How Do Amish Celebrate Easter? (4 Examples)

As in other Christian churches, Easter is an important holiday for the Amish. What do the Amish do during the Easter season?

First it’s worth mentioning that not all Amish observe holidays in the same way. Local and family customs can vary. And when it comes to more obscure holidays, in some communities they may be observed, while in others, they are not. See Ascension Day or St. Michael’s Day for instance.

And though some things will be consistent, there is not necessarily a uniformly “Amish” way of celebrating a given holiday.

For example, here’s one description of Amish Easter, from John A. Hostetler’s Amish Society (Hostetler was raised Amish, later becoming a renowned professor and author):

“There is no special celebration on Easter, but some practices among the children are survivals of ancient European customs. For two or three weeks before Easter, some children go to the henhouse daily and get a few eggs, which they hide in a secret place in the barn. On Easter morning the eggs are brought to the house to see who has collected the most. Colored Easter eggs are common…on [Ascension Day] young people, or whole families, go out into the woods for picnics and the boys may go fishing…On weekday holidays hunting is generally not taboo, but such prohibitions vary with regional folkways and mores.

Good Friday was never observed very strictly in my family in Pennsylvania, but when we moved to Iowa our neighbors were greatly perturbed when my father permitted his sons to do field work on that day.”

His experience of Easter may vary somewhat from other Amish observances (more on that below).

But there are some general things which would be consistent from one community to the next. The Easter Bunny is conspicuously absent at Amish Easter, just as a number of popularized symbols are missing from other holidays. For example, Santa and the tree play no part in Amish celebrations of Christmas.

Easter of course is not an obscure holiday. Observance will generally span from Good Friday through Easter Sunday, and in some communities, Easter Monday is observed as well.

It will involve fasting, prayer and visiting with family. Eggs are a part of Amish Easter. However, not all Amish will necessarily attend church on a given Easter Sunday (see below).

Below you’ll find accounts of Amish Easter observance from several communities – Holmes County, Ohio, southern Michigan, Somerset County, Pennsylvania, and Flat Rock, Illinois. While there may be some small variations, I think you’ll find these descriptions quite similar. As you might expect, Easter is both a solemn and joyful holiday for the Amish.

1. Holmes County, Ohio

First, from an Amish Heartland article on Easter in the Holmes County community (article removed at source):

The Easter season is one filled with sober reflection and joyous celebration for the Amish Community.

The season begins on Good Friday, the day that Christ was crucified with a fast in the morning.

Amish community members believe in fasting for sober holidays because it reflects the sacred day, said Atlee Miller of the Berlin Amish and Mennonite Heritage Center.

From Saturday until Monday, family and friends visit each other and socialize.

The days are usually capped off with a big meal, but it is not as big of a feast as Christmas or Thanksgiving, Miller said.

Children color and hide eggs, and eggs are eaten at the Easter table, as they symbolize rebirth, Miller explained.

Holmes County Amish resident (Rebecca) also adds this about a custom of “Easter caroling”:

We also go Easter caroling. Our youth group went Wed. night. On Good Friday morn and eve and Easter morn my Grandma also had other groups of carolers, so a lot of the local youth groups and families are doing it.

Yesterday, Easter morning, our church girls went with our bikes, then followed up with a breakfast at one of the older girl’s place. It was a very enjoyable time. Many times Easter also meshes in with Communion, but this year Easter is earlier.

2. Southern Michigan

Amish mother Lovina Eicher, who writes the Amish Kitchen column, shared how Easter works in her southern Michigan community:

Friday is Good Friday and we look forward to Easter on Sunday. Good Friday we traditionally keep as a holiday, so no one in our family will go to work or school. The Amish churches in this community have “Fast” (no eating) and prayer until noon. Our family will all be here and have family time. Then we’ll gather here for the noon meal.

On Easter Sunday we will go to church. Easter is the time to rejoice and be thankful for the gift of life Jesus gave for someone like you and me.

The younger children still enjoy coloring eggs for Easter. As I was growing up we always colored eggs. The bright colored eggs always remind me of the colors of the rainbow. Our parents taught us the true meaning of Easter. May we all remember the true meaning of Easter.

3. Somerset County, Pennsylvania

Amish-raised Mary Ann Kinsinger described on her Joyful Chaos blog how her Somerset County, PA family used to observe the Easter season:

On Friday morning we would get up, do what ever chores that needed to be done. Cows and other animals have this way of needing to be cared for no matter what else is going on. After chores were done we would wash up and then sit in the living room since Good Friday was a day of fasting it was more sober and solemn than a normal Sunday. We would read the Bible and the prayers in the little black prayer book and the German, Rules of a Godly Life book. There was no playing and any talking was done in hushed tones.

It was always a relief once the day was over. The next day always seemed to carry some of the previous days solemness with it as we hurried to do all the regular Saturday cleaning and preparing lots of food for the next two days so we wouldn’t have to cook much.

Easter Sundays we would treat like any other Sunday except Mom would make soft boiled eggs for breakfast. Thankfully that was a once a year occurrence! If it was our church Sunday we would go to church. Otherwise we would stay at home and read, play games, write letters, and things along that line.

Easter Monday was also a non-work day in Mary Ann’s community.

4. Flat Rock, Illinois

Finally, Amish Cook columnist Gloria Yoder recalls Easter traditions, and reflects on the meaning of Christ in her life:

When I was a young girl, our Amish youth group would go Easter caroling early in the morning. Long before the first crack of dawn, a team of workhorses was hitched to an open wagon, hauling our youth group. Going to each church family’s home, they would stand outside the window and softly sing songs of Jesus’ death and resurrection.

As an adult, I can still feel the quiet, sereneness of Easter morning when I peek out the window, watching the youth, all huddled together, dressed warm enough for the open ride as they make their way from home to home.

As soon as Dad would hear them coming down the road toward our house, he would quickly wake us children so we wouldn’t miss out on this very special annual tradition. As they sang at our home, I recall my dad wiping away tears. It didn’t mind it, yet I couldn’t identify; 20 years later I understand more of what he may have felt.

Years have a way of shedding a different light on almost anything. You know how life has a way of bringing with it curve balls we never asked for or even expected. You could fill in the blanks on what areas of your life have been the roughest spots for you. I’ve had times l felt like I didn’t have a thing to go to. It felt that if I would even give it all to Jesus, it really wouldn’t make much difference.

…

Through the thick of things, Daniel and I have developed a standby statement. When disaster strikes, to a greater or lesser degree, we just look at each other and say, “Well, our answer is still the same.” We both know what the other is thinking without finishing it. What is your answer?

What could possibly stay the same through all the torrents of changes and heartaches that strikes at one point or another of life? The answer Daniel and I both fall back on, is Jesus. Every time we get our focus on Jesus the trial at hand has a way of melting in the background, and we regain hope and clear vision once more.

Now as I think of all that my Lord has brought me through it makes sense why dad’s eyes filled with tears as he listened to those Easter songs on the stillness of those early mornings and why his voice quavered as he read chapter after chapter in our Bible storybook of Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection on Easter morning.

So, I hope you enjoyed these Amish perspectives on this important holiday. I’ll be visiting my grandmother this Easter. A Happy Easter to all readers observing the season!

Watch the video version of this post (Runtime 5:49):

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