487 words, plus photo attached For release in Columbus Journal March 10, 2018

Gruen’s Watch: A Pastor’s Perspective

Rev. Dietrich Gruen is Bridge Pastor at First Presbyterian Church of Columbus.

MISSING CHILDREN: Seventeen named on a 5-foot tall growth chart as having attended Sunday School classes at the First Presbyterian Church, in the years indicated. Top of our most wanted list are the ringleaders: Josh (1991-94); Amber (1990-94); and Eric (1990-95). Also wanted are their known associates: Shannon & Melanie (1990-92); Ryan, Janice & Nick (1993-94); Matt (1993-95); Stacy (1994-95). Also missing are their sidekicks: Rick (1992); Nathan, Damian, Venessa & Shane (1993); Crissy (1994) and Anna (1995).

DESCRIPTION: No last names on file. No pictures or obvious prints left behind. Just objects they used to play with in class; we are dusting them off for prints and future display. No physical traits in our database, just their respective heights, ranging from the tallest—Chrissy at 5’1” (as of April 17, 1994) to the shortest, Josh at 3’5” (on September 15, 1991). By now these kids are all grown adults in their 30’s. So their appearance will have changed significantly.

LAST SEEN: At First Presbyterian Church (FPC) on the corner of Springs & Mills, in Columbus. No idea where they are now. They could be in the wind—or hiding in plain sight. Given how stable and rooted so many families are in the Columbus area, and knowing so many of you read the Columbus Journal, no doubt someone reading this will recognize one or more names from this list. For example, one detective on our team identified Josh & Amber as belonging to former FPC members, Terry & Jodi Jaynes.

APPROACH with CARE: These kids are not armed or dangerous. They will be surprised we are looking for them. But they will gladly turn themselves in, especially if told they are still loved and appreciated.

REWARD OFFERED: For solid leads or tips, my gratitude and a free meal. For information leading to the round-up of the ringleaders and their associates, a place in our program. The satisfaction of a job well done is another reward. “God rewards those who earnestly seek him” (Hebrews 11:6).

WANTED: For a fun-filled class reunion and Christian fellowship at First Presbyterian Church on April 15. Some 150 years ago, on April 12, 1868, this church was first built on the corner of Spring & Mills Streets. Of course, any church is more than its building. Other area churches have come and gone since, but pieces of their respective buildings have been added into the church that still stands on that location. So, in effect, many churches live on in this celebration FPC, as a congregation of Christians, was actually founded 23 years earlier, in 1845, making it the oldest church in the County.

The building & its members beckon, the food & fun call out: Josh, Amber, Eric, Ryan, Janice, Nick, Stacy, Shannon, Melanie, Matt, Rick, Nathan, Damian, Venessa, Shane, Crissy, and Anna—are you out there? Please turn yourself in and email me at dgruen@chorus.net .

-30-

486 words For release in Columbus Journal March 17, 2018

Gruen’s Watch: A Pastor’s Perspective

Rev. Dietrich Gruen is Bridge Pastor at First Presbyterian Church of Columbus.

My APB for 17 missing children—all wanted by First Presbyterian—resulted in two sightings and the discovery of a 178-year-old family tree , full of life and legacy of faith.

Little Josh, last seen in our Sunday School in the 1990’s pushing just 4-ft tall, now fills the door at church, to say: I am one of the "missing children" you have been searching for! … I was tagged in your article (Columbus Journal, March 10, 2018) and found it very interesting! I currently live in Columbus, downtown. My sister is Amber and three cousins are Ryan, Damian, and Nick, also named in the article.

One other lost-and-found child writes: Not sure if I am who you are looking for. My name is Christina Henning and I always went by Chrissy growing up. I always came to church with my Grandmother Lois and Grandfather Kenneth Jones. I took communion classes and was confirmed. I still have my picture from that day. Instantly I picture the Apostle Paul’s tagline for Timothy: “I am reminded of your sincere faith which first lived in your grandmother Lois” (emphasis mine, 2 Timothy 1:5).

