Yesterday, roughly 900 Amish churches across North America met for Sunday service (900 would mean roughly half of the present 1800 Amish church districts; Amish congregations meet every other week with districts alternating Sundays). Leading the Amish congregation are a ministry consisting of a bishop, 2 or sometimes 3 ministers, and a deacon.
What roles do the Amish bishop, minister, and deacon play? Do Amish bishops rule their congregations with an iron hand, as they are sometimes portrayed? How are Amish ministers chosen? More on these and other questions in this Amish Online Encyclopedia entry on Amish leaders.
A good intro to the subject of “Leaders”. Perhaps the answers to my questions are contained elsewhere in the Encyclopedia, which is a great idea I might mention…
Is each position chosen by lot? Are there any prerequisites in the responsibility chain for any of these positions – being a minister before being chosen as bishop for instance? Is each position “for life”? Thanks.
Do Amish bishops and ministers serve for life?
Hi Rick, good follow up questions. Starting backwards–“for life” is correct. In some cases you have a position described as “senior bishop” for older individuals though to what degree they are involved in leadership I am not totally clear. But they are considered life positions and typically you would serve until death.
The bishop is selected from ordained ministers. I am not aware of it working otherwise (bishop ordained directly) but with the Amish, it’s hard to say “always” or “never”. But that is generally the case. A minister friend in Ohio was recently in the running for bishop along with 2 other ministers.
Deacons are selected by lot as well. A deacon can actually be later ordained a minister in some cases. Historically, there has been a position known as “full deacon” (voelliger Armendiener) who assisted with preaching, though to my knowledge it is not really seen today.
Has it ever been noted that an Amish has had particular talents regarding knowledge of the Bible, and in “ministry”, and interest in the job, but never actually had been selected by lot for an appropriate job? Not that we’d likely ever hear someone say “darn it, passed over again, I wanted that job!”
I have few questions to ask. I would like to know if I could return to the community? However, I am asking for a second chance.
It is just a permission.
Thank you.