Storytime Tapestry Newsletter

The newsletter devoted to spreading love and cultural awareness throughout the world.

Welcome to Fascinating Facts and Tantalizing Trivia

A Hartson Dowd Column

August 7, 2007

Fascinating Facts –

In 1693 a ckergyman, Jacob Amman, withdrew from the Mennonite religion because he believed in a more rigid code of church discipline.  He gave his name to a religion and a way of life that flourishes to this day among the Plain People. . . .the Amish.

The Amish migrated from Europe, mostly from Krefeld, Germany, in the early eighteenth century, to the area which is now Germantown, Pennsylvania.  Because this region was originally settled by the Dutch, the Amish are often referred to as “Pennsylvania Dutch.”

Pennsylvania Dutch

We were vacationing in Pennsylvania . . .spent a night in a new motel.

We awakened on Sunday morning to the toiling of a bell.

As we resumed our journey on a morning sunny and fair,

We passed many devoted families on the way to worship and prayer.

They were driving horse-drawn buggies; all were dressed in sombre black,

Momma and Poppa sat in the front and the children sat in the back.

These picturesque Dutch families were a portrait of tranquillity;

The scene made a lasting impression that will live long in my memory

                                                                                 ………..Florence B. Kennedy

Binding all Amish people together is their religion, one that demands much and returns to them a life rich with religious fulfillment.  Church for them is home.  They do not believe in building churches as we know them.  Instead, they alternate services in homes of the members of the congregation.  Thus they are sometimes called "House Amish." This practice is based on a verse from the New Testament: "The God who made the world and all things in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands..." (Acts 17:24). In addition, the early Anabaptists from whom the Amish are descended were religiously persecuted, and it was safer to pray in the privacy of a home.

For the Amish, home is still the center, the framework and the foundation of their lives.  Generations may go by without a member of the family travelling farther than fifty miles from home.  The Amish children would delight anybody with their carefree games, charming mannerisms and rosy-cheeked faces.  To see a group of these children is to see their parents in miniature, for they dress from childhood through the adult years in the same simple style of clothing.  A distinguishing mark of the Amish woman is her white prayer cap, worn at all times according to the Biblical admonition that a woman “that prayeth or prophesieth with her head uncovered dishonoreth her head” (1 Corinthians 11:5).

Throughout the country of the Pennsylvania Dutch a traveler may discover a dramatic and flourishing array of painted symbols, most often on the sides of barns.  These signs and symbols are merely a visual extension of the beliefs of the Amish.  For example: scallops mean smooth sailing through life; a heart, love, a triple star, good luck, success and happiness.  The decorative arts play little role in authentic Amish life (though the prized Amish quilts are a genuine cultural inheritance, unlike hex signs), and are in fact regarded with suspicion, as a field where egotism and a display of vanity can easily develop.

The Amish want nothing more than to lead a humble and holy life.  The Amish often cite three Bible verses that encapsulate their cultural attitudes:

• "Be not yoked with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?" (II Corinthians 6:14)
• "Come out from among them and be ye separate, saith the Lord." (II Corinthians 6:17)
• “And be ye not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” (Romans 12:2)

Both out of concern for the effect of a parent's absence on family life, and in order to minimize contact with "English" (everyone not of German descent), the Amish prefer to work at home. They ask nothing more than what they can produce themselves, so they have kept to the farm and lived a simple life of the soil.  However, increased prices for farmland and decreasing revenues for low-tech farming have forced many Amish to work away from the farm, particularly in construction and factory-labor, and, in those areas where there is a significant tourist trade, to engage in shopwork and crafts for profit. The Amish are ambivalent about both the consequences of this contact and the commoditization of their culture. 

Weddings are typically held on Thursdays in late autumn, after the harvest is in. The bride wears a new blue linen dress that will be worn again on other formal occasions. She wears no makeup, and will not receive an engagement or wedding ring because the Ordnung prohibits personal jewelry. The marriage ceremony itself may take several hours, followed by a community reception that includes a banquet, singing and storytelling. Newlyweds spend the wedding night at the home of the bride's parents. Celery is one of the symbolic foods served at Amish weddings. Celery is also placed in vases and used to decorate the house instead of flowers.

Funeral customs appear to vary more from community to community than other religious services. In Allen County, Indiana, for example, the Amish engage Hockemeyer Funeral Home, the only local funeral director who offers a horse-drawn hearse and embalms the body. The Amish hold funeral services in the home, however, rather than using the funeral parlor. Instead of referring to the deceased with stories of his life, eulogizing him, services tend to focus on the creation story and biblical accounts of resurrection. After the funeral, the hearse carries the casket to the cemetery for a reading from the Bible; perhaps a hymn is read (rather than sung) and the Lord's Prayer is recited. The Amish usually, but not always, choose Amish cemeteries, and purchase gravestones which are uniform, modest, and plain; in recent years, they have been inscribed in English. After a funeral, the community gathers together to share a meal.

