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  January 2017
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SPECIAL ITEMS

Deacons  
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Deadline for the 
February  2017
newsletter is 
January 20
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FROM OUR PASTOR

(Listening to the Heartbeat of God will return next month.  In January we have Pastor Lawrence's Annual Report)

Here at the threshold of 2016 & 2017, a surge of gratitude washes over me as I look back over the last twelve months.  I marvel at how the Holy Spirit drew us together.  As we lived and made plans for the future according to our human perspective of time (Kronos), the Lord was already at work in an entirely different dimension of time (Kairos).  God's handiwork became clear when, late this summer, you called me to be your next pastor.  Then and now, I couldn't be more humbled and enthusiastic to join you on your journey of faith. 
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member
THE NEW MEMBER EXPERIENCE
 
As Christ welcomes all, we welcome you
 
We welcome you.
We welcome your creativity.
We welcome your passion for worship.
We welcome your hunger for mission.
We welcome your questions and wisdom through Christian Education.
 
If you are interested in becoming a member of this Christian community, we invite you to attend one of the "New Member Experiences" we offer for those inquiring and seeking membership.
 
The New Member Experience is specially designed to help prospective Oxford Presbyterian Church members learn about our congregation, its beliefs, traditions, government and programs. It is a safe place to ask questions about faith, raising children in the church, receiving pastoral care, or transitioning from another congregation. 
We will explore the avenues of full or affiliate membership.  If you are a student, we encourage you to consider full or affiliate membership.  An affiliate member of OPC allows you remain in good standing with your home congregation while still expressing your commitment to our fellowship while you are here.  Affiliate membership carries with it all the rights, privileges and responsibilities of full membership except voting in congregational meetings and holding office.
 
We will meet at 8:30 a.m. in the Molyneaux Lounge on Sunday, January 8th and 15th.
 
If you are interested in learning more about any type of membership, please talk with a member of the Membership, Evangelism and Fellowship Committee or Pastor Lawrence.  At OPC we welcome you to grow in Christ.  Will you join us?  

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christianeducation
 
CHRISTIAN EDUCATION 
Children in the church school will also be journeying through the Bible with their lessons on Sunday mornings.  Those in Grades 3-5 will be following the same lessons as the lectionary:

Escape to Egypt- Matthew . 2:13-23, Jesus the Word- John 1:10-18, The Baptism of Our Lord- Matthew 3:13-17, and The Lamb of God- John 1:29-42. Debbie DeGennaro will be teaching this class. 

Children in Grades k-2 will be meeting with teachers Sarah Miller and Deb Sayers.  Lynn Cronk will be in the preschool. 

There are some openings in the nursery- please contact Lynn Cronk if you are available to assist. 

The Junior High Class will be taught by Prue Dana and Katie Saylor. 
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KUDOS
 
The Amazing Celebration at the Manger occurred on December 18 when over 200 in the congregation witnessed the wonder of the birth of the Christ child.  Many thanks to Jenn Walter for coordinating and directing this program.  There were over 45 that participated in the service.  Thanks to all that participated from musicians, to singers, ushers, and the cast.  Emily Lykins and Gina Myers coordinated the chili lunch that followed in the seminary and they also need to be thanked.  Thank you and thanks be to God! 


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cares 

CARES, CONCERNS, JOYS AND THANK YOUs
 

IN OUR PRAYERS :
Keep these friends in your prayers:
Marilyn Young, Genee Hesse, Stacey Winn, Betty Barnhart, Cathy Fey, Marilyn Rettig, Sarah Soika, Bob Douglass, Nancy Gates, Breanna Kinneman, Jan Reinhart, Tip Ziegler 

Lord in Your Mercy, Hear Our Prayers
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Don Harrington passed away on Wednesday, December 14.  Our heartfelt prayers surround Peggy and all of Don's family and friends during this challenging time.  
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We are saddened to report that Faye Santavicca, a long-time member of Oxford Presbyterian Church, pased  at home on December 2, in Marietta, Georgia. Don Santavicca wishes to thank everyone for their thoughts and prayers.
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(Bittersweet) JOYS

This congregation has had the joy of Ginny and Jack Staberg for many years.  Jack died two years ago and Ginny continued to be a faithful worker and worshipper at OPC. With help from her son-in-law, Ken, Ginny moved to Minnesota to be near her family. This was her 29th move! In the Minneapolis area, she will be near her brother and his family and her daughter and her family.  We will miss Ginny, but pray for  a happy new home for her as she begins this new phase in her life.
Carol Burkhalter
 
UPDATE-THIS JUST IN!
Ginny had a lovely and loving Christmas with her family!
 
