All About the Amish

Answers to Common Questions

Karen Johnson-Weiner

• Publisher: Herald Press
• Year: 2021
• ISBN:
  9781513806310
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Christian Denominations

Everything you want to know about the Amish but are afraid to ask.
Do the Amish pay taxes? Are they Christians? Why do they use horses and buggies but agree to ride in other people's cars? And how can they even survive in the contemporary world?
In All about the Amish, Amish expert Karen Johnson-Weiner answers the most commonly asked questions people have about the Old Order Amish. After more than thirty years of being friends with the Amish and studying their faith and culture, Johnson-Weiner offers authoritative answers to the most common questions about the unique Amish faith and lifestyle.
Got questions about Amish beliefs? Families? Churches? Schools? What they think about the rest of us? Find answers here.

Part 1

Who are the Amish?

Are the Amish Christian? Where do the Amish come from?

Who were the first Amish?

When did the Amish come to America? Are there still Amish in Europe?

What is the difference between Amish and Mennonite?

What does “Old Order Amish” mean?

Not all Amish look alike. Are there different kinds of Amish?

Where do the Amish live?

Are the Amish Christian? Where do the Amish come from?

The Amish are Christian. All Amish churches trace their roots to the Anabaptists, a radical offshoot of the Protestant reform movement that began in October 1517, when Martin Luther (1483–1546) challenged Pope Leo X by posting ninety-five theses about the sale of indulgences on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany, unwittingly launching the Protestant Reformation. Luther went on to argue that the Bible, not the church, should serve as the final authority on salvation, and that every Christian had the right to read and interpret the Bible. The Catholic church, in his opinion, needed reform. Yet, he trusted neither Catholic hierarchy nor lay people to undertake what he viewed as necessary changes, and therefore called on secular government to reform the church.

Many were ready for church reform. Thanks to Johannes Gutenberg’s introduction of moveable type printing nearly a century earlier in Europe, people were reading the Bible in their own language for the first time, and numerous Bible study groups had formed, with some of them questioning for the first time church practices for which there seemed to be no scriptural justification. Some people wanted to get rid of any church practice that seemed to have no biblical basis.

In Zürich, Switzerland, the reform movement gained momentum with the election of a former Catholic priest, Ulrich Zwingli (1484 –1531), to be the city’s head pastor. Many had hopes that Zwingli would move swiftly to remove statues from the church and abolish the priesthood. But Zwingli, like Luther, believed that civil authorities should direct change. He refused to carry out any reforms that had not been approved by the Zürich city council, which had assumed authority over all church activities. Zwingli’s caution and the slow pace of reform angered several of Zwingli’s students, notably Conrad Grebel (ca. 1498–1526), the son of a prominent Zürich family, and Felix Manz (ca. 1498–1527), a Zürich citizen. Grebel and Manz, along with Georg Cajacob, nicknamed “Blaurock” (ca. 1492–1529) argued that waiting on the Zürich city council to enact reforms meant that secular authority would outrank Scripture. In their eyes, the Bible should be the highest authority and basis for reforming the church.

The conflict came to a head over the issue of infant baptism. While the practice had religious significance, it also served to ensure that children were entered into state records. Effectively, on being baptized children became citizens of the state. Thus, infant baptism served both spiritual and secular purposes. Grebel, Manz, Blaurock, and others argued that the baptism of infants should have no place in church practice because it was not mentioned in the Bible. Instead, they asserted, baptism should serve as a sign of faith and commitment to the church.

When the Zürich city council enacted laws requiring the baptism of infants and outlawing any attempt to rebaptize those who had been baptized as infants, Grebel, Manz, and Blaurock broke with Zwingli and the state church. Meeting secretly in Zürich on January 21, 1525, the three rebaptized each other, launching the Swiss Brethren, a movement that became more popularly known as Anabaptist.¹ Theirs, they argued, would be a church of believers.

The Anabaptists wanted to establish a church that Christians could freely chose to join by expressing their faith through baptism. Consequently, the Anabaptists sought to separate the church from the authority and influence of the state. Unlike the Catholics, they were not interested in controlling the state, nor were they willing, like the newly formed Lutheran Church or the Zürich Church under Zwingli’s guidance, to cede control of church matters to secular authorities. Hence, the Anabaptists posed a threat to established authorities and risked exile, torture, and even death. Early Anabaptist leaders paid dearly for their efforts at reform. Grebel was exiled and died at age twenty-seven; Manz was drowned in the Limat River, which flows through Zürich; Blaurock was burned at the stake.

