I love hearing the Amish sing (and trying to hang with them, for that matter). There is something very moving about sitting in the midst of 150 upraised voices, all giving glory to the Maker. Those accustomed to musical accompaniment may find the drawn-out a capella hymnals tedious, but for me, they are eerily beautiful and uplifting.
Sunday church gathering in Geauga County, Ohio
Kraybill in The Riddle of Amish Culture:
‘The extremely slow tempo of singing ushers in a different temporal order. One song may stretch over twenty minutes…the congregation sings from the Ausbund–a hymnal with only printed words…the ancient tunes, learned by memory, are sung in chant-like unison without any rhythm.’
At my first Amish church service in Pennsylvania, the opening singing actually stretched to over 45 minutes, due to the ministers needing the time to instruct applicants for baptism, as is the custom. Singing usually concludes on the ministers’ return.
A song-leader, a male, sings the first note of each line and holds it for a second before the voices of the entire congregation come crashing in on top. How do they choose the song-leader for each song?
From my experience he is chosen by a couple of the older non-minister greybeards sitting at the front of the men’s section–they sort of confer, look around and find whom they’ve agreed upon, and whisper to him that he’s the one. One of them calls out the number of the hymn, and everyone shuffles through their hymn-books to the right page.
Kraybill again:
‘Singing in unison avoids the showy display that accompanies solos, choirs, and musical performances. A praise song, the “Lob Lied,” is the second hymn in every service just before the sermon. Thus, on a given Sunday morning, all the congregations holding services across the settlement are singing the same song at roughly the same time, an experience one member described as giving a beautiful feeling of unity among the churches.’
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That was quite interesting! I can just almost close my eyes and hear them now! I love singing myself with or without music.
I have a child with an immune deficiency and we doctor in Madison WI, staying at the Ronald McDonald house by the Children’s Hospital. There is an Amish family from Wilton, WI who have been there since last November with a toddler girl who turned one in June who was born with SCIDS (Boy in the Bubble Disease). They are there because she had a stem cell transplant. How common are transplants with the Amish? Aren’t they unheard of? (blood product??) They have been there the last two times we were in Madison and I feel bad for them because they are like ducks out of the water at the RMDC house.
Amish beliefs on blood transfusions and organ transplants
Cainans Mom, I’ve never run across anything that would cause me to believe the Amish have anything against transfusions or transplants…though I believe there is at least one other Christian denomination that does…I do bet they are like ducks out of water…I doubt they’d be that comfortable in that environment, but I wonder if any family really is…wish you the best with your child’s treatment. Thank you for reading and sharing your story.
I need no mansion here below… | Amish America Comment on Amish singing (September 5th, 2010 at 07:20)
[…] The Amish enjoy music. Last Wednesday, Daniel was out late at a singing at a neighbor’s. Amish men get together, usually once a week, to practice the high German church hymns which mark the beginning and end of church service. The youth have their own singings as well, a prime time to become acquainted with the opposite sex. […]
Amish SUV? Comment on Amish singing (March 28th, 2011 at 04:45)
[…] with benches the church wagon will contain the song books used at Sunday service, each marked with the district’s initials–for instance, UMP for […]