 
Virginia (Ginny) Staberg
13865 Upper 58th St. N.
Oak Park Heights, Unit 114
Stillwater, Minnesota      55082 
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THANK YOU(s)

MITTEN TREE
Due to your generosity we were able to provide holiday cheer for 50 children!
Thank you so much from the Mitten Tree
Karen Shearer
And thank you to Karen from all of us for your work on the mitten tree!
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THANK YOU
 
The Farmers, Parents and Staff at Safe Haven Farm send their thanks to the Oxford Presbyterian Church volunteers who decorated the Hatton Center for Christmas.  The Community Room is beautiful as a result of many hands working together to create a wonderful ambiance for this special season of the year.
 
A special thanks to Karen Shearer for organizing this multigenerational event .  Safe Haven Farm is a community for adults on the autism spectrum. The Farm is located in Butler County and opened in 2010.  Safe Haven provides residential and day programming services on a sixty-acre farm.  The Farmers care for the horses, alpacas, chickens, ducks, dogs, cats, and gardens. Produce from the gardens and greenhouses feeds the Farmers and is also sold at a farmstand in Middletown.
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THANK YOU
Thank you to everyone who donated a poinsettia to share in the decorations of the Christmas Season. Thank you to everyone who donated to the Special Music Fund, the joys of which are still to reverberate!



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deacons
DEACONS
Do you know someone who needs a Prayer Shawl? Shawls are given for comfort in times of illness or grief, as well as for celebration in times of joy.  If you have a friend or relative to whom you would like to give a Prayer Shawl, please call Cornelia Browne.

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                   women

OXFORD PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH WOMEN
  
  circles

THE TUESDAY AFTERNOON CIRCLE
will be meeting on January 17 at 1:30 p.m. in The Knolls Country Kitchen. Call Lawretta Clum if you would like to join the group for lunch at 12 noon. 

THE TUESDAY EVENING CIRCLE
will be meeting on January 3 at 7:30pm in the home of Jane Baer, 131 East Spring Street, Oxford. Deborah Benzing is the co-hostess. Janet Ziegler will lead the devotions. Nancy Sturgeon is presenting the program
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SESSION
session
The meeting was held in the home of Pastor Lawrence and Amy Bartel.
 
Devotions were based on John 1. Candles, held by each elder, were lit and thought was given to those who lit the light of faith in our lives, those who need the light of Christ and those who have relit the light of Christ in our lives.
 
The annual congregational meeting was set for January 22, 2017 at which time the budget for 2017, that was approved by session, and annual reports will be presented to the congregation.
 
Approval was given to the recommendation from the trustees to accept the gift of $100,000 from Betty Reinhart, to be used for the restoration and renovation of the Memorial Building.
 
Draft budget for 2017 was approved.
 
Vision statement of the Progressive Christian Campus Ministry was reported.  Tom Poetter will continue as "Wild Card Friend" to this group.
Judy Fisher
 
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mission
OUR MISSION STATEMENT AT WORK
Seeking God, Serving Others, Sharing Christ's Love With All
 
The Celebration at the Manger was a glorious demonstration of love shared for all and by all.  Jenn Walter and her crew (so many helped in so many unnamed and unknown ways we can't credit them here) did a splendid job.  Just thinking about the Celebration brings smiles again.  Thank you Jenn and Crew! 



















 



There was room for everyone at this Celebration!

