Celebrate

Time with Child at Saturday Worship 

It was the season of Advent when I joined the St. Mark family 37 years ago (My how time flies when you’re having fun.) The following summer I volunteered to help with Bible school. Those were the days when it was a two week event! I was the craft helper. The next year I was promoted to lead teacher with the 4th graders. We must have been learning about religious celebrations. My colleague from Brentwood High School gave me the information in order to make Passover happen during the first week. The shopping trip to Dierberg’s to get what was on the list was truly an experience…learned a lot and shopped by flashlight.

The second week we would bake the bread for August communion and then we would have our Christmas celebration. It was time to bake and decorate a birthday cake for Jesus! Never did I bake communion bread again but the cake was a different story. It intrigued me and I liked doing it.

So…one Advent I asked if I could do a Time with Children at a Saturday night service. I got the green light. All I needed was a child. Now that could be a tall order but it wasn’t. Brendan Moore was a regular Saturday night attendee with his father Steve. Brendan was my helper for all things “ushering.” He thought cake making would be fun. We were set for Time with Child.

The time came and everything was ready. It went beautifully. The white cake star was frosted and topped with a yellow circle cake. More frosting. Finally the last layer, a spice cake heart, took its place on the top. Still more frosting. Then pink sugar crystals. This being a birthday cake we topped it all off with a red flaming candle.

As we frosted we talked about the symbolism in the cake: The shapes of the layers—a circle (God’s unending love for us); a star (that shone over the manger at the birth of Jesus); and the heart (The Baby Jesus was God’s gift of love to us).

The flavors of the cakes—The gifts of the Magi (gold, spice and white for myrrh)
White frosting covering the whole cake—white for the Birth of the Baby Jesus, the liturgical color for Christmas
Pink sugar sprinkles—pink the color of unconditional love
Red candle—the Joy of Christmas Flame—Jesus the light of the world

The time of preparation was over. Sharing the cake in fellowship with our worshipping community would follow the service. It was a joyful time and obviously one I remember fondly. Brendan’s enthusiasm made it all work. We only had one child but that’s all we needed that night. The cake has become a special holiday tradition for me if only in my heart.

Mary Beth Powell
P.S. The pans are available for loan