I’m happy to welcome Karen Johnson-Weiner as a new contributor here at Amish America. Karen is Professor of Anthropology at SUNY-Potsdam, and has studied the Old Order Amish for over 30 years. Karen’s books include New York Amish: Life in the Plain Communities of the Empire State, Train Up a Child: Old Order Amish and Mennonite Schools, and The Amish (with co-authors Donald Kraybill and Steven Nolt). We’ve…
Merlyn Yoder belongs to an Old Order Amish church in northern Indiana. A few weeks ago he shared why he felt the Ausbund is such an important book. In Why the Amish Sing: Songs of Solidarity and Identity, author D. Rose Elder explores the different purposes of Amish church song, including “to uplift spirits, to express devotion, and to experience joy in faithfulness to God.” As an Amish person…
For the Amish, nonresistance means a number of things, including refusal to do violence upon others and abstaining from litigation. Today, Jim Cates looks at the Amish response to war, and the expectations of society during times of conflict.  I Ain’t Gonna Study War No More The quest for peace will always move in step with the drive for war, too often overshadowed by the demand for aggressive…
I’ve been fortunate enough to be invited to Amish church services close to a dozen times. As an outsider, you naturally notice things that are either like or unlike the services you’re accustomed to. And if you don’t speak Pennsylvania German, you don’t really have the preaching to keep your mind occupied. Thus my senses naturally hone in on other aspects of the service. I put together a list of a few things…
Cedar Pine Discount Groceries is another of umpteen little Amish-run food stores tucked away in corners of North America. It’s located in the little community at Roseville, Illinois, a one-church district settlement founded in 2007. Cedar Pine sells bent-n-dent and salvage goods, along with some homemade and fresh products. The Register-Mail of Galesburg, IL recently published a profile of the store. A few interesting things I…
I usually try to ignore “Amish Mafia” or “Breaking Amish“-related news, which tends to clog the news feeds whenever the shows are in season. I am making an exception today to share the good news that “Amish Mafia”‘s upcoming fourth season, beginning February 10th, will be its last. According to Lancaster Online, “show attorney Steve Breit revealed that the upcoming season would be very different…
The reader who shares today’s video clip (at end of post) writes, “it’s different, with some instruments”. Those instruments include a Casio keyboard, guitar and accordion. This is a short clip filmed last year by Ernest Bontrager in Pinecraft. He describes the group as the “Tri Valley Singers from Ohio”. The girls played on Estrada Street “to a large Amish crowd.” I would agree, it is…
What would it be like to share all your goods in common with your neighbors? Linda Maendel is a schoolteacher in a Hutterite colony in Manitoba, and could answer that question firsthand. Linda is also the author of an upcoming book called Hutterite Diaries: Wisdom from My Prairie Community. I’m happy to let you know that Linda will be sharing a look into Hutterite faith and life here on Amish America as…
Have you ever heard one Amish person suggest another Amish person is “behind the times”? It might sound funny, but you do hear things like that in places like Holmes County, Ohio. That community is a grab-bag of Amish groups–some very restrictive of technology, some liberal. Of course, Amish aren’t anti-technology. But different groups make different decisions about technology. In fact, many do use certain modern devices, tools, and gadgets. LED lights, recumbent…
A frankly creepy story has hopefully come to an end in Lancaster County. Last November you might have caught a report of an intruder entering Amish homes in eastern Lancaster County. The man in both cases would touch Amish females while they slept. He would speak to them and then leave. A 27-year-old Lancaster County man was arrested Friday and charged in one incident in East Earl township: According…