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record
SETTING THE RECORD STRAIGHT

In the November newsletter, a reference was made to "the gift of Anna Kumler in 1925 <which> gave us our church building with a follow on gift from the other members of the congregation with a gift of the furnishings."  Our resident scholar, Elizabeth Johnson, realized this wasn't the whole story.  Read on to learn more and to set the record straight.
 
Laura Magie Kumler gave the funds at the centennial celebration of Presbyterians in Oxford to build the present church building as a memorial to her husband Theophilus Rex Kumler and their daughter Mary.  Mary died in 1898 at age 31 and Theophilus died n 1907.  It was Laura Kumler who chose the architectural style of the Memorial Church and employed the architects Howell and Thomas of Cleveland.  The interior woodwork was funded by a gift from Anna Kumler Wight and Ella Kumler McKelvy.  The stained glass windows and art glass windows were made by William Greene of Pennsylvania and the frames and hardware by Fred Meyers Manufacturing Co. of Hamilton.  Laura Kumler died in 1926 before the building was completed and her nephew, John Molyneaux, executor of her estate, and Llewlyn Bonham supervised the erection of the building.  The congregations became the United Presbyterian Church in 1966 at the union with the congregation of the Seminary Presbyterian Church and the Oxford Presbyterian Church in 1983 at the reunification of the northern and southern churches.
 
Theophilus Kumler was the second son of Elias and Anna Kumler.  He was a trustee of the church and of Western College.  There is a small photograph of Theophilus Kumler in Thomas Porter's history of the Oxford Church.
 
Mary Kumler was a graduate of Western College and president of the Oxford Branch of the Alumnae Association.  There is a large framed tinted photograph that was in the Molyneaux Library since the church was built until the most recent time the walls were painted.
 
Ella Kumler Mckelvy and Anna Kumler Wight were the daughters of the Rev. Jeremiah Prophet Elias Kumler, eldest son of Elias and Anna Kumler and Abigail Goulding, a graduate of Mt. Holyoke and member of the first faculty of Western Female Seminary.  Jeremiah, a Miami graduate, was minister of Second Presbyterian Church (original building on this site) 1860-1868, and president of the Western Female Seminary Board of Trustees.  Anna (a graduate of Western College) and Ella donated the funds for Kumler Memorial Chapel (1918) on the Western Campus.  The church is a memorial to their parents, Jeremiah and Abigail, and to their grandparents Elias, an elder of the church, one of Oxford's first bankers and an incorporator and founding trustee of Western, and Anna, all of whom are remembered in the stained glass windows of the choir of Kumler Memorial Chapel and thus cannot be mislaid. The Kumlers seemed to favor a similar architectural style, thus the similarity of Kumler Chapel and Oxford Presbyterian Church
 
John Molyneaux, a dentist in Oxford, was a descendant of the Molyneaux (also Mollyneaux) family (thus Molyneaux Library), another very early Oxford family. He was the son of Robert A. Molyneaux who married Elias and Anna Kumler's daughter Susan.  John was a deacon and elder of the church, and served on the Western College Board of Trustees from 1914-1953 and as Acting President of the college in 1941.  John Molyneaux lived with his wife Mary Rude Molyneaux at 21 University Ave. which they built in 1903, and from 1933-1949 at Gray Gables.  The Kumler and Molyneaux families are intertwined by a number of marriages.
announcements

ANNOUNCEMENTS
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NOMINATING COMMITTEE REPORT DECEMBER 2016
Elder Robert Smith reported for the Nominating Committee on December 11 the following slate of officers for the congregational meeting.  The slate was approved as presented.  Thanks was given to the Nominating
Committee; Danny Cross, deacon, Robert Smith, elder, Lynn Cronk chair and elder, Roberta Crain, Bill Fisher, Greg Hughes and Diane Young, at large members; for their work. 
 
