Germans began immigrating to Penn's-Woods in the late 1600s and have been here for a long time.

            Nearing the end of World War I, Americans of German Heritage started to hide

Rev. Calvin Delong

their culture.

            In March 1918, area clergymen confronted the topic of whether or not to continue to conduct their services in the Pennsylvania-German (Pennsylvania Dutch) dialect or to convert to the use of English language only.

            In many cases, preaching in the Pennsylvania-German dialect was not exclusive and was only performed once or twice a month.  English prevailed for most services.

            Some members of the clergy feared that eliminating the dialect altogether would alienate the older members of the church – who happened to be the largest donors at the time. 

Helen Martin

            However, keeping the dialect for services kept younger members away from the church because they didn't understand it.  It was an interesting dilemma of the time, worthy of hearing the opinions of those involved.

            Most churches in Montgomery County had already dropped the use of the dialect in their services because of the war with Germany.   Around the upper end of the county, older residents weren't in a hurry to change.  After all, they were reared and confirmed in the dialect.

            Dr. O. S. Kriebel, principal of Perkiomen School and pastor of the Palm Schwenkfelder Church, said, "All German services in our churches should be discontinued for the present, at least, and probably during the entire period of the war as a matter of loyalty and patriotism."

            Rev. Cyrus E. Held, of Sumneytown's St. John's Lutheran Church, commented

Rev. William Kistler

that "It is not the language we are fighting but the ideal … Older members of the congregation demand the German and as the older members are the financial backing of the church it's a question of the church's survival." 

            But he believed there would be better attendance in church if the services were conducted in English.  St. John's was holding services in the Pennsylvania-German dialect once a month at the time.

            Rev. William Kistler, pastor of the Lutheran congregations at St. Mark's Church in Pennsburg and St. John's Church in Spinnerstown, always advocated for the use of English in his services, saying, "I hail the day with great pleasure when our congregations will demand the services of the Gospel in English."

Rev. Cyrus Held

            Rev. Calvin Delong, pastor of New Goshenhoppen Church, said that, "As far as I'm concerned I prefer preaching German to English but I do believe there would be considerable opposition to eliminating the German from the services from the older members of the congregation." 

            New Goshenhoppen was holding English services twice a month at the time.

            Just before World War II, when Germany was flexing its muscle in Europe, the embarrassment of Americans surfaced again.  Rev. Delong spoke at an event in New Goshenhoppen Park, reminding the Pennsylvanians of German ancestry that they were Americans.  He took to task an author who wrote about the negative aspects of Pennsylvania-German life; in particular the Amish and Mennonites – the Plain People.

            Helen Martin published novels and short stories between 1896 and 1939.  She focused on the oppression of women in the rural Pennsylvania-German society.  She used them to critique their society and advance her feminist viewpoint because their culture was unfamiliar to most Americans.  Her works created negative stereotypes of the Pennsylvania-Germans.

            At the gathering, Rev. Delong spoke about the life and qualities of the Pennsylvania-Germans.  He said, "The books of Helen Martin are true in a sense but the writer speaks only of the weaknesses of the Pennsylvania-Germans and thus in their final effect the writings are totally false by reason of what is left unsaid.  Miss Martin's works are guilty of a great sin of omission.  They and the works of other writers in the field give a distorted picture of Pennsylvania-German life, producing for outsiders a false impression of these people. In spite of all these published stories and books on the subject, the true story of the Pennsylvania-Germans remains to be written."