Maine Amish
Smyrna, Maine Amish photo: localism.com
Maine is a state that has never had a significant Amish presence. Maine currently has 3 settlements of one church district each. Bangor Daily News features an article today about a new Maine Amish community (no longer online), recently formed by Amish from Kentucky, Missouri, and a settlement in Smyrna in the northern part of the state.
Interestingly, the deacon of this congregation is cited in the article as saying that his church is open to new congregants, and that they hold part of church services in English when outsiders are present.
And if you’re interested, check out this 2005 Boston Globe article about the Smyrna Amish community, in existence since 1996. Â Also, read more about all Maine Amish settlements in the Amish State Guide, or view a directory of Amish woodworking in the state: Amish Furniture-Maine.
![The 2023 Amish Mud Sale Schedule (Lancaster County Auction Calendar) [UPDATED]](https://amishamerica.com/images/bart-pa-auctioneer.jpg)
The use of English is probably a hangover from the Elmo Stoll days. Well, I guess his wife and boys are part of this, so why not? 🙂
And Ervin Hostetler, Elmo’s close friend.
So, this community still carries the spirit of Elmo’s “reforms”. Mike
It’s good to hear a little about the lesser known communities. I find it kind of odd that several states would come together to form a new group, unless they may have been an extended family getting back together. Same applies for Dover with a number of states contributing. Any thoughts?
Always wondered if the spirit that drives this particular community to accept outsiders was instrumental in its creation. Smyrna’s Budget letter documents the comings and goings of visitors and potential converts, and it makes for interesting reading.
Ah, Hi Mike, thanks for chipping in some insider knowledge here. I remember some of our correspondence on this.
i lived in nb
i lived in nb and elmo was the pastor….i know the original settlers of main well
Monica that sounds like an interesting one. I’d be curious to learn that story.
How Amish decide to move to new places
Hi Rick, you know I’d probably have to think about/research this a while yet before I could give a decent response. It’s actually not uncommon as you look back through settlement histories, and there are often family or other ties involved–in other cases in the past land agents would attempt to drum up interest in new areas by appealing to/advertising in various Amish communities, and early settlers to a new community might comment in the Budget and other publications in attempts to attract attention and new settlers in the interest of the settlement’s survival, and the Budget of course has a wide reach throughout Amish America.
The ones that moved to Unity, ME from KY and MO were OO Hoover Mennonites. This Mennonite group and the Smyrna/Unity, Maine Amish have a similar vision, though the Hoover group is much more technologically conservative. The affinity between these two groups goes way back to when Smyrna, ME was a Christian Community settlement, and the entire CC movement under the leadership of Elmo Stoll was attempting to merge with the Hoover Mennonites. The merger never happened, and Smyrna, ME, after the disintegration of the CC’s, eventually became something like a New Order type Amish congregation. Both Smyrna and Unity have Amish and Mennonites from diverse backgrounds and a scattering of settlements, united in trying to fervently live out their faith as they see it.
I have felt the hand of god recently, and its as if i woke up one day and realized that all this stuff around me, materialistic and shallow, and all my friends, who are lazy and dont attend church, or believe in god, i dont want to bring my children up in this world. I am 22 and want to join the Amish, but i live in Maine, what can i do?
Photo credit
Was lucky to be able to capture the Smyrna Amish settlement images and enjoy living with this industrious group. The spark, flavor they add to the area with their store, sale of painted metal, storage buidings and furniture.
Unity Maine
go see Ervin Hochstetler in Unity Maine,,, or Crist Hilty in Smyrna Maine,, also look for a Stephen Petre in Smyrna Mills, Maine,,,,
but be cautious,, and slow,,,
Storage sheds
Does anyone know the number for the storage sheds? I live in Knox a few towns away and occasionally see amish family members traveling on bicycle, horseback, or horse drawn wagons and farm equipment and would really like to support them and their beliefs by purchasing a shed from them…
A little off subject but we bought a Holstein from Aglahoma farm (our neighbors) that was supposed to be food and is now a loved family pet =/ I suppose that should have been expected seeming we raised him from a few hours old!!
Number to Sturdi-Built Amish Sheds
The contact info for Amish sheds is as follows:
Sturdi-Built Storage buildings, LLC
2587 U.S. Route 2
Smyrna, Maine 04780
207-757-7877
Office hours are Mon, Tue, Wed, & Fri. 9am to 5 pm
FOR SMYRNA SHEDS CALL 207-757-7265
JORDAN, WHERE IN MAINE ARE YOU??? Crist Hilty in Smyrna Mills Maine, at the pioneer Place on U S 2
amish america
was interested in your sheds …wanted to know how large and estimated cost…thank You
Welcome!
