The Locust Grove congregation experienced numerous changes and tensions during the second and third decades of its existence. Most of these involved decisions about lifestyle and practical issues that were significant because they symbolized expressions of faithful Christian obedience and discipleship. While issues like buttons versus hooks and eyes, the use of English as opposed to the German language, and involvement in higher education may seem trivial to later generations, to early leaders, these were the very important expressions of their spiritual faithfulness. By their withdrawal from the more progressive Mennonite congregations at Allensville and Belleville, the charter members had blazed an identity which was neither Amish nor progressively Mennonite. Lifestyle changes, especially those seen as more progressive, threatened to undermine that earlier basis for existence and severely tested the grace of the members. Spiritual maturity and God's indwelling presence enabled many members to have the grace necessary to relate peaceably with each other through these distressing times.

During these decades, the younger generation that had not been involved in the original formation of the church, grew older and faced issues in new ways. The world of the 1920's was very different from world of their parents in the 1890's. Travel, communication, and other implications of World War I sparked cultural changes even within the relatively isolated context of the Amish Mennonite community of Kishacoquillas Valley. The younger generation grew up with a preference for the English language instead of the German language of their parents. They experienced the introduction of many technological improvements like the automobile, electricity, and radios to mention only a few. They tasted the benefits of change and were not as inclined to resist those changes as their parents and grandparents were.

German to English

At the first meeting of the Conservative Amish Mennonite Conference in 1910, one of five questions discussed by the group of five ordained ministers was, "What can we do to maintain the German language?" The main speaker on this question was Jonas D. Yoder from Locust Grove who spoke in German. However, to clinch his point, he ended his speech with the English adage, "And brethren, let us practice what we preach." The irony of this conclusion drew the only laugh from the serious audience in the entire two days of deliberation.

The ministers did, however, use gracious flexibility in this matter during funerals. The first sermon preached in English at Locust Grove was at the funeral of Levi Zook, nephew of Abraham Zook, on November 11, 1910. The English was tolerated because Levi's wife Mabel (Manbeck) could not understand the German language. Jonas D. Yoder, while visiting in Greenwood, Delaware around 1918 was asked to preach a funeral sermon in English because the family could not understand German. He complied with the request. Friends and neighbors from the community later commented that it was the best sermon that they had ever heard.

Later, as the 1920's were coming to an end, many of the young people were less fluent in German and preferred English. Jonas D. Yoder admitted at a meal in the Amos Glick home in 1929 that he felt sorry for the young people who could not understand German sermons very well. About that time he began mixing an increasing amount of English words in his German sermons. Consequently, young people were known to have said, as Norman Yoder and his sister Barbara (Yoder) Peachey remember commenting on the way to church, "I hope Jonas preaches today." Jonas switched exclusively to English first and Sam T. Yoder was next. Minister John B. Zook, ordained in 1932, never preached a sermon in German, and by 1934, all sermons were in English.

Deacon Ben Glick, however, continued to read his devotional passage of Scripture from the large German Bible on the pulpit throughout his entire ministry until his death in 1949. He never wavered from his use of the German language in public worship. He even used the German Bible exclusively in his private Bible reading until late in his life when a Sunday school superintendent gave him an English Bible.

And so the change in languages was a symbol of the passing of a generation. As the congregation selected and trusted a new generation of leaders, it made peace with the change from German to English. And while the change did test the congregation for a little while, ultimately the grace and unity of the congregation persevered.

Automobiles

In 1910 Jonathan (Yone) Hooley had paid a mechanic in Reedsville to build him a "horseless carriage". The vehicle had a handle for steering instead of a steering wheel. At that time he was not given permission to park it outside the church building. He typically parked it at the home of Joe Z. Yoder (now owned by Paul Bender) and walked the rest of the way to church. He was also required to remove the top or roof of the vehicle. The requirement for automobiles to be roofless was maintained until one of the ministers was caught in a car without a top during a heavy rain.

Two years later Dave Peachey, who was an auctioneer, bought a car. He was given permission to park it outside the fence which circled the perimeter of the church property.