Joshua and Chrissy, I later learn, are both related to a family tree of Jones’s at First Presbyterian. Such serendipity leads me and our church historian, Barb Isham, to rummage our church archives for the Jones connection. Shaking the tree reveals the Jones family founded, built and helped govern this church ever since 1845.

This family’s 173-year history with our church is not unique, as the Roberts’s legacy could be similarly traced. In the Joshua-Chrissy-Jones legacy, I discover Rev. John P. Jones, who conducts “the first religious service” in the Welsh Prairie Territory (Columbia County), on July 6, 1845, three years before Wisconsin became a State. Six months later, a Rev. Hugh Jones becomes the first settled pastor. Eventually, these Christ-followers build a church and dedicate it on April 12, 1868. The 150^th anniversary of that building we celebrate on April 15, 2018.

After pastors John and Hugh Jones, the Rev. David H Jones pastors our church (1891-94), followed two generations later by the Rev. E. Edwin Jones (pastor, 1938-44). Jones family members have also served as Ruling Elders: e.g., another John P. Jones (1970’s to 1990’s) and Margaret Jones (1970’s to 1990’s). Church records for that 25-year period indicate the baptism, confirmation, marriage and death of 24 different Jones family members.

Extending the faith from family to family, generation to generation, from cradle to grave—what a blessing and legacy. “The rest is history,” as they say, but First Presbyterian Church will not rest until it finds more “old” family connections and forges new ones. Two of seventeen missing “kids” have been found, but we look for more to keep up with the Jones’s. Continuing the Jones family connection—Amber, Ryan, Damian, Nick— you’ve been outed. Please turn yourself in to me at dgruen@chorus.net .

-30-

610 words For release in Columbus Journal March 24, 2018

Gruen’s Watch: A Pastor’s Perspective

Rev. Dietrich Gruen is Bridge Pastor at First Presbyterian Church of Columbus. Reach him at dgruen@chorus.net

The 150^th Anniversary Celebration of worship in our building is set for April 15, 2018. While laudable, even more fascinating is what first compels area believers to build four new worship centers—one every few years—to accommodate their swelling ranks.

Sunday July 6, 1845, marks the first religious ‘ceremony’ in the Welsh Prairie District, with six men and one woman present. By 1856, regular Sunday worship is hosted by Uriah Davies (now Davies Park). By 1868, “class meetings” are hosted in a downtown store. On April 12, 1868, the church opens on our present site (157 N Spring Street) with 27 members; by year’s end 41. Four Welsh branch churches build new spaces throughout the 1860’s. After completing one log cabin church, they outgrow it and build another. As families join, they hew two logs: one for a wall and one to sit on.

But three of those once thriving churches are no longer with us, except for one branch, First Presbyterian Church. What moves those early Welsh pioneers of the faith and settlers of the area to organize and build then, 70 years later, take down those same church buildings and furnishings and consolidate into one?

The “Columbus Revival” of 1860, documented by local church historian Barb Isham, causes sudden expansion. Two spiritual revivals sweeping America in the 1850-60’s also offer impetus: First, the so-called Businessmen's Revival of 1857-58, aka the “Great Prayer Meeting Revival”; also the Civil War Revival of 1861-65. The Welsh Revival of 1904-05, rooted mostly in Pennsylvania and out East, could also have touched churches in Wisconsin.

Of the four initial Welsh churches in the Columbus area, only ‘Nazareth’ (First Presbyterian Church) survives the Fundamentalist-Modernist controversies of the 1920’s and 30’s. The other three soon close—Salem (1920), Moriah (1924), and the mother church Bethel (1929). Interestingly, materials and furnishings of their buildings are added to Nazareth FPC, which thrives four more decades. FPC peaks at 238 members in 1969, but drops to 133 by 1977 and 29 by 2017. Is this just part of the large decline in mainline churches since 1970? Or is something else afoot?

FPC-Columbus considers closing in 2002, but rejects that motion by one vote. Last Sunday 34 attend worship, which speaks to the tenacity of this church. I’m researching for FPC why some churches die, while others thrive amidst adversity and controversy. Returning to roots that bear fruit in changed lives and embracing a future mission enlivened by a fresh wind of the Spirit—that’s our legacy and destiny.