Welcome aboard my Christian brothers and sisters. At least you people live and abide by the book, and follow the law to a T.
Unity
Does anyone know how to get in contact witht he Unity community in Maine?
sheds
I am looking for the phone number of the Amish store in Unity, Maine, specifically to inquire about storage sheds. Do you you have any information?
Thank you.
Amish Community Store in Unity, Maine
Harold I believe this is the business you are looking for. According to another one of our readers this is also the number to an Amish-run metal roofing company.
Community Market
Grocery Store
Unity, ME 04988
(207) 948-4174
If for some reason that doesn’t get you what you need, I’d bet the person on the other end will be able to help.
https://amishamerica.com/amish-maine/#comment-36165
Where can I buy an Amish Bible
Are Amish Bible only for the Amish or can any English person read it?
Amish typically use the King James version for an English Bible, or the Martin Luther German Bible. Often they have a Bible which has one version on the left facing pages and the translation on the right. So you can definitely get ahold of the Bible(s) the Amish use.
https://amishamerica.com/which-bible-do-the-amish-use/
Unity Storage Sheds
Joas (correct spelling – pronounced “Joe”) Hochstetler
Backyard Buildings
tel:(207) 948-1980
Great young guy. Hard working. Does beautiful work. Was just there last week and he had just finished a beautiful hunting cabin for someone.
Please Dig Beyond The Surface
Remeber that all that glitters is not gold – it might be fools gold. I used to be a member of the Old Order Amish in Smyrna ,Maine (and worked at Sturdi-bilt and Smyrna Sheds)and while there are many good things to remember, there are many things that are not good or right there. I just want to caution anyone who is looking to join, to please have your spritual eyes open and never close them to the truth of the Bible. So, I just wanted to speak my mind some and don’t want discourage anyone, but rather point them to Jesus.
Hello Jason my name is Janet.
I am not looking to join, I was just interested in what type of bible was used as well as trying find home builders in the state of Maine because I would rather give the Amish my business. Their craftsmanship is the best I have ever seen, beautiful. I have land in Cooper and was seeking builders if any were interested in building a small one level home.
The Amish in an English body.
Please help me. I really want to talk to someone from the Amish community, about how to live as an Amish, outside of the Amish community. I know I could never be accepted as an Amish, but I still wish to live my life by the Amish ideals. Although I know a lot about the Amish from years of research, I don’t know first hand from the mouth of an Amish how to live a Godly Christian life exactly as the Amish see it.
I have always been a man of God. My faith has always been incredibly strong, but my discipline was not as strong as my faith for quite some time in my life. I made choices that scarred me for life and I know I can not take those choices back.
I lived my life to preach the gospel when I was younger, but then things changed. I used to take homeless people off the streets and bring them to my home and help rehabilitate them. I was a friend to the poor, and tried to help anyone that needed it. I even helped drug addicts get sober. I tried to be a good christian the best way I could all my life.
In the past I preached to everyone, and I did help many people, but I realized I was a better pastor, without preaching to people. I found that just being a good Christian, by that I mean a real Christian, I was a far better example and people were much more receptive to hearing about God, if they asked me to talk about my beliefs first. It is a better way of leading people to God giving them a choice about it and not trying to force them to believe. When someone wants to hear the word, and they ask you about it, they will listen to your answer and think about it.
I stopped being a pastor years ago, and just tried to live my life in a Christian way. I guess I always have had Amish tendencies and have had a life long obsession with learning about the Amish, but I know enough to know I won’t belong. I love the lifestyle, I love the faith and community, I love everything I have ever seen about the Amish way of life, but I also know certain English life choices really make it impossible to really become one of the Amish in any community truly.
In the past I defiled my body and I understand this will make it virtually impossible for me and my family to be truly Amish. I know me and my wife, and 4 sons all live as close to an Amish way of life that we can imagine, but we both want to be better at it for our sons. We both feel that the english world is corrupted, and we want something more for our children, so we strive to live a pure life in the Amish sense, but we both wish to know more about it.
