Regarding the use German vs. English in church services . . . at my mother's congregation in Iowa the church services were completely in German until World War I. She told me that during the war there was concern about appearing too "German", and they switched to having English services instead of German. The church centennial history book has a statement to that effect also. And having looked at the original church record books, I can tell you that prior to World War I the records are all written in German. During the War they suddenly switch to English. My mother (born in 1916) first learned to speak German rather than English, but she was the eldest of her siblings and the only one who ever learned German. Her sister born in 1918 only learned English. Her parents were of German descent and were Lutheran (although her mother had Brethren ancestors) and were not recent immigrants at all. One line came over in the 1700s, and the others in the 1850s-1870s. However they all spoke primarily German until World War I.