s song and the white sail’s shaking,
And a grey mist on the sea’s face, and a grey dawn breaking.
I must go down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide
Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied;
And all I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying,
And the flung spray and the blown spume, and the sea-gulls crying.
I must go down to the seas again, to the vagrant gypsy life,
To the gull’s way and the whale’s way where the wind’s like a whetted knife;
And all I ask is a merry yarn from a laughing fellow-rover,
And quiet sleep and a sweet dream when the long trick’s over.
Lara read Daffodils by William Wordsworth
I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o’er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.
Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.
The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay,
In such a jocund company:
I gazed-and gazed-but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:
For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.
Music
The choir & organist of St Bride’s performed the following anthems and songs:
Veni Creator Spiritus – Gregorian chant Salve Regina – William Cornysh
Gloria – Antonio Vivaldi Bridge over troubled water – Paul Simon arr. Robert Jones Rule the world – Gary Barlow arr. Robert Jones
Hymns
Morning has broken
Lord of all hopefulness
Jerusalem
I thought about my smile and pass it on to you,
So you may take it with you and pass it on anew;
A single smile is precious and full of love and worth,
So pass my smile along to travel right around the Earth.
The retiring collection at the service was shared between St Bride’s Church and the Angelman Syndrome Foundation.
