Languages in Church Services
Languages in Church Services.—English is used by 85 per cent of all religious organizations in their church services. A recent bulletin of the United States census shows that the vast number of foreign birth and language which have come to these shores have adopted the English language. Had this not been the case there would be many more services in foreign tongues. Seventy-seven denominations, however, use the German language also, 25 the American Indian languages, 22 Norwegian, 21 Swedish, 19 Danish, 15 French, 13 Italian. There are 41 individual languages tabulated in church worship; New York alone uses 29 of these; Pennsylvania comes next with 28; Illinois with 26; Ohio with 24. Five other states report 21 each; while three states, South Carolina, Georgia, and Kentucky, report only three languages; and seventeen other states less than 10. This shows that foreign born and alien tongues are not so widely scattered as some might suppose.