The ongoing saga of Zion Lutheran’s debate between English and German services m
The ongoing saga of Zion Lutheran’s debate between English and German services mirrored similar struggles in other Lutheran churches in America. German had been the language of the church and the people. It was a part of their heritage and who they were. Many Lutherans saw the preservation of the German language as being analogous to the ever necessary battle to preserve confessional Lutheran beliefs and practices while living in the midst of a very different culture with a specifically protestant, American flavor. Some of their retention of the language was just stubbornness.[1]
Records
Most of the church’s earliest records and decisions remain, though extant, inaccessible to us as they were recorded in a German script which is obsolete today even in Germany. There are only a few experts who can still translate the antiquated German script. From the early days, English words and phrases found their way into the minutes, but not until the mid-1930s did English reign within the church minutes. In 1935, the minutes of the voters’ assembly meetings were finally set down in English rather than German.[1]
Worship Services
The German use within the worship services was a different matter. The earliest extant records of the debate date back to October 7, 1906, when Pastor Herman Meier asked the congregation’s permission to allow him to introduce English worship services again in the future every 3rd week on Sunday evenings. The minutes record that the congregation “consented with pleasure.” The reasons recorded were the necessity of reaching out to the non-German speaking element of the community. What was meant by the inclusion of the phrase ‘again’ is difficult to say. Had English services been tried before and disbanded? If so, for what reasons? Lack of attendance perhaps, or maybe some other reason.
Compromise was reached again as, for a long time, English and German were then used on alternating Sundays. This seemed a fair solution to the problem except for the fact that a great number of the young people, who learned English in school, didn’t understand German. Many recalled, when they were young, going to worship on Sunday morning and enduring an entire service without being able to understand anything that was being spoken or sung. When asked what they would do then, “daydream” was the most common response. Clearly there remained a problem.
The problem was temporarily resolved by historical circumstances. On January 2, 1942, it was decided by a meeting of the congregation to drop German in public services during the duration of the war. Anti-German sentiment never seemed to be as pronounced in Alva as in so many other communities throughout the United States. Perhaps the closeness of Alva, along with its being relatively isolated and therefore intra-dependence with the community accounts for this fact. None of the older generation can recollect serious threats during either World War. Certainly there were incidents; people on party telephone lin