How do the Amish observe Ascension Day? Are Amish stores open?
This year (2025) Ascension Day – commemorating Jesus’ physical ascension into heaven – is Thursday, May 29th. The date changes each year, falling on the 40th day following Easter Sunday.
Interestingly, Ascension Day is observed by Amish in some places – but not in others.
Ascension Day: Observance in Different Amish Communities
The Amish in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania are among those who do observe Ascension Day, as are Amish in Holmes County, Ohio.
In Indiana, Amish in the large settlements in Elkhart & LaGrange County, as well as Nappanee, also observe the day.
In contrast, in Adams County, Indiana, the day is “little noted by the church, with people going about their business as usual.”
In communities that observe Ascension Day, businesses are closed and Amish employees may have the day off from work (the Amish holiday schedule differs with mixed workplaces often offering different holidays for Amish and English employees).
An Indiana Amishman describes how Ascension Day is spent in his community:
“Most businesses close for the day…A few businesses might stay open, but I don’t know of many that do. Mainly it’s a day of rest for us. We think about the meaning of the day. We spend time with the family. Some districts might have church.”
John Hostetler writes that “Ascension Day is observed as a day of rest or visiting, but on this day young people, or whole families, go out into the woods for picnics and the boys may go fishing” (Amish Society p. 224).
In The Riddle of Amish Culture Donald Kraybill quotes a Lancaster County Amishman:
“‘The day is for visiting and starts early for young and old alike. Uncles, cousins, and families congregate. Youth groups plan outings – softball and volleyball. Charter buses take youth and married folks to other communities 150 miles away to visit, relax, and ponder the philosophies of Amish life…'” (Riddle p. 150).
Beyond the Amish, Ascension Day is a religious holiday in numerous Christian churches.
Update: More Amish Communities
I have no hard data, but it seems to me that more Amish observe the day than do not.
Besides those in Lancaster County, northern Indiana, and Holmes County, you shared a number of other communities where Ascension Day is observed – including:
- Ethridge, Tennessee
- Arthur, Illinois
- Cadiz, Kentucky
- Snyder County, Pennsylvania
- Appanoose County, Iowa
- New York communities including Conewango Valley, Angelica, Dansville, and Wellsville
Reader Al in KY added an interesting experience he once had in Indiana:
Ascension Day is definitely observed in the Paoli and Orleans, Ind., communities I often visit. I think it is the least well-known religious holiday amongst non-Amish who visit Amish communities.
I’m sure that many non-Amish have gone to Amish stores/farms to purchase things on Ascension Day and have found on that day it is “no sale”. It is hard to remember because it changes every year and often falls on a weekday.
I’ll never forget on Ascension Day in 2011, I went to an Amish farm at Paoli to place a large order for produce and found at the driveway into the farm two large sawhorses, with ropes hung in-between stating, “No sales today – religious holiday”. This was interesting, because on Sundays they just have a simple sign by the driveway “No sales today”.
So if you’re looking to visit an Amish store today, chances are you may run into something like Al did. If you’re not sure, you might want to wait until tomorrow.
Swiss Amish in general do not observe Ascension Day?
As for those who do not observe the day, Kevin Williams shared in The Amish Cook at Home that the Swiss Amish of Adams County, Indiana do not do anything special for the Ascension.
Contributor Tom Geist also discovered that those in Seymour, Missouri do not mark the feast. Based on this, it’s possible that Ascension Day is generally not observed in the Swiss Amish tradition.
More: 5 Lesser-Known Holidays Observed By Amish
Ascension Day is definitely observed in the Paoli and Orleans,
Ind., communities I often visit. I think it is the least well-known religious holiday amongst non-Amish who visit Amish communities. I’m sure that many non-Amish have gone to Amish
stores/farms to purchase things on Ascension Day and have found on that day it is “no sale”. It is hard to remember because it changes every year and often falls on a weekday. I’ll never forget
on Ascension Day in 2011, I went to an Amish farm at Paoli to place
a large order for produce and found at the driveway into the farm two large sawhorses, with ropes hung in-between stating, “No sales today – religious holiday”. This was interesting, because on Sundays they just have a simple sign by the driveway “No sales today”.
We do celebrate it in our church, but in our archdiocese (I am a Catholic) the observation of it is transferred to the Sunday following. In other diocese it is observed on the Thursday. It is left to the perogative of the diocese whether to observe it on Thursday or Sunday
The Amish in Moravia, Iowa close their businesses and plant their gardens
Yes. I am United Methodist and we celebrate on the closest Sunday.
Amish Traveling Reminder...
I am out on a trek to visit a bunch of Amish communities. I learned about the Ascension Holiday while at the Oak Ridge Country Store in Cadiz,KY. (875 Burkley Rd) There was a sign on the door indicating that they would be closed the next day (today)for a holiday. The woman at the counter acted amazed that I was not aware of the holiday.
