The Preacher from Whiskey Ditch

The Preacher from Whiskey Ditch is the autobiography of C. H. Barnett, Jr., who grew up in the Pennsylvania Dutch community of Whiskey Ditch and became a Methodist preacher for fifty years at the end of the 20th century. His story is an archetype of his generation. Like millions of other children of the Depression, when duty to his country called, he answered, leaving dreams of a big league baseball career behind with family and friends to fight a war in Europe and in the Pacific. Unlike nearly half of the boys from his high school class, he returned home alive, but wiser, to face the challenges material prosperity would make on the soul of a nation.

This book is a must-read for anyone interested in Pennsylvania Dutch life and culture as well as for those considering a career in ministry. Read this as a love story witnessing to the power of self-sacrificing devotion to withstand separation, uncertainty, and struggle. The Preacher from Whiskey Ditch is a surprising true story of the power of families and faith to shape individual character and ultimately to change the world.