An ancient Anabaptist hymnal The Ausbund is a very important book for the Amish.  This hymnal contains centuries-old songs originating with Anabaptist captives held at the Oberhaus castle prison in Passau, located in present-day southeastern Germany. Amishman Benuel Blank wrote The Amazing Story of the Ausbund about this remarkable songbook.  About the Ausbund Blank writes: The Ausbund hymnbook, used by the early Anabaptist Swiss Brethren, is…
Here’s a video of a singing taken in the Guthrie, Kentucky Amish community (thanks to Mike). From the video commentary, the occasion was a funeral visitation, for an Amish man hit while driving a tractor. Beautiful singing.
Traveling through Amish settlements you may notice something like this: That’s not a Plain people hauler, nor the caboose of some sort of horse-drawn train. Â This bulky vehicle is a church wagon, and you’ll see them throughout Amish America. Each Amish church district will have its own wagon, used to transport benches from one location to the next. The benches are mainly used as seating…
Last Sunday I attended an Amish youth singing in Lancaster County. What follows is a short account. Youth practices may vary from community to community. Not all Amish youth follow the pattern described below. In some communities, such as Holmes County, Ohio, not all youth are members of so-called “singing groups” (those who aren’t are more likely to be among the wilder youth). Amish youth…
Ira Wagler, who grew up Amish in Aylmer, Ontario, explains in a humorous and informative post the ins and outs of Sunday singing in Amish church. An excerpt about the second song sung at all Amish church services: Years ago, before my time, in Aylmer, a stranger attended church one Sunday. At Nicky Stoltzfus, the preacher’s place. The stranger was from a very conservative, backwards…