Welcome Home

I have just returned from a week at Home Cafe based at St Andrew’s Church, Earlsfield  as part of my Theology course.   We were  staying in the house of a young Christian family who had gone on holiday and allowed 7 of us to stay in their home. Another family had allowed the same and the other 5 in our group stayed at a hostel at Waterloo. I couldn’t believe how generous this family was, as I didn’t even know them. 

We arrived on Monday morning and as I walked to the Cafe from Earlsfield station I was able to easily locate the way as the Church spire was pointing sharply upwards out of the skyline as a prominent land mark. As I approached I saw an A frame sign outside on the pavement which said Home Café. From outside it looked like a traditional Anglican Church with stained glass windows. As I entered I was struck by the busyness and beauty of it all. There was a toddler group in full swing and the Café was packed. Bunting and fairy lights were woven around Church pillars and coloured light streamed in through stained-glass windows. A mixture of jazz and other interesting music played in the background and made the place seem really atmospheric. 

The Cafe served wonderful lattes, Capuchinos and smoothies as well as delicious homemade cakes and light lunches. It is a non-profit organisation run by a few staff and a number of volunteers. They also had a shelf of children’s books that parents could use while they were there. Meg, the lady who started it had a vision of bringing people together and for the Church building to be fully utilised by the whole community and she has now made the Cafe a reality. This has been the vision that I have had for Haywood Village for some time for a Community Cafe at the heart of the estate where people can come together and meet. Home Cafe is a large space and great for parents and a safe place to come where no one would kick you out if your kids were noisy. One lady said she had come that day to have someone to talk to and not feel alone with her kids and to be able to chat to people and also get some advice about things generally.

On the first day we did a riverside walk called The Wandle trail from Earlsfield to Merton Abbey, where we didn’t talk to anyone but were mindful about noticing nature and reflecting and listening to God. A kind of first person enquiry. It was a long 3.5km walk and when we got to the end of it many decided to get the bus back. My friend Rachel and I walked back because it was a beautiful day. It was a long way and I think we spent about three hours in total walking. I noticed the stark contrast between nature and the sound of sirens and the litter and graffiti and industrial buildings we passed. We saw butterflies,flowers and insects and fast and slow flowing water swirling and heard the sound of it rushing, which was punctuated abruptly by the sound of a distant motorbike and a roller blader zipping past. It was actually quite disorientating hearing the nature and city sounds combined. 

Birds were singing and I could hear the wind rustling through branches. I saw blackberries forming on trees and white  and red admirals butterflies wafting past and grass hoppers and a bee. The sun was constantly striking my face as it was a very hot day. I smelt fast food  and pollution amidst the flower and nature smells which was odd. We passed two horses enclosed in a small grassy paddock, which looked out of place in this urban setting. The reflection of branches on still water was relaxing and the light streaming through leaves. Tree stumps emerged from the water and pond weed flowed this way and that.

Another of our trips was to Southwark market and we had to do an exercise where we stood in one spot for twenty minutes and reflected on what we could smell, hear and see . I was struck by how busy it was. There were so many foods available to buy from cheeses to fish and cakes and basically every sort of food imaginable. There was an array of smells and colours and wok's sizzling and smoking.   At times the smells were very pungent  and there was a constant buzz of noise and chatter. You could hear the loud rumble of trains overhead on the bridge. There was dirt and grime amidst it all and rubbish. Some stalls played music and there was an overwhelming flow of people; mainly tourists. We then went to Southwark Cathedral and did the same exercise . It was interesting that even though it so much more peaceful there you could still hear the distant rumble of trains and it seemed very empty for such a large space, compared to the busyness of the market. We went to evensong there and the choral music and architecture were beautiful and peaceful. 

We learnt about the community of people, some of which are involved in running Home Café. They are called Earlsfield Friary community and originally started with two families but now there are 35 people. One of them is called Johnny Sertain and is an Ordained Pioneer Minister, which is what I will be when my training is complete. He did a similar course to me with Church Mission Society (CMS). They all live locally and share the same Christian values and work together on projects such as the Café and also a piece of land that they acquired called Paradise Coop, which we went to. It is right next to Wandsworth prison and is where they grow vegetables for the Community Cafe and hold other events. Many local groups use it including schools and they also do drama in the space there.

 There were picnic tables and a compost loo and a sink to wash up connected with running water and an outdoor pizza oven. They have had pigs there but there were none when we were there but there were bees. They had rope swings for chidren to play on. It used to be a brown field site and had rubbish all over it before they reclaimed it for the community. There is a sign there that says “What do you plan to do with your wild and precious life?” which I liked  and another by the wood pile saying: “wood burns faster when you have to chop it yourself!” which was amusing. We ate pizzas and met some of the community and were made very welcome. 

On another trip we went into the city and did an observation by Lloyds and the Gherkin building about consumerism. We had to stay in one place and observe silently again. I noticed how shiny and opulent the buildings were and how they seemed to mirror wealth. There wasn’t much sky visible but the tall buildings filled the horizon and it felt quite oppressive. We considered how our modern world is all about endless consumption. We thought about how if there is no community in our lives then it becomes all about us as individuals and very self-centred and materialistic. 

The week of living in community in one house showed us how as a community we have to learn that our needs are only one voice in the grand scheme of the whole house.  No one is more or less important than anyone else. We had to make decisions based on what was best for the whole house, rather than ourselves, which  was fascinating. We cooked together and again it was interesting to notice the dynamics of how we all worked as a team in making a meal. We had to give up control and all work as one. We had to make a vegetarian and meat version. People seemed to be cooperative but there wasn’t the physical space for everyone to be able to get close to the preparation area, so some had to stay out of the cooking and just wash up. It was a lot of fun. 

 This week has made me think about the possibility of living in a community house myself in the future and I learnt that it could work for me, provided that I had a chair in my bedroom so I could withdraw when I wanted to be alone. I learnt that I don’t actually need as much space as I thought. I shared a bedroom all week and found I just needed about 20 minutes a day to go off to my room alone and have some quiet time while my roommate was elsewhere.

The Earlsfield Friary community have been inspirational to me this week and have been so welcoming and friendly and have shared their stories with us. I pray that we could have a community Café at Haywood Village in a similar way, right at the heart of the community that would be a place for everyone to come and gather together.  It would be a project made possible by the whole community and be used by and belong to everyone.