Keys to the Welsh community are their tenacity of faith, rooted in prayer, Sunday School, and family. They grew their own pastors and church leaders. Many Welsh families in the Columbus area can trace their roots for 6 or 7 generations. The Jones family tree extending 173 years from Day One until now—including four pastors serving our church—is typical of that era.

The Welsh cannot help but express their genuine faith in Jesus from generation to generation. For its first 93 years, worshippers at our church speak and sing only in Welsh. A Welsh song will open our Anniversary Celebration April 15. Welsh or not, Jones or not, all are welcome.

‘Kids’ once lost to us are returning. Their (grand)parents, too. Former member or not, this historic event will interest you. Former pastors will share. History buffs will enjoy museum-like displays. Though numerically now a very small congregation, FPC of Columbus gathers before a “great cloud of witnesses, encouraged to run the race set before us” (Hebrews 12:1). A new ‘growth chart,’ beside the childhood one discovered from the 1990’s, bodes well for growing this church, again.

-30-

Marlys Weihert, born in 1928, was a child for ten years before this “Welsh-only” congregation began worship services in English. (By 1942, all services would be in English.) Being 100% Welsh and just one grandparent removed from the roots we celebrate this April 15^th, her memories touch history and touch lives. She writes:

I remember when my church was the Nazareth Presbyterian Church, the United Presbyterian Church, and now the First Presbyterian Church. Aka the Welsh Church.

Getting ready for Sunday school classes started on Saturday at my house. Shoes had to be polished and our Sunday clothes laid out to assure they were fit to wear to God’s house. No blue jeans or shorts in those days; only our best would do. Living on a farm with no running water meant getting the galvanized tub next to the kitchen stove before filling it with hot water for our Saturday night bath and hair-washing.

As little work as possible was done on Sunday, as the Bible taught: “Six days thou shall labor and do all your work.” The seventh day was meant for rest. Animals had to be fed and cared for, but most of the work waited for Monday. This was a sacred rule in my family.

I remember the children during the service were called to the front and stood on the steps. They were expected to learn a verse from the Bible and recite it each Sunday before the congregation.

I remember when every pew was filled and chairs set up in back and down the aisle. This wasn’t just for special services but for most Sundays.

I remember attending church Sunday morning, afternoon and evening, also the Prayer Meetings held every Wednesday evening. As a teen, we attended Christian Endeavor at 7:00pm Sunday, then church at 8:00pm.

I remember how music was a huge part of our worship service. (The Welsh love to sing in 4-part harmony.) Our choir will be remembered for its many concerts and outstanding voices. (I sang in choir for 75 years.)

I remember when our church sponsored those youth who wanted to attend church camp. I recall my first year attending camp called Lake Beulah, near Wales, WI. Then afterwards to a Baptist camp on Green Lake. (These are some of my best memories from my teenage years.) Upon our return all campers were expected to stand in the pulpit, relate their experience and tell that benefits we felt we had received.

I remember how we would have a church picnic out to Fireman’s Park in the summer. All types of games would be played and later the men and boys would play a raucous game of baseball.

I remember how active and how much fun the youth of the church had going on hayrides and sleigh rides, roller-skating, wiener roasts, scavenger hunts, etc. Of course, we would invite friends so we would end up with a large group returning to church for lunch and more fun.

I remember when schools would not schedule athletic events, because Wednesday night was a church night. Now I understand this is no longer the practice which, no doubt, explains in part why we see so few young people in church after they are confirmed. Now it saddens me to see so many sporting events scheduled on Sunday, keeping entire families away from Sunday worship.

I remember through the years when First Presbyterian had a very robust men’s group, a young couples group, a large wonderful Senior choir as well as Junior choir, a ‘bursting-at-the-seams’ Sunday School, an active teen group, and many in the Ladies Aid group, now called Presbyterian Women. P.W. remains active, but small.

I remember all the church suppers and salad luncheons, all the Mother-Daughter Banquets and other socials.

►My memories scan a lifetime, as I am now in my so-called “twilight years.” But my memories do not discourage me from having dreams for the future revival of First Presbyterian Church here in Columbus.