Church continues area’s long-running holiday tradition
A putz from a previous year at the Sharon Moravian Church in New Philadelphia.
Sharon Moravian Church near Tuscarawas will continue one of the longest-running holiday traditions in the state when they again present their Moravian Christmas Putz Dec. 8-28. The first putz presentation began at the church in 1966 and has missed just two years since.
A putz is a Moravian custom, and the word, which has origins in the German “putzen,” means to shine up or polish. In this case the word has 16th-century derivations meaning “to decorate” and is strongly associated with the decoration of churches. Eventually a group of stationary figures used to illustrate the first Christmas manger scene took on the name putz, and just such a scene will be a part of the Sharon Moravian event.
“It takes close to 20 people to put this together,” said Melissa Shamel, of the church and one of the putz organizers this year. “The presentations are about 20 minutes long and begin every 20-25 minutes or so for each of the evenings.”
The putz can be seen free of charge at the church Dec. 8, 9, 15, 16, 21, 22, 23, 28, 29 and 30 from 7-9 p.m. and Dec. 10 and 17 from 2-4 p.m.
“There are 14 small scenes in total at each 20-minute performance,” Shamel said.
Lynn Richman, also of Sharon Moravian, has deep family ties in the beginnings of the putz at the church. Richman showed newspaper clippings from the first event.
“These are my grandparents,” he said, pointing out the images, “and here are my parents.”
Richman said the putz began in 1966 by the then-pastor Rev. William Matz. “He saw similar Christmas putz presentations in Pennsylvania and brought the tradition here,” Richman said.
Matz coordinated the first year’s putz, designed the presentation and wrote the script. The presentation remains mostly unchanged since.
“We’ve recorded our choir for it, and there have been other small changes,” Shamel said.
Richman said the first putz took many hours of research and effort to bring together. “One really great thing is the presentation of the night sky,” he said. “They took the time to discover how the stars were placed in the sky 2,000 years ago and replicated that in the scenes.”
The putz consists of music and narration with scenes made up of hand-carved wooden figures, almost all from Oberammergau, Germany, noted for its carvings and as home to one of the world’s oldest-running passion plays.
Many other figures used come from the Holy Land, Shamel explained. The 14 scenes are revealed in increments throughout the presentation.
Shamel said the putz also is available for special presentations for groups who request it, noting that area schools brought classes to the church to see it in years past.
Richman said the putz will typically bring 300 or more people each year to Sharon Moravian Church.
The putz is constructed of wood, metal, rocks, greens and moss. The putz features music and narration. Scenes include Morning Star, The Heavens, The Angel of the Lord, The Birth, The Journey, Jerusalem and The Church.
Shamel pointed out visitors need not stay for the entirety of the two scheduled hours and should remember that the 20-minute presentations run throughout the scheduled times.
For more information or to schedule a special presentation, call Sharon Moravian at 740-922-5507. Sharon Moravian Church is located at 4776 Moravian Church Road SE, New Philadelphia.