First CHURCH OFFICE HOURS

Presbyterian Weds./Thurs./Fri. Afternoons

Church 405 S. Main St. Pataskala, OH 43062

WEBSITE: FPCpataskala.com EMAIL: FPCpataskala@gmail.com OFFICE: 740-927-4796 Rev. Gary Brose, 513-260-8230

CHURCH DIRECTORY Transitional Pastor . . . . . The Rev. Gary Brose Clerk of Session . . . . . . . . . Mr. James H. Boggs Treasurer . . . . . . . . . . . Mr. Thomas J. Johnston Financial Secretaries . . . . . . Mrs. Linda Glenn & Mr. Charles Long Choir Director . . . . . . . . . . . . . Rev. Gary Brose Custodian . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mr. Tim Klinker Nursery Attendant . . . . . . . Ms. Linda Flowers Admin. Assistant . . . . . . . Mrs. Denise Kelling

JANUARY BIRTHDAYS & ANNIVERSARIES 2 Jeff Conrad 3 Teri Charles 11 Faith Harvell 22 Diana Mock, Pat Vincent 23 Denise Metzger-Kelling 24 Roger Cruse, Kristie Hammond, Tracy Hammond 25 Jared Rice 26 Peter Witt 28 Sally Seiberling, Alex Baird 31 Jon Davis

FEBRUARY BIRTHDAYS & ANNIVERSARIES 1 Anna Conrad 2 Jacob Mauger 3 Abigail Mauger, Diane Kristoff, Roger & Karen Cruse 6 Karen Davis, Frank Gieseck 12 Joan Mauger, Christina Wandersleben 15 Bob Conaway, Laurie Smith-Wallake 17 Gage (Slaymaker) Marcum 18 Leslie Crawford 19 Karen Cruse, Barbara Hammond 20 Jim Boggs, AJ Harvell, Barb Long 23 Genie Dixon, Clayton Etter

MARCH BIRTHDAYS & ANNIVERSARIES 1 Victor DeRose, Pat Morrison 3 Melanie Smith-Lincoln

6 Barbara Askoff-Mackris 10 Chris Crawford, Richard Gualtieri 11 Beth Vanko 13 Alaina Dixon, Delores Spaulding 14 Beverly Hammond 15 Kim Lightle 18 Mike Bowlby, Ava Wandersleben 23 Joyce Mathews 27 Catherine Baird, Brian Ladd 29 Brian & Genie Dixon, Larry & Diana Mock 30 Brian Dixon 31 Betty Gieseck

Weekly Calendar of Events

SUNDAYS Sunday School 9:30 a.m.

Worship at 10:45 a.m.

MONDAYS Clogging, 7:30-8:30 p.m.

Cub Scout Pack #4021, 6-8 p.m.

TUESDAYS Session Meetings – 2nd Tuesdays at 7:30 p.m.

WEDNESDAYS

Karate Classes, 6:30– 8 p.m. Choir Practice, 7:30 p.m.

Illumin8 & Adult Bible Study, 6-8 p.m.

THURSDAYS Girl Scout Troop #386, 6-9 p.m.

Berean’s Meetings – 4th Thursdays at NOON

FRIDAYS Daisy Troop, 6:30-8:30 p.m.

Exactly 200 years ago this Christmas Eve -- Dec. 24, 1818 -- in a little church in what is now Austria, the world heard for the first time a poem set to music that eventually would be hailed as one of the most popular and beloved Christmas carols of all time.

“Silent Night" was sung for the first time that Christmas Eve at a midnight Mass at St. Nicholas Church in Oberndorf, a village in the Austrian Empire. The lyrics were written by a young Catholic priest, Father Joseph Mohr, and the music was composed by Francis Xavier Gruber, an organist and school master. There is a popular legend that "Silent Night" was composed because the organ at Father Mohr's parish church, St. Nicholas, was broken.

According to the story, the priest wrote the lyrics to "Silent Night" – “Stille Nacht” in the original German -- and asked Gruber to compose the tune for guitar so that there would be music at the midnight Mass. This was all supposed to have transpired during the day of Christmas Eve of 1818, just hours before the carol was to be performed for the first time.