Long time member of the church, Sadie Byler, who died recently, enjoyed reminiscing about the time she first saw an automobile. She was riding in a carriage with her father and Sam T. Yoder when Sam T. said, "Look, there is a buggy without a horse!" She remembered that early cars were quite noisy and horses were often frightened by them. Occasionally horses would run off the road into a field when a car came, unless they were restrained by their driver.

By 1918 more members of the church had purchased cars and they became more accepted by the congregation. Car owners were by then permitted to park them on the church property.

Bishop John L. Mast was the next to last member of Locust Grove to buy a car. He purchased his in 1929 at 60 years of age. Driving presented a challenge, especially getting used to using the clutch. Teenaged boys during the 1930's enjoyed watching the gravel fly when their Bishop drove out of the church yard.

The last person to replace his buggy with a car was Amos Glick. His reluctance to change was the brunt of a practical joke when two teenaged boys put his buggy on top of the buggy shed roof. Although Amos purchased a car, he didn't drive it. His son, Vernon, drove it for him.

The coming of the cars meant that some items on the church grounds were no longer needed. The "hopping block" was a set of steps outside the church entrance next to the parking lot. It was used by women and children to get into their buggies. Early in the 1920's it was removed because it was no longer needed.

However, the buggy sheds were not so easily removed. Their eventual removal became the cause for serious tensions within the congregation.

The buggy sheds had been erected in the parking lot adjacent to the church building soon after the church building was constructed. They were built to shelter the horses and to keep the carriages dry. Most Amish Mennonite congregations, after building church buildings, provided some facility to shelter their horses when they could no longer use the barns of church members who hosted the services in their homes. At Locust Grove individual members paid for and maintained their own section of the buggy shed. On April 19, 1925 a tornado blew the roof off an entire row of sheds and left it lying on the road. A heavy snow, also during the mid 1920's, destroyed some of the roofs. After these storms, each family cooperated in maintaining and restoring their own section of the buggy sheds.

As members purchased cars, the buggy sheds became unnecessary. However, since the sheds were owned and maintained by church members, their use or dismantling was not to be determined by the congregation or by the ministers. Eventually the buggy sheds became used for disrespectful purposes. They became a loitering place. Their usual need for cleaning was evidenced by a foul odor. Homeless men, sometimes called "bums" or "tramps," often found refuge in the sheds.

In the early 1920's a popular fad among the local young men was to install cutouts on their cars which bypassed the muffler, providing more power and also more noise. The state law did not permit this. At that time police used motorcycles instead of cars. One policeman discovered that the buggy sheds provided a perfect place to hide along the road and wait for guys with cutouts or others who were breaking the speed limit. He even cut a diamond shaped hole in the shed nearest the church to provide a lookout down the road.

By the late 1930's and early 1940's the buggy sheds had become a symbol of the tension within the congregation between the generations. Several older members resisted dismantling them. Several younger members misused them. In the fall of 1936, Preacher Jonas D. Yoder reportedly told Harv Hostetler that he was planning to take down his section of the buggy sheds the following spring and he thought that other members would follow his example. But he died that February and his buggy shed remained standing. Later Bishop Emanuel B. Peachey was known to have commented on several occasions that he wished the buggy sheds would be dismantled.

One morning, in the fall of 1941, the congregation discovered that someone had secretly removed the supporting posts on one section of buggy sheds. Members participated in dismantling that row, but tensions heated when no one claimed responsibility. Later someone else removed the supports from another section of sheds. Eventually all the sheds were dismantled. Church trustees at the time included Tom Byler, Jake Hartzler, and Rudy Yoder. Many people erroneously blamed them for secretly destroying the sheds. Controversy surrounding the incident escalated to the point that Rudy Yoder's membership in the Dutch Shanty Hunting Club was revoked. Sadly, he died three years later, still blamed by some members, and with the issue unresolved.

The suspicion, resentment, and blame continued for several years. Finally, one of the persons who was responsible for the initial dismantling, made a new commitment to God during an evangelistic crusade. The next Sunday he confessed to the congregation his role in removing the posts. The contention quickly died down when those who were the most upset about the removal of the sheds realized they had blamed the wrong individuals.

