The 5 Largest Amish Affiliations

The 5 Largest Amish Affiliations

ByErik Wesner
27 Comments

We often talk about the largest Amish communities – meaning the geographic locations where Amish live. The Lancaster County settlement is one example of an Amish community. Amish affiliations are something different. As noted in an earlier post on affiliations, the term “describe[s] groupings of Amish churches of similar practice, identity, and lifestyle.” To take the example above, the “Lancaster” affiliation includes the Lancaster County Amish–but also includes…

Look Inside an Ohio Amish Home (7 Photos)

Look Inside an Ohio Amish Home (7 Photos)

ByErik Wesner
53 Comments

Reader Ashley recently alerted me to photos of what can only be an Amish-owned home in the Belle Center, Ohio community. This home is up for sale, and you can see over two dozen photos of it at the realtor’s listing here (Update: photos no longer online, but we’ve posted some of them below). We’ve seen a few photos from a Belle Center Amish home…

Sunday Morning: Traveling to Church (16 Photos)

Sunday Morning: Traveling to Church (16 Photos)

ByDon Burke
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I always like being out and about in Amish communities on Sunday morning. It’s a peaceful time on the roads, which are often full of buggies and people walking to church service. Don Burke recently visited a Missouri community and captured some of those images, which he paired below with a special selection from the Psalms. Here’s Don with background on the photos and his…

Amish Youth Snowball Fight (10 Photos)

Amish Youth Snowball Fight (10 Photos)

ByErik Wesner
11 Comments

You’re never too old to throw a snowball, right? I’m 36, and I’ll confess to tossing a few earlier this winter, so I hope not 🙂 . On the lighter side of things, the photos here are from a snowball fight that broke out among Amish youth somewhere in northern Indiana. The photographer writes: “A youth was joining church today in our district and there were…

Ice Harvesting in New York’s North Country

Ice Harvesting in New York’s North Country

ByErik Wesner
4 Comments

Karen Johnson-Weiner follows up last month’s Ohio ice harvest post with a look at how the practice differs among the Swartzentruber Amish in upstate New York. — The recent article about ice harvesting in Mt. Vernon, Ohio, brought back memories of an ice harvest in nearby Heuvelton, New York—a similar event with a similar goal. In each case, thick ice on an outdoor pond was cut…

The Amish Dress Code

The Amish Dress Code

ByErik Wesner
55 Comments

In today’s guest post, Suzanne Woods Fisher looks at the development of Amish plain dress, and the role played by Amish founder Jacob Amman. As Suzanne explains, Amman would have known something about clothing. — Why do the Amish dress the way they do? Simple clothing identifies the Plain People as set apart, as individuals belonging to a larger whole, the way a military uniform sets apart a soldier….

5 Places Where Amish Buy Things

5 Places Where Amish Buy Things

ByErik Wesner
67 Comments

Where do the Amish do their shopping? Obviously, without a car in the drive, it’s not as simple as jumping behind the wheel and zipping to the store when you’re running low on sandwich bread or hairpins. But Amish still have quite a few more- and less-convenient shopping options available to them. Here are five venues Amish people turn to when they need to buy something.   1. Walmart Large quantities, low…

Merlyn Yoder: Being an Example

ByErik Wesner
6 Comments

Indiana Amish church member Merlyn Yoder, who previously wrote on the Ausbund and singing for church ministers, returns today with a little food for thought. Merlyn’s piece gave me something to think about, at least. As you go through your daily grind, you never know when an impressionable someone may be watching. — While going through life we all have role models. We have our various…

Sam Mullet Sentence Reduced to 10 Years, 9 Months

Sam Mullet Sentence Reduced to 10 Years, 9 Months

ByErik Wesner
6 Comments

Sam Mullet along with the seven remaining imprisoned members of the Bergholz community have just received shorter sentences for their roles in the 2011 beard-cutting attacks. From the report (no longer online): Mullet’s 15-year sentence was reduced to 10 years, nine months. Sentences for four men who received seven years were cut to five years. Sentences for three men who got five years were lowered to three…

Amish Women & Gender Roles

Amish Women & Gender Roles

ByErik Wesner
25 Comments

How do roles and expectations of women differ in Amish and non-Amish society? Serving the Amish author Jim Cates explores the question of gender roles in this first of a three-part look at the Amish and women’s issues. A Natural Woman When Aretha Franklin crooned “You make me feel like a natural woman” she was thanking the man who fulfilled her, and not a way of…