Members of a Missouri Mennonite community have forgiven the teenaged driver who struck a buggy July 11th, resulting in the death of a 7-year-old boy. From the St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Meanwhile, some men in the Mennonite community have met with the boy to forgive him for killing 7-year-old Mervin Shirk. “They wanted him to know they were not harboring ill will against him,” said Clay…
Did you know that Amish, Mennonites and related churches have a hotline that connects them 24 hours a day, 6.5 days a week? Atlas Obscura looks at the story of the Amish and Mennonite Conference Line, which was founded in 2006 by a man named Gary (last name omitted in the article). This is a dial-in hotline where you can hear speakers discuss different topics…
Have you ever heard about the Amish in Mexico? It’s quite a remarkable story. No, there are no Mexican Amish communities (at least not anymore). But thanks to their outreach to a group of spiritual kin, the Amish have had a regular presence in Mexico for the last two decades. Old Colony Mennonites are an Anabaptist group with some cultural similarities to Amish, including Plain…
Do Amish live in Australia? One family is being described as such in a major profile in the Sydney Morning Herald. The McCallums live in the countryside of the Australian island of Tasmania. Gregory and Bethany, ages 41 and 42 respectively, have eight children, and live in a way that resembles the Amish – dressing plainly, using horse-drawn vehicles, and forgoing public electricity and much…
To me, the Harvey hurricane and flooding disaster feels like it was ages ago, but it’s only been about five months. Of course, for those still dealing with the aftermath, the hurricane’s catastrophic effects are clear and present every day. Harvey displaced over 30,000 people and left $125 billion in damage, a figure comparable to the 2005 Katrina storm. Thankfully, material support has poured in…
Do you know any Yoders? If so, you might want to congratulate them on a big anniversary. It’s been three centuries since the first Anabaptist Yoder set foot in North America. Shipshewana, IN will be home to a special edition of the Yoder Reunion event: The 2017 National Yoder Reunion will take place Sept. 20 to 23, and it will commemorate the 300th year since the arrival of the…
The theme of the latest edition of the Journal of Amish and Plain Anabaptist Studies is the field of Amish Studies itself. Articles in the latest edition critique the field and previous works, with the main entry being “Seventy-Five Years of Amish Studies, 1942 to 2017: A Critical Review of Scholarship Trends.” I haven’t delved much into this latest edition, but those who have, your comments are…
Who are the Old Colony Mennonites? Broadly speaking this religious group shares some things in common with the Amish, including plain dress, use of German dialect, and Anabaptist heritage. Today they are found in Latin America (Mexico, Belize, Bolivia, Paraguay), several Canadian provinces, and two US states. You can find a nice overview of the Old Colony peoples in Donald Kraybill’s Concise Encyclopedia of Amish,…
Who are the Old Colony Mennonites, and why are the Amish helping them improve their schooling? Ohio Amish church member Rebecca Miller returns today with some background on the people, and how the Amish became involved in educational outreach south of the border. A few quick points about this Anabaptist group, related to the Amish: They live in countries including Mexico, Bolivia, Paraguay, Belize, and Canada…
Have you ever visited an Old Order Mennonite community? One of our readers recently did, and shares a look at an off-the-beaten-path Ontario settlement in today’s post. Old Order Mennonites are spiritual kin of the Amish. Similarities include language, plain dress, cultural values, and of course an Anabaptist religious heritage. Amish and Old Order Mennonites live side-by-side in some places (like Lancaster County and the Nappanee, Indiana area),…