Private German Language Schools

The church classes usually met on Saturday morning and were therefore known as Saturday schools. The teacher was a clergyman who had been born and bred abroad and who was interested in preserving German-language services. Since the pupils were the children of members of the congregation, who would later on be confirmed, the reading material provided usually consisted of Bible stories. Portions of the catechism were memorized and hymns were sung. There was no question of credit. Some of these Saturday schools were large enough to require two or three classes. Generally, however, they consisted of only one session. Their effectiveness depended on the pedagogic abilities of the pastor who was a native but not always a trained teacher. With the decline of German services, due to the passing away of the older generation and the impact of two World Wars, these Saturday schools have almost ceased

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