The Transition from German to English

Old customs and traditions are difficult to change and so it was with the German language at Trinity.  It was no easy decision to change to English, but without this change, the church would have lost more and more of the younger people, especially when English became their primary language.  It would have also severely hindered Trinity’s mission of spreading the Gospel if noone could understand what was being said.

A meeting was held after church one Sunday to discuss the matter.  An old German man accused the congregation of “throwing the old folks in the oven.”  The Pastor at the time replied, “No, we don’t want to through the old folks in the oven, but neither do we want to throw the younger members into the fire.”  The pastor promised that German services would be available to the Germans as long as they lived and the pastor’s promise was kept by the congregation.  From 1904 through 1944 there was a slow transition from mostly German to mostly English services.  The last German service was a Communion Service held on Christmas day 1944.

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