In 1527, early Anabaptists convened in Schleitheim, Switzerland, and put their beliefs into writing in a document known as the Schleitheim Confession.² This document calls for individuals to join the church through voluntary baptism, for church members to reject violence and deal with those members who have sinned by banning them from fellowship, and for ministers to be chosen from the congregation through a lottery. The Schleitheim Confession also asserts that being Christian means obeying Christ’s teachings in everyday life. Only in the church, a community of believers separate from secular, worldly society, could church members follow Christ’s example. The goal was Gelassenheit, a complete surrender to God’s authority and will.

In the sixteenth century, Menno Simons (1496-1561), a Dutch priest turned Anabaptist minister, was influential in shaping Anabaptist practice in western Europe, reinforcing an understanding of the church as a community, as a fellowship of believers rather than a building or a set of rituals. Living according to Christ’s example and gathering together to worship, the church community would be separate from worldly society in doctrine, life, and worship. By the beginning of the seventeenth century, Anabaptists in western Europe had become known as Mennonites, followers of Menno.

Even early on, Mennonite practices varied regionally and culturally. While some Mennonites lived and practiced their faith in relative security, others faced persecution. One key difference related to the practice of excommunication. Menno Simons argued that excommunication, called Bann, should be accompanied by Meidung or “shunning.” For Simons, shunning meant avoiding the person who was banned in social situations as well as religious ones. In other words, church members would be prohibited from eating, drinking, doing business with, or engaging in any other social interaction with someone who had been excommunicated until that person repented and rejoined the church fellowship, a position called streng Meidung or “strong shunning.” Others, however, disagreed, arguing that a banned person should only be shunned from taking communion (kleiner Bann or smaller shunning) or participating in other religious practices.

Mennonite leaders gathered in the Dutch town of Dordrecht in 1632 to iron out disagreements over church practice, including their divergent views of Bann and Meidung. Ultimately, Mennonite leaders upheld strong shunning as important because it both protected the church from sin and demonstrated to sinners the error of their ways, encouraging them to repent and rejoin the church community. The agreement they reached, called the Dordrecht Confession, further defined Anabaptist practice and became both a statement of Anabaptist belief and a guide to church practice.

The Dordrecht Confession was influential throughout the Mennonite world. Nevertheless, not all church leaders signed it, nor were all congregations eager to accept some of the practices it enshrined. For example, the Dordrecht Confession mandated foot washing as part of the communion ritual, something many Swiss Mennonite congregations did not do. More importantly, despite the decision reached on the importance of streng Meidung, many congregations continued to reject it. Some sixty years later, these differences led those who would become known as “Amish” to cease fellowshipping with the larger body of Mennonite churches.

Who were the first Amish?

Mennonites in Alsace and Lorraine in modern-day France were able to live relatively peaceful lives in the late 1600s. These Mennonites interacted socially with non-Mennonite neighbors and assimilated into non-Mennonite society. But such interaction with non-Mennonites concerned Jacob Ammann, a minister who worried that Mennonites were becoming lukewarm in their faith and too worldly in their lifestyle.

In 1693, Ammann called for reform, urging all congregations to adhere strictly to the Dordrecht Confession and be visibly separate from their worldly neighbors. When many ignored his call, Ammann summoned his followers to cease fellowshipping with them, dividing the Anabaptist world into Mennonite and “the Jakob Ammann group”³ or the Amish.

Despite later attempts to reconcile, the split in the Mennonite church was permanent. Jacob Ammann’s followers became known as the Amish. In the early days following this schism, the Amish also became known as the Häftler or “hook-and-eye people,” because they chose to use this simpler means of fastening their clothing instead of buttons, which they considered more worldly. The Mennonites were called Knöpfler or “button people.”⁴

When did the Amish come to America? Are there still Amish in Europe?

In response to religious persecution in Europe, many Amish immigrated to North America. They arrived in two broad waves.⁵ Amish in the first wave (roughly 1717–1750) came mostly from Switzerland and the Palatinate region of Germany. Attracted by William Penn’s offer of land and religious tolerance, they settled primarily in what is now the state of Pennsylvania.

Amish who arrived in the second wave of immigration from Europe (roughly 1817–1861, came largely from the regions of Alsace and Lorraine in France. Seeking cheaper land, many of these Amish immigrants settled further west and north, establishing communities in Ohio, Illinois, Iowa, New York, and Ontario.

Today there are no Amish left in Europe. By the early twentieth century, the last remaining Amish congregations descended from those first established by followers of Jacob Ammann had rejoined the Mennonites.⁶

What is the difference between Amish and Mennonite?