Through the entire situation many learned the importance of not resisting needed changes. Many also realized the destructiveness of suspicion and accusation within the congregation. They saw for themselves the importance of achieving and maintaining good relationships with their fellow church members. This important and enduring theme continues to be highly valued within the congregation to this day. In the end, grace once again preserved the unity of the congregation, although it was severely tested.

Church Discipline

Deacon Ben Glick was responsible to enforce the standards of the church. He drove his buggy to the home of errant church members and confronted them in private. Eva Kauffman remembered the day he came to her house after she exchanged her square-crowned bonnet for a round one. Deacon Glick also asked Ezra Kauffman not to wear his new double-breasted suit for his baptism. Many times members responded graciously to his sincere concern and simple appeals. Other times the response was not as charitable as when one young man was confronted about his use of the radio. He received an indirect rebuke, "We are having trouble with radios." He pretended to miss the point in his response, "Mine is working fine."

Communion time in the fall and spring represented times for clarifying and enforcing church standards. A council meeting always preceded the communion service by one week. During this service, the bishop would read the church discipline and remind the members which practices to avoid. Members were then asked to indicate by nodding their heads if they were in agreement and if they were prepared for communion.

During the 1940's and 1950's the ministers read the discipline statement during council meeting, a copy of which is quoted below.

Grace unto you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. We thank God for you dear brethren and sisters in Christ; for your works of faith and love. May the Spirit of God unite and bind us together in one body, of which Christ is the head.

Dearly beloved, our God whom we serve is a holy God. Therefore, it is very important that we who are redeemed from sin, unto God, discipline and conduct our lives as becometh holiness. 1 Peter 1:15,16, "But as he is holy, so be ye holy, in all manner of conversation." 1 Peter 2:9-11. "But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people, that ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light."

Dearly beloved, we beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul. Having your conversation honest among the Gentiles, that, whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works which they behold, glorify God in the day of visitation. James 4:4 God says that friendship of this world is enmity with God. Whosoever therefore is the friend of the world is enemy of God. Therefore, it is of the utmost importance that we be separate from the world, and that we are conformed to the image of the Son of God, in life, in conduct, in appearance, and all manner of conversation, as becometh all followers of God.

Therefore, we recommend that the brethren refrain from participating in worldly organizations, politics, life insurance, and the use of tobacco. We appeal to the brethren to refrain from unnecessary loafing, and taking part in gossiping, slandering, and swearing. We also recommend that the brethren separate themselves in appearances, to refrain from wearing white dress trousers, and white dress shoes, and the latest fashionable wearing apparel. We recommend the absence of a tie and we appeal to you brethren to wear the regulation coat, please. We recommend that the Bible be read and that you pray daily with your families and that you support the program of the church with your material means, your presence, and your prayers, submitting yourselves to one another, and to God, in the fear of God; not forsaking the assembling of yourselves in each and every assembly possible.

And to you sisters, that you likewise be separate from the world and be conformed to Christ, in conduct, in appearance, and in all manner of conversation, that your adorning be not the outward adorning of the plating of the hair and the wearing of gold or of putting on of apparel, but let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptable, even the ornament of a meek and a quiet spirit which in the sight of God is of great price.

We commend you for wearing the cape and encourage you to continue to do so. We recommend that the young sisters wear the cape at their socials. We also commend you for wearing the covering. We encourage you to continue to wear it. We also recommend that you sisters dress modest, both in the kind of material and cut of the dress, modest in length. We recommend that you refrain from wearing lace and unnecessary trimmings. We also recommend that you wear dark stockings and no white dress shoes and as a head gear, we recommend and encourage you to wear the bonnet, with strings or a band and that you refrain from worldly and fashionable hairdo's.

All members of the Locust Grove congregation that participate in wearing anklets, separate waist and skirt, or gold for display, going to the dance, or attending the theaters, or participating in the military program, including the band, or persist in indulging in intoxicating drinks, or members who are guilty of misconduct on church premises, shall be under church censure.

