Page:The Czechoslovaks in the United States.djvu/6

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time spent itself, and much of the credit is due to the work of the Protestant churches. There are today about 125 Bohemian Protestant congregations in the United States; Presbyterians, Baptists, Methodists and Congregationalists are most numerous. The Catholics have about 275 priests and 320 churches, some of them administered by Irish and German priests.

The Slovaks have adhered more faithfully to the creed in which they were brought up. Rationalism has never taken hold among them as among the Czechs. They have several hundred Catholic churches, over a hundred Lutheran churches and missions, and some ten Presbyterian churches, attended largely by those who were Calvinists in their old home. But even among the Slovaks a considerable percentage never attends church or has the opportunity to attend services which they would understand.

Presbyterian work for Czechs

Our Presbyterian Church has two organized Bohemian presbyteries, one in Texas, and one in the Central West. The churches in these presbyteries, for the most part, minister to the rural populations of Czech farmers, and among them are many strong, selfsustaining churches. The Czech churches in the country and in the cities, are now finding it necessary to carry on many of their activities in the English language in order to reach the young people, and the day is not very far distant when most of these churches will be using the English language entirely as our Dutch and German churches are doing. There are many rural and urban communities with a considerable Czech population which is entirely unchurched, and these people may now be and should be reached by our regular American churches, as language is no longer a barrier.

The Jan Hus Presbyterian Church of New York City has rendered a unique service to