  Board of Trustees
 
Class of 2019
     Joe Simpson ( 2nd term)
    Keith Payne(2nd term)
Class of 2017
      Rick Bailey
  
 Board of Deacons
    Debbie Davidson
    Diane Young
    Carol Burkhalter
    Pat Roberts 
    Janet Holmes (2nd term)
Class of 2018
     Mary Jo McFadden
Class of 2017
     Rori Lykins
Session
     Nancy Moeckel
     Greg Hughes
    Jenny Bailer
    Johanna Reinhart
    Lynn Cronk (2nd term)
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CHURCH SERVICES AT THE KNOLLS
Come join Becky Quay to enjoy Presbyterian Church services on DVD at The Knolls on Jan 10 and 24 in the Assisted Living dining room.  Program begins at 10:00 A.M and All are welcome!
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staff
 
Oxford Presbyterian Church Staff
Telephone: 513-523-6364
Fax: 513-523-8215
Seminary Building: 513-523-7411

Pastor: Pastor Lawrence Bartel
Music Director: Kent Peterson
Organist: Lynn Jacobs
Pastor Emeritus: Dr. Joseph R. Hookey
Parish Associates: Dr. Bruce Bueschel, Rev. Diane Ziegler
Administrative Assistant:
Bridgite Dickerson: office@oxfordpresbychurch.org
Financial Secretary: 
Director/Teacher C.C.N.S.:
Sarah Mapel: 207-3630
Newsletter Editor:
Nancy Moeckel, moeckenj@miamioh.edu
 
 
OFFICERS OF OPC
 
SESSION
 
Class of 2017:
Mary Jane Roberts, Robert Smith, Janet Zeigler, Gwen Fears, Kim Logsdon
Class of 2018 Carol Klumb, Amy McGoldrick, Katie Payne, Deb Sayers, David Wilson
Class of 2019 : Jenny Bailer, Lynn Cronk, Greg Hughes, Nancy Moeckel,
Johanna Reinhart
 
DEACONS
 
Class of 2017: Danny Cross, Connie Everhart, Matt Lykins, Rori Lykins, Jean O'Connell,
Class of 2018: Karen Shearer, Lee Fisher, Virginia Layton, Joni Marcum, MaryJo McFadden
Class of 2019: Carol Burkhalter,Debbie Davidson, Janet Holmes, Pat Roberts Diane Young
Answer to the Q of the M: The tide raises both the water and the boat so the water will never reach the fifth rung.
 
TRUSTEES
 
Class of 2017: Lisa Brunckhorst, Rick Bailey
Class of 2018 Tom Holmes, Nick Fears
Class of 2019Keith Payne, Joe Simpson 

 birthdays
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JANUARY BIRTHDAYS  
 
 4     Jane Baer
 5     Angie James
 7     Deanna Roberts
 7    David Scotford
 9     Ellen Buerk
 9     Tom Fey
10    Cindy Satkowski
11    Jean Butterfield
12    Marty Miller
14    Ann Imhoff
15    Mary Caspar
15    Judy Herold
15    Kali (Doka) Satkowski
19    Sara Bailer
19    Judy Cross
19    Dolly Thomas
22    Scott Walter
24    Mickey Preston
25    Marilyn Rettig
26    Steve Flee
27    Cathy Fey
27    Jane Jackson
27    Glenn Rymer
29    Cameron Hay-Rollins
29    Steve Snyder
30    Kim Logsdon
31    Andy Farler
 
January Jumbles

January is National
Bath Safety, Blood Donor, Braille Literacy, Hobby, Hot Tea, Mentoring, Oatmeal, (I like mine in cookie form) Slow Cooking and Soup
Month
 
Jan. 9: Venus and Saturn in close morning conjunction. The two planets will shine close together, separated by just 0.3 degrees in the predawn morning sky - a lovely sight! (Reminder: Your fist held at arm's length is about 10 degrees wide.)
 
Mark Twain was born on the day of the appearance of Halley's Comet in 1835, and died on the day of its next appearance in 1910.
 
Two hats were hanging on a hat rack in the hallway. One hat said to the other: 'You stay here; I'll go on a head.' 
 
90% of US skyscrapers do away with floor number 13, according to reports by the Otis Elevator Company, the world's largest elevator manufacturers.
 