Brethren and sisters in Christ, we commend you to God and to the word of his grace, may the supreme law of Christian love hold full sway in our lives as we labor and pray together for the salvation of souls and for the edifying of the body of Christ, that when our Lord doth come, we will be found watching and waiting for his coming. May our walk, and conversation be such that we, and all our little ones will be found faithful when our Lord doth come.

Clear standards and prompt confrontation of the disobedient provided definite and secure boundaries of identification and the clear expectation of faithful obedience to Jesus Christ. However, many standards dealt with issues of appearance, habits, and actions and did not adequately confront priorities of the heart and genuine spiritual fervency. Members who tended to compromise standards have always pointed at the inconsistencies of the more traditional members who lived in impeccable external conformity to the standards, but who demonstrated unbiblical attitudes and values. This concern led Erie, as bishop, to revise the discipline statement to address devotional habits and the need for inner spiritual life, growth, and holiness. His revision highlighted the following seven points as scriptural standards for the congregation.

1. That each one have experienced a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, and be certain that all past sins have been forgiven.
2. That each one is experiencing a daily fellowship with God through his Word, and in prayer.
3. That the head of each home be responsible to see that the family have a period of daily family devotion.
4. That each one live in peace with our brothers and sisters and not allow anything to mar our fellowship with God and one another.
5. That we be obedient to God and his Word. Jesus says, "If ye love me keep my commandments." John 14:15 "Ye are my friends if ye do whatsoever I command you." John 15:14
6. That we live the nonresistant life in times of peace as well as in war times. Matt 5:38-44; Romans 12:17-21. Paul says to Timothy, "the servant of the Lord must not strive," therefore we can have no part in war among nations, nor in law suits, neither in tongue lashings, fistfights, or family feuds. "Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see God." Hebrews 12:14.
7. That we live the non-conformed life since the Bible clearly teaches that the church and the world are two separate groups.
   - In manner of life. That we refrain from loafing, politics, gossip, slander, swearing, use of intoxicating drinks, use of tobacco, that we properly observe the Lord's day without unnecessary work.
   - In apparel. The Bible upholds the following standards.
   • A. Substantial, not fragile or transparent. Gen. 3: 7, 21
   • B. Modest, not made for vain display and partial nudeness. 1 Timothy 2:9-10.
   • C. Sex distinction. Not sexually appealing. Deut. 22:5
   • D. Economical. As good stewards of our possessions we want to refrain from buying expensive and unneccessary adornment. 1 Timothy 2:9
   • E. Non-conformed to this world. Romans 12:2. The standards of dress the world follows is continually changing and is designed by non-Christians who are interested only in appealing to the opposite sex rather than pleasing God.

The statement went on to recommend the wearing of the plain coat for men and the consistent wearing of the devotional covering and long hair for women. Attendance at movies, dances, and the use of television was also forbidden. Finally, the statement concluded with the following.

God says, "Be ye holy for I am holy." Where the spirit of holiness fills the soul, the fruit of the spirit adorns the life. Holiness begins with the new birth and reaches perfection in eternity. The Bible says, "Ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people."

May the supreme law of LOVE hold full sway in our lives as we labor and pray together, for the salvation of souls. May each one be watching, waiting, and ready when our blessed Lord comes for his own either through death or in the clouds.

Differences between the two statements obviously reflected the changes of the congregation. Yet both clearly call members to a lifestyle of holiness and consistency. When persons failed to respond to personal confrontation or appeals, unrepentant members were excluded from membership through a formal process that included a public announcement and response by the congregation.

Early in the 1960's Erie changed the tradition of holding council meeting the Sunday before communion. Instead, he and John B. Zook conducted a brief visit in each member's home during which he inquired about the condition of the spiritual life of the members and whether they were prepared for communion. This practice focused the attention on the spiritual health of the congregation instead of external conformity to a written code of conduct. Nevertheless, these changes were resisted by some who preferred the more obvious standards of faithfulness.

Later, in 1977, Erie led the elders in preparing and recommending to the congregation a "Statement of Faith and Practice". This document described the positions the church took on various doctrinal and practical issues. It was revised in 1985 and in 1993 and continues to serves as the statement of Locust Grove's official positions and convictions.