We use them all the time, but ever wonder how reference books and resources get put together? In a guest post today, Donald Kraybill offers a peek into the writing and research process for the Concise Encyclopedia of Amish, Brethren, Hutterites, and Mennonites: Compiling the Concise Encyclopedia was a daunting task. In fact if I had known at the beginning what I know now about…
Donald Kraybill just had a busy month. Most people would consider releasing one book an event, but in October Kraybill released two–The Amish Way: Patient Faith in a Perilous World, co-authored with Steven Nolt and David Weaver-Zercher, and the Concise Encyclopedia of Amish, Brethren, Hutterites, and Mennonites. Timing of the release was something of a coincidence; while The Amish Way was a more recent project,…
Sunday is the day Amish youth groups gather, and when dating couples traditionally meet. Â So I thought it would be a good day to share this. National Geographic is airing a new show called “Amish at the Altar”. They describe the show as: Three couples–two Amish and one ex-Amish–reveal courtship, engagement, and marriage among the Amish. Interviews with the couples, family members, and current and…
I just read an article by Donald Kraybill which examines Amish and obedience (http://goo.gl/Sb7e7).  In the piece, Kraybill explains why Amish use physical punishment to discipline children, citing an Amish mother named Hannah: Hannah explained that, when children are about two years old, their wills need to be broken. If it’s not done at that stage, she said, they will likely become disobedient, rebellious adults. The…
Sherry Gore is a national scribe for The Budget, editor of The Pinecraft Pauper, and columnist for the Amish magazine Ladies Journal. Sherry is also a mother of three residing in Sarasota, Florida, home to Pinecraft, a well-known community of Amish and Mennonites. Sherry has written an especially neat cookbook called Taste of Pinecraft: Glimpses of Sarasota, Florida’s Amish Culture and Kitchens, a tribute to…
Do Amish celebrate Halloween? While Amish do grow a lot of the pumpkins that become the Jack-o-Lanterns adorning homes across the nation today, the Amish themselves do not have a tradition of carving or displaying their own. The most you might see are some uncarved pumpkins and gourds festively arranged at some homes (though I suppose that could just as easily fall under the category…
I was just digging through my things and came across the pen above, picked up while visiting Amish communities earlier this year. This pen commemorates the wedding of Steven and Lydia, married this past spring in Ohio. Â Keepsakes and souvenirs such as this memorialize Amish weddings in many communities. Remembrance items can range from pens with the couple’s name and date of marriage, to painted…
Last week, an excerpt from The Amish Way mentioned a gentleman named Abner, a deceased Amish historian whose trade was bookbinding. Abner was apparently quite a remarkable person who touched a lot of people in his community. Â Brad Igou (The Amish in Their Own Words) knew Abner well and has shared some remembrances which he recorded after Abner’s death in 2002: A good friend has…
As I write this I’m sitting at home late Sunday morning, happily munching on bread slathered with Amish peanut butter, trying to keep it from sticking my laptop’s keys together. Amish across America will soon be doing the same at the after-church fellowship meal (the peanut butter, not the laptop part), at which the Amish interpretation of the venerable nut spread features prominently. What makes…
I’m happy to share the Amish Way winners with you today. It was a lot of fun to run this contest and I much enjoyed the interview with authors Donald Kraybill, Steven Nolt, and David Weaver-Zercher (if you missed it: Part 1 and Part 2). I particularly appreciated the point they make about shunning–that it is the “flip side to the community barn raising that…