Similar groups

As Anabaptist religious groups that avoid automobiles and live apart from the outside world, Old Order Mennonites, Hutterites, and Old German Baptist Brethren are sometimes considered the same as the Old Order Amish by outsiders. However, all were distinct groups before emigrating from Europe, with different dialects and separate cultural and religious traditions. The Hutterites, who live communally, come from the same broad Anabaptist background but were never Mennonites. They use the most modern farming methods on their colonies' farms, including extended- and crew-cab pickup trucks for personal transportation.

Quakers are unrelated to the Amish, although the early Quakers were influenced to some degree by the Anabaptists and were also "plain people" in manner and lifestyle. Modern Quakers have since abandoned their traditional dress.

Of the Anabaptist sects ( The term "anabaptist" comes from the practice of baptizing individuals who had been baptized previously, often as infants. Anabaptists believe infant baptism is not valid, because a child cannot commit to a religious faith, and they instead support what is called believer's baptism.)   that found a home in the New World, the Amish are undoubtedly the best-known.  But there are many others, including the Old German Baptist Brethren.  Despite their name, the Brethren are thoroughly Anglicized Americans. They own their own homes and farms in small towns or rural areas; they shop in malls and eat in family restaurants. Their children often attend public schools.

And yet their bearded men and plainly dressed women are often mistaken for Amish, and understandably so.  Brethren homes are devoid of pianos, radios, televisions, stereos and VCRs. "Worldly amusements" such as movies, skating and swimming in public are prohibited.  Brethren counsel against voting and strictly prohibit military service.

Today the Old German Baptist Brethren count some 6,000 adult members in 16 states from Pennsylvania to California. Adding nonmember spouses and children, the community involves about 20,000 people, with the largest concentrations in Ohio, Indiana and California. Slow but steady growth in the late 20th century has increased their number by more than 50% between 1950 and 2000.

Founded in the German village of Schwarzenau in 1708, the Brethren began as a small band of Pietists hoping to re-create the primitive faith of the early church. The movement flourished briefly in Germany, yet because of persecution and other difficulties the Brethren soon migrated to America. They rejected the revivalism and evangelism of New World Protestantism, preferring to buttress their order with a strong Annual Meeting and close-knit fellowship.

According to the theology of the German Baptist Brethren, the Holy Spirit whispers to every believer but can be heard only by those who sacrifice self-will to God's will. God's work of grace, then, depends upon receptivity to the Spirit, which requires a constant struggle against selfish and worldly concerns. Spiritual transformation is the axis from which all else radiates. Conforming to the order and rejecting worldly habits is well and good, but if not inspired by the right spirit, these are only "dead works."

Christian unity is seen in dress and lifestyle and in the gentleness of spirit and genuineness of affection as Brethren meet. It is confirmed by the sound of their a cappella hymns with simple harmonies, sung slowly and fully. One of their smaller rites, the "holy kiss," is so important that Brethren consider it secondary only to adult baptism and their Lord's Supper re-enactment, called the Love Feast.

The rite is grounded in Paul's instruction to the Christians at Rome, Corinth and Thessalonica: "Greet one another with an holy kiss." When Brethren meet at home, at church or in other private settings, they greet each other with the right hand of fellowship and a kiss on the lips. Men greet men; women, women. If baptism is the gateway to the Lord's pasture, and communion to the feeding of the sheep, the holy kiss is the reminder that one belongs in the fold.

No single topic has inspired more discussion over the years than Brethren dress and appearance. Neither the broad-brim hat, nor the beard, nor any other item is essential, but male members are required to be recognizable as Brethren in public settings. Sisters must wear head coverings in public at all times and wear a plain-cut dress whenever possible

.

Brethren have no bishop or group of leaders invested with the power to discipline their own. Generally, when confronted with wayward members, Brethren will admonish and wait, admonish and wait, encouraging and counselling along the way. When such measures are spent, they "set back" wayward members from council, communion and the kiss, restoring them to full fellowship only after a confession and a promise to change course. "Gross sins" such as fornication, adultery and drunkenness may evoke excommunication, which may be rescinded in time with repentance.

While Brethren discipline remains in force, its foundation may be softening as a trickle of Annual Meeting queries in recent years have questioned its role. Does the church have the right to "interfere" with matters of private conscience? Are rulings on wardrobes and Walkmans worthy restrictions of a community of faith or mere quibbles with lifestyle? How much must Brethren really separate themselves from other Christians?

Yet too much acceptance of worldly ways might dash their doctrines of nonconformity and separation, and undermine church unity. So the Brethren continue their experiment--in submission without hierarchy, nonconformity without social segregation and spirituality with a practical twist.

Hartson S. Dowd

hsdowd@telus.net