Like I said, I know most likely no true Amish community will accept me and my family because my past mistakes. I have visible tattoos including on my neck, left hand, chest, several on each arm, on my back and both legs. I have the remains of gagued ears and scars from multiple piercings all over my face and ears. I left the jewelry 5 – 7 years ago, but the scars remain, just like the tattoos. I understand I most likely could never join the Amish, or the Menonites, or even the Hutterites. I know the community would never approve of my past choices, but despite that, I would still like to at least talk to an Amish about how to live an Amish life, without being part of the Amish community.
I know that this website most likely is run by Hutterites, or Menonites, or someone corresponding with them closely about it, so I thought maybe you could possibly get in touch with me via email to help me understand what it means to live a truly Amish life outside of an Amish community.
I understand this is a odd request coming from someone highly tattooed and into technology like the web (because I am a Drupal web developer), but I would really appreciate it. I know I want to live as pure of a life as I can, and I feel talking to someone from the community could really help me know what I am doing right, and what I am doing wrong. I already am doing home school with all my children, I even built them a high tech Drupal home schooling website to help teach them. My wife makes almost everything by hand including breads and more. We try to pray together before every meal and even just going to yard sales for God’s will for us. My wife does not wear makeup or wear provocative clothing, and we make our own soap, cleaners, some of our own clothes and more. We try to be self sufficient as much as possible, but I know talking to true Amish could help me know what things we could improve on.
I know if I could talk to someone from the community that would give me peace of mind to know if we are striving in the right directions to be good in the eyes of the lord despite my past mistakes.
Please respond back. God bless you.
Thank you.
Alexander
God bless you for putting this site together as well.
the Amish in an English body
Greetings! I am willing and glad to communicate with you concerning the Amish lifestyle. I will have to tell you up front though that the Amish lifestyle is not an end in itself, it has no eternal benefit to your soul in and of itself.
None.
But it may be helpful for you if you are interested in Biblical discipleship. First of all though, you must be born again. Jesus said in John 3 that unless we are born again we cannot even SEE the Kingdom of God. It does sound though that you have seen your sin but could you confess that you once were estranged from the Lord Jesus? That you really haven’t always been a Christian? Are you willing to forsake all to follow Him?
If the above is a part of your story then you may want to seek out an Amish community to go to and interact with them. I would be glad to direct you to an Amish community that would be willing to have you walk with them. Most Amish are not skilled or too willing to reach out to people of another culture however there are a few who are glad to do so.
I would suggest that you consider learning from them those values of raising a godly family, living in community, and of following Christ; rather than becoming enamored with the cultural lifestyle. Crossing cultures is incredibly difficult and frustrating; really, you probably aren’t half as Amish as you think you are.
I grew up in an Old Order Amish community near St. Marys Ontario, taught at an Amish school in Michigan for Four years, taught school and lived in Smyrna Maine for six years and am currently living in central Ohio where I teach. Right now we are with a sort of New Order group. There are great people in all those places but I’m not certain that any of these places are places where you would want stay for more than say, a period of two years.
You would be able to become a member in an Amish community however they might ask you to have the tattoos removed and surgically fix some of those other scars (think of it as removing graffiti from the walls of the temple). They might even help you financially to have them removed. Actually, this would be the easiest part of the process of becoming an accepted member of the community.
Check out the Primitive Quakers..
Hi,
My family is on a similar journey. Check out the Primitive Quakers who are plain dressing and live old-fasioned as well. The writings of George Fox and John Woolman are wonderful and don’t require to have you focus on the outside of your appearance… They view everyone as having Light within them and that the Light in one person meets the Light in another. Light can be enlarged. The Primitive Quakers are Christian.
God loves us the way we are and just wants us to get our hearts in line with the Divine. A person’s asking for forgiveness is a quiet,personal matter not to be judged by any group no matter how well meaning they may be. No middlemen is what The Quakers are about.They believe in bettering the world by activism, as well.Sounds like your family are wonderful just the way they are. Don’t waste God’s direction for your future assignments from Him by worrying about your past mistakes. All people..even the Amish have sinned as much as any other person has and does. The point for us all is to go to God and have quiet conversations with Him…not necessary to air it out for another group to judge. That would teach your family a wrong doctrine. Christ forgives. Period. Safe journeys.
Amish Inquiry
Greetings,
I am hoping for some insight on contacting the Amish in either Smyrna or Fort Fairfield to discuss the possibility of joining their community. Any assistance would be greatly appreciated. God bless.