The truth is a little less dramatic. Father Mohr wrote the poem “Stille Nacht” in 1816 in the Austrian town of Mariapfarr, near Salzburg. Two years later, while serving at St. Nicholas Parish in Oberndorf, the priest asked Gruber to compose a melody for the words. It is not known why Father Mohr wanted to set his poem to music. Gruber composed the music and “Silent Night” did indeed premiere at the Christmas Eve Mass. The fact that the song was performed in German at the Mass would not have been uncommon or unusual in the Austrian Empire at that time, according to Sara Pecknold, professor of practice in the history of sacred music at The Catholic University of America in Washington. “The vernacular (the language of a particular country or region) was being used in the liturgy. Even at a sung high Latin Mass, it would have been common to use German (in the Austrian Empire) in the songs,” she said. This, she said, was partially due to the influence of Joseph II, the Holy Roman Emperor who died less than 30 years before “Silent Night” was composed, and who defied the papacy and simplified the Mass and decreed other liturgical reforms in his empire. “So it certainly would’ve been proper to have a hymn sung in German accompanied by a guitar.”

The carol eventually spread its way from the small village to other parts of the Austrian Empire and eventually to the rest of the world. The attraction to the carol comes from “it's blend of the particular and the universal,” Pecknold noted. Father Mohr's poem, “Stille Nacht,” was written "in the wake of tumultuous activity," Pecknold said. “The Napoleonic Wars were still fresh in everyone's mind, so to write a poem about stillness and peace certainly makes sense. And it speaks about the universal peace that Christ brings to all people.”

The carol's English version begins with the words: “Silent night, holy night All is calm, all is bright 'Round yon Virgin Mother and Child Holy Infant so tender and mild Sleep in heavenly peace Sleep in heavenly peace”

The tune composed by Gruber “is interesting because it is not very sophisticated, but composed in a very folksy style. It is basically a simple tune with a folksy, pastoral setting and an undulating melodic swing. It is not too difficult to sing,” Pecknold said.

The carol's fame -- and popularity -- in the United States is due in a large part to the Rainer Family Singers, a popular early 19th-century group of traveling singers from Austria who performed the song as part of their repertoire. It is believed the group brought the song to this country during their 1839 tour here. “Stille Nacht” was translated into the English “Silent Night” by an Episcopal priest, the Rev. John Freeman Young. “The English translation could be a little better,” Pecknold conceded. The original “Stille Nacht” has six verses. The English translation only has three -- the first, second and sixth verses of the original.

Pataskala, Ohio “Silent Night” WINTER, 2018

The Silent Night Chapel, which is in the town of Oberndorf in the Austrian state of Salzburg, is a monument to the Christmas carol "Silent Night."

The chapel stands on the site of the former St. Nicholas Church, where on Christmas Eve in 1818

the carol was performed for the first time

According to the Stille Nacht Association, an Austrian-based organization dedicated “to make the song, its origin and its message resonate in the hearts and minds of locals and visitors from all over the world,” the carol is universally beloved. “By the turn of the (20th) century 'Silent Night' was being sung on all continents, brought to the far reaches of the globe by Catholic and Protestant missionaries. Today we are aware of translations into more than 300 languages and dialects,” the organization notes on its website.

The carol is believed to have caused a somewhat miraculous and well-documented Christmas truce during World War I. On Christmas Eve 1914, British and French troops were encamped in trenches in a faceoff against German troops in Ypres in Flanders, Belgium. The two sides began singing Christmas carols to each other, and “Silent Night” was the only song all the combatants knew. Singing the song together broke the ice and led to a temporary cease-fire with soldiers from both sides meeting in the middle “No Man's Land” to trade tobacco and candy, play soccer and sing carols.

