Bells sound overhead at St. John’s Lutheran Church, signaling the beginning of their annual German Christmas church service.

Recently, churchgoers gathered in celebration of their heritage, partaking in a relatively new tradition to the church. The service started 6 p.m. and ended around 7 p.m. to move into the cookie reception, showcasing a variety of traditional German cookies.

Both the liturgy and hymns are read in German, while the sermon is spoken in English. The integration of German into the church service allows attendees to feel closer to their ancestry.

Mike Garrison took his place as the pastor for the service in recent years. He said originally, a previous pastor who majored in German education in college decided to ask if any members of the church would take interest in a German church service. As a German teacher, Garrison jumped at the opportunity to utilize his skills, which ultimately progressed into him leading the annual service.

Garrison finds this particular service draws in a large crowd by catering to those who want to connect with their ancestry.

“I think there’s such a dramatic heritage here in the Lehigh Valley, but specifically here in Emmaus,” Garrison said. “I think it’s unique to have the opportunity to have a service that is [almost] entirely in German. I think it lets people kind of get in touch with their roots a bit. They might not understand the language, but it gives them a connection to their past.”

Church member Roger Timm agrees with Garrison, but also jokes that perhaps the cookie reception also plays a part in bringing the community together in celebration of their heritage.

Timm, like many other churchgoers has German ancestry.

Previously, Timm and his wife moved to the Midwest in honor of their German lineage who took root there in the 19th century. However, they both moved again and settled down in Emmaus to stay closer to their present family.

While the pair wanted to participate in the German church service when the current pastor proposed the idea, neither expected the turnout the service generated.

“We had a pastor at the time who thought maybe we should celebrate our Pennsylvania Dutch heritage, which is German,” Timm said. “So, we put this service together and people from all over started coming. People who, maybe, are from Germany or have German relatives, they kind of appreciate this chance to celebrate their heritage. I think it was somewhat of a surprise to us that we had that kind of response, so we decided to do it as an annual custom. It’s to recognize our heritage and celebrate it.”

Like Timm, Rev. Jeffrey Carstens sees the service as a respectful notion to those with German ancestry.

Although Carstens is new to the church and cannot speak German, he feels he can see the impact the service has on attendees.

“It’s real special,” Carstens said. “It’s my second German service ... I’m not a German speaker, so it’s a little foreign, a little strange to my ears because I don’t understand what’s being said or sung, but so many people have come out for it. The service gets bigger and bigger every year, so I know it’s touching a need and a desire for people to hear the word of God and sing songs in the language that they were familiar with.”

Carsten thinks this service delivers such a great affect to those who attend because it creates a unique connection between past and present; allowing those who may have lost their ancestry to reunite and strengthen that link.

“We’re kind of going backward in time, in essence,” Carsten said. “Traditionally, people would come to the United States from the old country and begin to worship in their native tongue, but as children were born here and grew, the English language would become more and more prevalent within their families and the old language would kind of go by the wayside. Now we’re kind of doing that in reverse. We’re going back to the Fatherland, in this case Germany, and having a service in the German language, which, evidently, many people still hold very dear.”