This does not bode well for me hitting several other Amish communities I had planned to hit today in Missouri. (Seymour, Fordland and Marshfield, MO)It reminds me that I need to check the Amish holiday calendar next time I plan on such a trip.
Ascension Day
The Amish here in Ethridge, Tennessee also observe Ascension Day. It is a day of rest and visiting for them. No sales. They always observe it on Thursday as do our Catholic churches in the area. It is different every year because it is 40 days after Easter, but they celebrate the Thursday before the fortieth day.
Thanks for the Quote!
Thanks for quoting from my blog I write for the LaGrange County CVB, online at: http://www.VisitShipshewana.org. Glad you noticed, and yes, it’s quiet around our Amish backroads today!
Thanks Tammy, yes I linked to your post which I found at backroads.org. Good info!
Thank you, Erik, you made me pick up my “Old Farmers Almanac” for the first time in a little while, to see their list of Moveable Religious Feasts, which does note Ascension Day..
I think having a feast day and observation chart somewhere on Amish America might be useful to travelers so they don’t rudely interrupt an Amish family in the middle of a family focused observation. Maybe this entry could be a genesis of such a thing. I wouldn’t want to walk in on an Amish family having reflection time or quiet time, and would be nice to know when what is going on, being out of the loop religiously and all.
While I think it would be nice to have such a list, in my recent travels to several Amish places in Kentucky and Missouri I found that not all of them do the same thing, even within the church district.
Above I posted about “Amish Traveling Reminder…” because I thought I found out that all Amish celebrate the Ascension. (according to the lady at the store in Cadiz,KY) Knowing that I slept in the next morning, getting out of my motel around 9am. I decided I would head towards the next Amish community and spend the night so I could visit them Friday, the day after the feast of Ascension. Low and behold I find that the conservative Amish in Seymour, MO do NOT do anything special for the day. One store there was closed, but only because of a wedding. Another store was closed because it was a Thursday, a day off for them to do other things. Yet most Amish stores were open.
I felt bad because I ended up wasting most of my morning going slow, missing out on some time I could have spent chatting with the Amish.
So, my advice, keep the Amish holidays in the back of your mind as you make plans, but unless you know for 100%, don’t assume all Amish follow the holidays in the same way.
Interesting Al. The Amish at Seymour are related to those in Adams County Indiana.
We always have a church service on Ascension Day at night.
Ascension Day
Catholics from the earliest days have celebrated Our Lord’s Ascension as a holyday
rather than as a holiday. The Holy Bible refers to the forty days after Easter, and so
some districts always have it on that Thursday, while others have it on the nearest
Sunday. Pentecost, fifty days after Easter, is always on a Sunday, and parts of the
Amish religious calendar are derived from the early Catholic Church.
Brother Jeremy
Religious calendar
We observe Ascension Day, a holyday rather than a holiday, which the Bible
refers to as forty days after Easter. Some Catholic districts have it
observed on that very day, while others mark it on the Sunday nearest that
Thursday. The Easter, Rogation Days, Ascension,& Pentecost on the Amish
calendar all come from the earliest days of Catholic Christianity.
Ascension Day
Some Amish communities view Ascension Day as a day to fast. I am not privy to what extent that occurs or which communitie. This was my experience growing up in Big Valley, Pa. Of course things do change slowly over time and that may no longer be the situation. I also visited an Amish person some 30 years ago in Minnesota on Ascension day and he reminded me of the significance of the day but was willing to conduct the interview I needed to have with him.
Parke county, IN
Many Amish here do observe the day. We have seen large gatherings, with the young people playing volleyball and badminton and the younger ones fishing in the creeks.
Ascension Day
My Pennsylvania Dutch grandparents (Lutheran) in Lehigh County PA observed Ascension Day. They were farmers and did no work that day.
Ascension Day
I don’t know what the Amish call Ascension Day, but I’m assuming it’s similar to the German name: Himmelfahrt (which literally means, Heaven Journey/Trip). The word is pronounced exactly as it looks, which I’m sure, results in some childish giggles. 🙂
Yes
Yes, my mom is from Germany and I speak it somewhat and that is the German word for Ascension; the day Jesus traveled to heaven. Himmel is heaven and fahrt means trip.
: )
I celebrate it!
I also celebrate that day as well as Pentecost because they are important dates on the Christian calendar. I know Ascension Day is 40 days after Easter and Pentecost is 50 days after Easter, so 10 days are in between when Jesus ascended and the Holy Spirit descended. There are a lot of details I could get into on this topic. One thing also is they are fixed based on the date of Resurrection Sunday, which follows the formula of this, first the Spring equinox, (around March 20), then the next full moon, then the next Sunday after that. As it turns out, Easter can thus fall anywhere between March 20 and April 25 based on how the sequence falls. Most Christians I run into have no clue, absolutely zero, about these things and why they are important. They don’t even know what Pentecost is, when it is, why it was, that it still continues, and so forth because their churches don’t go over it at all. I celebrate by myself. The only thing I don’t like about that day is that it is the day Jesus left. I look forward to the day He returns!