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This is very interesting to hear about. Church service is an act of worship, a preservation of tradition, a restoration of faith, and an affirmation of community. As stated before, church services are done in the Amish families homes throughout the entire house. The men and women with children are separated into different rooms of the home. The Amish mothers are normally in the rooms that their children are in along with grandmothers and sometimes aunts.
The Church service normally last about three hours. Yes, I said 3 hours. Worship begins around 8:00 am. There is not just one preacher, normally there are between 3 to 5 preachers and a bishop. They normally start with a prayer for everyone in the house and then a song. The songs are sung from the Ausbund, which is a Hymnal that is used by all of the Amish. This Hymnal was started over 500 years ago. It has had revisions which now makes it over 500 pages. Most of them are written in High German. We will continue this next Sunday. #AllAboutAmish by #MissouriAmish November and December are when most wedding take place. This is because the harvest has been completed and winter is around the corner. A full day is needed to set up for a wedding. While the bride has been making her preparations for some time, most of the set up happens on the day before the wedding. Most weddings are held on Tuesdays or Thursdays with clean up the day after. I have known weddings to happen on Wednesday. This is only done when there are lots of weddings. Some would ask why don’t they have weddings on Saturday like most of the English? Then they would have to do cleanup on Sunday which would be sacrilegious because that is church day.
#AllAboutAmish by #MissouriAmish Yes, we will be talking math. In 2012, the Amish population was around 270,000. The population is predicted to double within the next 15 years. There are multiple reasons this is predicted to happen.
First, the average Amish family has seven (7) children. Yes, seven kids in one household. Their families are tight knit. Many of the grandparents and even great grandparents can live in houses near the main home. Many of the children do not leave home until they get married. Even then the newlyweds may live with their parents for quite a number of years until the couple gets a home of their own. From: Powell, Albrecht. "Amish 101 - Amish Beliefs, Culture & Lifestyle, History of the Amish in America,". about.com. Retrieved 2012 Second, the retention rate is above 80%. Missouri’s retention rate is estimated to be even greater at over 90%. So of you have seen those Reality TV Shows that show young people breaking away from their Amish communities. Yes, that is happening; however, at a much lower rate in Missouri. #AllAboutAmish by #MissouriAmish The answer is no with a little extra. The Amish do not vote in any politics at the National, State, County, or City level. Now they do vote on things in their Amish communities. The politics within their community are much different than the English’s negative spin. If you were Amish, during the time something is being voted on there is no TV, Radio, or Newspaper Ads. Wouldn’t that be nice? They talk about the issues at hand and I have not ever heard of them going negative. They bring the issue up, discuss the issue, and vote on the issue. Most issues are decided by the Elders of the communities. The majority of the issues are voted that way.
Here’s a surprise for you. The Amish will not tell you, but I have noticed over the years that they are very interested to hear about our politics. On numerous occasions with a variety of Amish people, I have discussed some of our current political situations that were going on at the local or state level. I was quite surprised how much the Amish person knew about the issues. I feel they like to keep up with current events whether it’s about the Amish or English politics. #AllAboutAmish by #MissouriAmish
 As you know Amish do not drive cars, but they are allowed to ride in them. This may sound confusing. As long as they are not doing the driving, Amish can be a passenger in the vehicle. This is where the English come in handy. Many of the Amish communities have some English people that are available for transporting the Amish. This can be from hauling one Amish person to a large van load. Sometimes, the Amish may have a lot of cargo like furniture or they may be moving to another community.
Martha is a lady that a helps out some of the Amish Families near Eli, my Leatherrman. She is so kind because she takes phone messages to them and helps them get to other larger cities. Over the last two months she has been very busy with all of the weddings. #AllAboutAmish by #MissouriAmish No, they are Christian. Their society follows the teachings of the Bible. They believe in living a simple, basic lifestyle. Adults must go through an adult baptism to become a member of the Amish church. They also believe in a close knit community with the separation from popular culture. Separation between church and state is important. They do not want politics to interfere with their way of life. Also, members of the Amish church are pacifists.
The roots of the Amish church started in 1525 with the Protestant Reformation during the Anabaptist Movement.. Jakob Ammann, the founder of the Amish church, started the church in 1693 with their own branch of Anabaptism in Switzerland and Eastern France. All of the Amish communities in America were started there. #AllAboutAmish by #MissouriAmish A typical Amish church service is done in the homes of the families in the Amish community. Most of the Missouri Amish normally have some type of service on every Sunday. Some of the communities have a major church service with everyone in the church district attending. When it is not a normal church Sunday, the families will still conduct their own service in their homes with some extended family or neighbors attending. The smaller communities are able to have everyone attend, but the large communities are broken up into multiple church districts. There will be a Preacher for each one.
Each service will be held in a different home each Sunday Service. One of members of the Church District will be appointed to drive the bench wagon to the church services. This is a very important responsibility. Could you imagine over a 150 adults and children coming over to your house for church? These bench legs are of a folding type without backs. They are designed to be light weight and not built for a lot of comfort in my opinion. They set up these benches throughout the house. Yes, they will use every room. They even use the kitchen, but leave some room so that they can have a light meal at the end of service. We will talk about that next week. #AllAboutAmish by #MissouriAmish The Amish grow and raise most of the food they consume. Almost every Amish home I have been to have large gardens and livestock for food. I will discuss their gardening practices in future blogs. They preserve an abundance of food for the non-producing months. In Missouri, the months of November through March are considered too cold to produce much vegetables or fruits.
The Amish have gotten around this a lot by using greenhouses, hoop houses, and cold frame units. Ok, most of you understand that a greenhouse is a permanent structure that is used to recreate the growing environment that the plants are used to having. Slightly different is a hoop house which is normally located in or close to the garden using plastic rods (PVC) as a frame with a outer plastic liner. This allows the plants an extended growing season. Some people are surprised that the Amish can get almost four extra months. Cold frames are used to start plants and to also extend the growing season. The drawback between a cold frame and hoop house is that a cold frame is usually small and needs a building or something to lean against. #AllAboutAmish by #MissouriAmish Like most cultures and societies, they are based on rules. By following the Ordnung, the members of the community observe who follows and who does not. Being part of the community is very important to every Amish person. These rules are not in place to get people in trouble. They are designed to assist the Amish live a Christian Life. The Ordnung is based on a lot of Scriptural principles.
This is why the Amish have a rule regarding plain dress. Plain dress is based on several Scripture passages that say Christians should not adorn themselves with jewelry, expensive clothes, and braiding of the hair. The Amish believe self-expression is not a Christ like trait and prevents pride and envy. The Ordnung provides guidance on everything from the use of technology to type of clothing to use of appliances and all aspects of their way of life. Following the Ordnung cultivates a humble spirit and simple living. This is done for the benefit of the entire Amish Community. We will talk more about this in a future Blog… |
AuthorKyle G. Smith Archives
May 2015
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