Both the Amish and the Mennonites remain committed to a Bible-centered faith. Like their Anabaptist forebears, both groups believe in the voluntary nature of church membership and neither group practices infant baptism. Further, both Amish and Mennonites are committed to the separation of church and state. They remain pacifist, rejecting war as a way to solve political problems, and they view repentance and forgiveness as keys to following Christ’s example. Both groups take to heart Christ’s instruction to love their enemies.

But the Amish and the Mennonites have evolved differently. Today nearly 2 million Mennonites around the world meet weekly in church buildings or designated meetinghouses, with individual congregations joining with others to form conferences or associations of like-minded believers. Decisions about church matters are made at the conference level and enacted in individual congregations. The result is a very diverse Mennonite world.

Old Order Mennonites groups such as the Stauffer Mennonites and the Groffdale Conference, or “Wenger Mennonites,” rely on horse-and-buggy transportation, speak Pennsylvania Dutch in the home and German in church services, and educate their children only through the eighth grade. The Old Order Weaverland Conference, or “Horning Mennonites,” also retain distinctive dress and limit assimilation to worldly society but its members drive cars and use English in church services. Conservative Mennonites retain elements of plain dress, including prayer coverings for women, but they have adopted Sunday schools. More progressive Mennonite groups, such as Lancaster Mennonite Conference, Mennonite Church USA, and Mennonite Church Canada, have assimilated into mainstream society, founded colleges and universities, and been active in social justice issues and mission work.

Unlike the conferences that link Mennonite congregations, each Amish congregation or “church district” is independent and is led by ministers chosen from among the baptized men of that district. Because there is no hierarchical structure that links individual Amish congregations, there may be considerable variation from one Amish church district to the next, even when districts are geographically close to each other. Today groups calling themselves “Amish” retain plain dress, but they range from the ultraconservative Swartzentruber Amish, who will only ride in private cars if no public transportation is available, to car-owning-and-driving Beachy Amish. As this book shows, the Amish are diverse in their dress, their use of language, and the Ordnungs by which they live their faith.

What does “Old Order Amish” mean?

The majority of Amish are called simply “Old Order,” a term that goes back to the mid-nineteenth century. At that time, there were a number of small, scattered Amish church communities in North America. Some were established by the first Amish arrivals from Germany in the early part of the eighteenth century. Others were started more than a century later by immigrants from the Alsace and Lorraine regions of modern-day France.

Problems arose among the Amish in North America because the newer church communities, shaped by a different history and regional European culture, tended to be more innovative. These later arrivals were “already of a different view in church matters than the former immigrants of about a hundred years before,” as one Amish writer described.⁷ The later immigrants were more tolerant of worldly dress, had differing views on important issues such as baptism and education, and were impressed and influenced by mainstream Protestant practices such as prayer meetings and Sunday schools.

By the mid-nineteenth century, with Amish settlements functioning in relative isolation from each other and each settlement facing varying hardships, differences in practice were established that threatened the unity of the Amish world. A number of ministers met in small, regional meetings and attempted to establish consensus on important Anabaptist practices, including separation from the world, excommunication and shunning, and pacifism and nonresistance. Eventually, however, growing tensions between conservative and progressive communities began to reach a breaking point. In 1862, the first of a series of annual ministers’ meetings was held in Wayne County, Ohio. Although the majority of participants were from Ohio, the meetings were open to all Amish and attended by a variety of church leaders from different states.⁸ Those who gathered hoped that an open discussion of their differences would help them standardize religious practices and ensure church unity once and for all.

At first, participants seemed to find the unity they were looking for. For example, they were united in their opposition to military service and posing for photographs. Nevertheless, deep divisions remained, and after 1865 the most conservative ministers stopped attending this annual meeting. Perhaps the meetings were doomed to fail, for the progressive faction had a very different notion of what the meetings were supposed to accomplish than their conservative counterparts. The differences stemmed from their understandings of Ordnung, the church discipline that defined the boundaries of church practice for the congregation. Progressive Amish leaders wanted a fluid set of guidelines that would evolve through ongoing meetings that brought together Amish church leadership. They envisioned church leadership being united to hand down guidelines and set practices for the individual congregations. Their conservative counterparts wanted to keep the Ordnung as a fixe...

Table of contents

• Front Cover
• Half Title Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Contents
• Part 1: WHO ARE THE AMISH?
• Part 2: What are Amish church communities like?
• Part 3: What does it mean to be “Plain”?
• Part 4: What is it like to grow up Amish?
• Part 5: What are Amish courtship and weddings like?
• Part 6: What is life like for Amish adults?
• Part 7: What will Amish life be like in the future?
• Sources Cited
• For Further Reading
• Acknowledgments
• Notes
• The Author