The Martyrs Mirror is revered by Amish and other Anabaptists. It’s a 1,000+ page book recounting the stories of Christian martyrs. In addition to Biblical-era martyrs, it includes tales of the many early Anabaptists persecuted in Europe. The Martyrs Mirror is in the news because a very old (1748) German-language edition is up for sale at the Lancaster Mennonite Historical Society auction (I’ve linked to…
Mary-Ann Kirkby was raised on a Hutterite colony in Manitoba. When Mary-Ann was 9, her family–parents, herself, and six siblings–left the colony for the world. I Am Hutterite is Mary-Ann’s memoir of life at Fairholme Colony, and her adjustment to living “outside the ark”. The Hutterites Hutterites are spiritual cousins of the Amish. The two groups share roots in the European Anabaptist movement. The Amish,…
Florida Plain newspaper The Pinecraft Pauper gears up for season #2 The Pinecraft Pauper is a community newspaper of the Pinecraft neighborhood of Sarasota, Florida, home to a small but sturdy collection of Amish and Mennonites. The Pauper was founded by local writer Daniel Fisher, and features news, human interest stories, puzzles, cartoons, tips (“Make your own carryon luggage for pennies, by taping a cardboard…
You asked some great questions. I originally said I would just choose some of them to answer. But in the end I decided to answer them all. It took about 5 hours, so I hope you enjoy it. I certainly did. But before we get to that, we have three winners of Success Made Simple: An Inside Look at Why Amish Businesses Thrive. As usual,…
“It’s like standing on the edge of a cliff with nothing but darkness…you don’t know what’s down there. But you just know you’re gonna jump.” National Geographic is currently airing “Amish: Out of the Order”, a program about leaving the Amish. I’ve posted a clip below. Curious to hear your comments. I’ll make two of my own: it’s not made clear, at least in this…
Though we’ve done quite a few book giveaways lately, I realized I’d never given away my own. So let’s do that! Win a copy of Success Made Simple: An Inside Look at Why Amish Businesses Thrive I’ve got 3 copies of Success Made Simple: An Inside Look at Why Amish Businesses Thrive to give away. If you somehow missed all the times I’ve gone on…
We use them all the time, but ever wonder how reference books and resources get put together? In a guest post today, Donald Kraybill offers a peek into the writing and research process for the Concise Encyclopedia of Amish, Brethren, Hutterites, and Mennonites: Compiling the Concise Encyclopedia was a daunting task. In fact if I had known at the beginning what I know now about…
Donald Kraybill just had a busy month. Most people would consider releasing one book an event, but in October Kraybill released two–The Amish Way: Patient Faith in a Perilous World, co-authored with Steven Nolt and David Weaver-Zercher, and the Concise Encyclopedia of Amish, Brethren, Hutterites, and Mennonites. Timing of the release was something of a coincidence; while The Amish Way was a more recent project,…
Sherry Gore is a national scribe for The Budget, editor of The Pinecraft Pauper, and columnist for the Amish magazine Ladies Journal. Sherry is also a mother of three residing in Sarasota, Florida, home to Pinecraft, a well-known community of Amish and Mennonites. Sherry has written an especially neat cookbook called Taste of Pinecraft: Glimpses of Sarasota, Florida’s Amish Culture and Kitchens, a tribute to…
I’m happy to share the Amish Way winners with you today. It was a lot of fun to run this contest and I much enjoyed the interview with authors Donald Kraybill, Steven Nolt, and David Weaver-Zercher (if you missed it: Part 1 and Part 2). I particularly appreciated the point they make about shunning–that it is the “flip side to the community barn raising that…