I have left orders to be awakened at any time in case of national emergency, even if I'm in a cabinet meeting.  Ronald Reagan
 
Question of the month:
(you may need to get pencil and paper, I'll wait.....................)
A ship anchored in a port has a ladder that hangs over the side. The length of the ladder is 200cm, the distance between each rung in 20cm and the bottom rung touches the water. The tide rises at a rate of 10cm an hour. When will the water reach the fifth rung?
 
As always, as you search for the answer, somewhere in the newsletter, read every word!  You'll enjoy it!
 

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lawrence
FROM OUR PASTOR
Full Article
 
(Listening to the Heartbeat of God will return next month.  In January we have Pastor Lawrence's Annual Report)

Here at the threshold of 2016 & 2017, a surge of gratitude washes over me as I look back over the last twelve months.  I marvel at how the Holy Spirit drew us together.  As we lived and made plans for the future according to our human perspective of time (Kronos), the Lord was already at work in an entirely different dimension of time (Kairos).  God's handiwork became clear when, late this summer, you called me to be your next pastor.  Then and now, I couldn't be more humbled and enthusiastic to join you on your journey of faith.

I characterize our first months together as a time infused with an invigorating and joyful sense of connection.  For example, some weeks ago in a sermon I shared the story of how the members of Iona Community in Scotland marked the passage of time by gathering one stone a year.  When these individuals died, their stones were buried in the chapel floor as a legacy of their faithfulness.  
Immediately after worship, a member of the Oxford Presbyterian Church (OPC) family asked me if I had yet heard about the circle of Scottish stones in the formal gardens.  I learned that in the middle of this circle is a memorial to the second pastor of OPC and first president of Miami, Robert Hamilton Bishop who himself was born outside of Edinburgh, Scotland.
         The next morning as I returned from an early walk, I stopped to visit the formal gardens.  As I came to the memorial whose form closely resembles a Celtic cross, I recognized the locations from which many of the stones were gathered as places I have also visited.  I felt a deepening connection between my formative time in Scotland many years ago and now in ministry with you in Oxford, OH.  Walking around the circle, I appreciated even more the historical connection between OPC and Miami University.  Before turning to leave, I began to discern one more connection.  Our faithful heritage as a congregation is present with us now.  It is our present heritage that calls us into our future.
         Consider with me the initiatives underway in which our faithful heritage is so present and calling us to follow the Holy Spirit into the future:
  • Out of commission a year ago, the first floor of the Seminary once again hosts congregational fellowship activities, community dinners, rummage sales, cookie walks, blood drives and much more.  In the next year, generous gifts of time, expertise and finances will allow us to turn our attention to restoring the second floor of the Seminary so that it may again be a place of connection through worship, fellowship and assemblies.
  • In January 2017, we will set off on our Journey Through the Bible.  This ambitious endeavor will connect us with the scripture that has guided our congregation for nearly 200 years and the church of Christ for nearly 2000 years.  We will meet together for Bible Study and Discussion Series following worship on Sundays.  We will also gather for forums on moral themes connecting scripture with our contemporary times and our missional response.
         I couldn't be more hopeful about our future as we prepare to celebrate the congregation's "first" bicentennial in 2018.  
         I couldn't be more grateful to work in this ministry alongside the members of OPC, passionate about and dedicated to our mission of seeking God, serving others, and sharing Christ's love with all.  Every day is a blessing to work with Bridgite Dickerson as Administrative Assistant, Sue Skillings as Treasurer, Linda Hesford as Financial Secretary and Mitch Hardy as Youth Group Director.  Every Sunday, I feel so privileged to lead worship with such a gifted team including Kent Peterson, Lynn Jacobs, the extraordinary OPC choir and all of you who serve as liturgists.
My sense of growing connection in these short months is a testimony to your very gracious and generous welcome extended to me and my family.  Thank you once again.
         Yours in Christ,
         Pastor Lawrence

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We welcome your feedback on the newsletter. We CRAVE your feedback as if it were chocolate  What is missing from the newsletter that you would like to see?  Let me know.  Thanks, nancy.  moeckenj@miamioh.edu (and here is your bonus for reading this section:  What did the buffalo say when his son went off to college?  Bison)