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COS Staff at Christmas Party. Back row, L to R: Shelly Jakubwoski, Interim Director of Youth & Family, Ingrid Hudson, Director of Children & Family, Luanne Harms, Director of Contemporary Worship, Brad Milburn, Director of Technology for Worship and Presentations, Laura Hawkins, Interim Director of Communications. Front row, L to R: David Beecher, Minister of Music, Pastor Fritz Wiese, Pastor Miriam Beecher, Barbara Anderson, Director of Connecting Ministries, Linda Volckmann, Office Administrator.
ANSWER KEY
1. Can you name all eight of Santa’s reindeer?
The 1823 poem by Clement C. Moore, A Visit from St. Nicholas (also known as 'Twas the Night Before Christmas), is largely credited for the modern Christmas lore that includes eight named reindeer.
The poem was first published in the Sentinel of Troy, New York on 23 December 1823. All eight reindeer were named, the first six being Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet and Cupid, and the final two "Dunder" and "Blixem" (meaning thunder and lightning in colloquial New York Dutch).[9] The relevant part of the poem reads:
More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,
And he whistled, and shouted, and call'd them by name:
"Now! Dasher, now! Dancer, now! Prancer, and Vixen,
"On! Comet, on! Cupid, on! Dunder and Blixem;
"To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall!
"Now dash away! dash away! dash away all!"
Moore altered the names of the last two reindeer several times; in an early 1860s version of the poem, written as a gift to a friend, they are named "Donder" and "Blitzen" (with revised punctuation and underlined reindeer names).
2. Upon which real person was Santa Claus based? Saint Nicholas
- Tie breaker 1: On what date is he recognized in the Evangelical Book of Worship? Dec 6.
- Tie breaker 2: What office did he hold in the church? Bishop. Of what area? Myra.
- Tie breaker 3: What year is his feast day (day he died and entered the church triumphant)? 342
3. In what country did Gingerbread houses really get popular? Germany
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Tie breaker 1: In what century? 19th century.
- Tie breaker 2: After what special story? Hansel and Gretel.
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Note: The gingerbread house became popular in Germany after the Brothers Grimm published their fairy tale collection which included "Hansel and Gretel" in the 19th century. Early German settlers brought this lebkuchenhaeusle (gingerbread house) tradition to the Americas.
- In December 2001, bakers in Torun, Poland, attempted to beat the Guinness Book of World Records for the largest-ever gingerbread house. It was made in Szczecin, Poland, with 4,000 loaves of brick-shaped gingerbread measuring 11 1/2 feet high. It took a week to create and used 6,000 eggs, a ton of flour, and 550 pounds of shortening. Alas, they lost to an American team.
4. Is the story of Jesus’ birth actually in the Bible? Yes!
- TB1: At the Moravian Love Feast we heard the gospel reading which included the shepherds hearing the angels. From which gospel was it? Luke
- TB 2: Which gospel says the least about Jesus’ birth? (John and Mark both accepted. Open a Bible and check them out)
- TB 3: Which gospel talks of the visitors from the east? Matthew
- TB 4: How many gifts did they bring? We don’t know for sure in total, but three are mentioned.
- TB 5: Who did Mary and Joseph have to escape? Herod
- TB 6: What did they do? Flee to Egypt as refugees.
- TB 7: What verse tells of the gifts of the magi? Matthew 2:11
5. The most important question, which is not “trivia-l” at all: What message did the angels announce on Christmas Eve according to Luke 2? ““Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. 11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. 12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
Let us pray: Dear God. Thanks for the fun and trivial in life, with which we can play games and laugh a little bit. But even more thanks for the essential news which causes us to laugh even more. As the angels put it, your Christmas experience of dissipation of fear, fantastic news, joy, that a Savior with us! In the name of the king whose birth we await afresh, Jesus, Amen.
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