As it marks its 200th anniversary, “Silent Night” remains as popular as ever. Bing Crosby's 1935 recording of the carol is the third biggest-selling single record in history; his 1942 recording of “White Christmas” holds the No. 1 spot. A Time magazine survey found the song to be the most recorded Christmas carol, with “Joy to the World” a distant second. In 2011, the UNESCO declared “Silent Night” an honored part of “our intangible cultural heritage.” A 2016 worldwide survey of choral directors found “Silent Night” to be one of the 25 greatest Christmas carols of all time. “We sing songs like 'Silent Night' because there is something about Christ's infancy that takes us deeper into the mystery of the Incarnation,” Pecknold said. “We sing because there is something about the human voice in song that expresses something very intimate about ourselves and our joy.” -- Merry Christmas --

Poinsettias In Memory or In Honor of the Following:

GIVEN By: And In MEMORY or in HONOR of Catherine Baird & Mark Van Buren: Bruce & Jay Baird and Richard & Cheryl Van Buren Judy Baird: Jay N. Baird, Bruce J. Baird and Noel & Lulu Baird Don & Leslie Crawford: Our Parents, Wayne & Belva Crawford and Arlene Farioli Mary Fickle: Bob Fickle Franklin & Betty Gieseck: Edna Lowe and Carole Hilderbrand Fred & Linda Goldstein: Bill & Billie Ritchey, Larry Ritchey, and Fred “Doc” Goldstein Curt & Fran Hungerford:

Robin Schenz, Granddaughter; Parents, Ruth & Roe Fravel, and Pearl & Walter Hungerford Tom, Claudia & Karen Johnston:

In Memory of Family and Friends; In Honor of Karen’s brother, Bobby Lutz Sally Kean & Family: Bill Kean Craig & Denise Kelling: Craig’s Mother, Marilynn Kelling and My Angel, Billie Ritchey Richard & Nancy Lord: Our Parents Ken & Joyce Mathews: Our Departed Loved Ones The Marcum-Slaymaker Family: Ray Nelson and Lew Butler Jacob & Abby Mauger: Harry & Patty Jo Mauger and Dale Wickline

CHURCH FAMILY HIGHLIGHTS Here are some pics of Elise Conrad who is

now 15 years old and is a Sophomore at Fairfield Union H.S. She is involved with

the following activities since the beginning of the school year:

Cross Country runner Fairfield Union Marching Band, she is a

proud Falconette (the red skirt outfit) Basketball Cheerleader Swimmer on the Fairfield Union Swim

Team She also showed meat rabbits at the

Fairfield County Fair got second place in her heat and was able to auction off her rabbits. She was also interviewed by a radio station (100.3) about her meat rabbits.

Also are pics of Anna who is now 12 years old (will turn 13 February 1) and

is in the 7th grade at Fairfield Union Middle School. She is/was involved in the

following activities:

Football Cheerleader (she can do a standing back tuck)

Showed chickens (Layers) at the fair Basketball Cheerleader Helps mom by making meals for the

family on occasions when I am running late (lol).

Even though we lost my mom (the girls' Meema) in late August unexpectedly, we know that we are truly bless because of

friends and family who are in our lives still and that includes our church family who is dear to our hearts. Thank you for praying

for us and sending words of comfort.

In Christ's Love, Tami Conrad

Dear Friends at FPC, We want to send you all an update on Daniel, as so many of you had an impact on him as he was growing up!

Daniel graduated from Bowling Green State University in May with his Master’s Degree in Creative Writing and Poetry. He is working in downtown Columbus (for which his parents are very thankful he’s so close by!) at a “cutting-edge” low-risk auto insurance company using his writing talents. His office window looks out onto the Columbus Commons and he’s enjoying looking at all the Christmas lights as he works! Many of his friends from Cedarville University work there also, and he loves what he’s doing. He has an apartment in Clintonville, right across from Whetstone Park of Roses, and is loving all of the local activities and spending time with his friends. Richard and I wish you all the best of Christmases as we celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!

We love you all and miss you!! The Gualtieri’s

PRAYER & PRAISE PAGE Sympathies to the Following Families Who Have Lost

Loved Ones Over the Last Several Months:

The Family of Florence Nelson (age 87), who passed on Dec. 16;

The Family of Mark Kraft (age 57) , who passed on Dec. 9;

The Family of Jo Boggs (age 84), who passed on Nov. 15

The Family of Billie Ritchey (age 93), who passed on Aug. 4

The Family of Howard Efaw (age 93), who passed on April 20

Those Needing Prayer: Rich Arasmith

Susan Baird-Rawls

Elaine Cobel

John Conrad

Jane Crawford

Bruce DeHart

Chris Farley

Dale Fry

Harold B.W.

Paula Hawley

Jim Hess

Paul Kelly

Norma Kraft

Bob Lutz

Micki Mason

Larry Mock

Wanda Pack

Winston Page

Kristi Rudolph

Jon Thom

Kathy Zeller

Congratulations to The Rev. Richard D. Ellsworth, who recently celebrated his 60th Year of Ordination. "Rev", who was called as the pastor of Central College Presbyterian Church on November 9, 1958, was ordained to the ministry of Word and Sacrament by the Presbytery of Scioto Valley on November 30, 1958.

Church & Family Members at Home/Care Centers Connie & Victor DeRose, Faye Hammond,

Claudia Johnston, Anne Nixon

Congratulations to Jeremy Goldstein (Fred & Linda’s son) who was recently promoted to

Sergeant in the Columbus Police Department!

FPC - January 2019 SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY

1 2 3 4 5 Karate, 6:30–8 p.m.

Choir, 7:30 p.m.

Illumin8 &

Adult Bible Study

6 – 8 p.m.

5:30 – 9 p.m.

GS Troop #386

6 7 8 9 10 11 12 9:30 a.m.

Sunday School

COMMUNION

10:45 a.m.

Worship

7:30-8:30 p.m.

CLOGGING

6 – 8 p.m.

C.S. Pack #4021

7:30 p.m.

Session Meeting

Karate, 6:30–8 p.m.

Choir, 7:30 p.m.

Illumin8 &

Adult Bible Study

6 – 8 p.m.

5:30 – 9 p.m.

GS Troop #386

6:30 – 8:30 p.m.

Daisy Troop #7548

13 14 15 16 17 18 19 9:30 a.m.

Sunday School

10:45 a.m.

Worship

7:30-8:30 p.m.

CLOGGING

6 – 8 p.m.

C.S. Pack #4021

Karate, 6:30–8 p.m.

Choir, 7:30 p.m.

Illumin8 &

Adult Bible Study

6 – 8 p.m.

5:30 – 9 p.m.

GS Troop #386

20 21 22 23 24 25 26 9:30 a.m.

Sunday School

10:45 a.m.

Worship

Congregational

Meeting

7:30-8:30 p.m.

CLOGGING

6 – 8 p.m.

C.S. Pack #4021

Karate, 6:30–8 p.m.

Choir, 7:30 p.m.

Illumin8 &

Adult Bible Study

6 – 8 p.m.

5:30 – 9 p.m.

GS Troop #386

6:30 – 8:30 p.m.

Daisy Troop #7548

27 28 29 30 31 9:30 a.m.

Sunday School

10:45 a.m.

Worship

Installation of

Officers

7:30-8:30 p.m.

CLOGGING

6 – 8 p.m.

C.S. Pack #4021

Karate, 6:30–8 p.m.

Choir, 7:30 p.m.

Illumin8 &

Adult Bible Study

6 – 8 p.m.

5:30 – 9 p.m.

GS Troop #386

2018 MISSION SUPPORT FROM FPC, Total of $14,150 Church Family Support $3,000 Codex Ministries (Stan & Adelle Tinon) $5,335 Jesus Storehouse Food Pantry $ 830 Kid’s Lunch Program $1,600 Pataskala’s Shop with a Cop Program $ 500 Rempt Family / YWAM Ministries $2,000 Samaritan’s Purse (Operation Christmas Child) $ 325 One Great Hour of Sharing / Presbytery $ 560

RANDOM CHURCH PHOTOS TO ENJOY!

ENJOY THIS CHRISTMAS LETTER FROM

FORMER INTERIM PASTOR, DONALD SWIFT