Ministers usually serve for life and receive no salary. In most Amish communities, a young man cannot be baptized into the faith unless he is willing to become a minister, should the lot fall on him some day. It is normally taken for granted that the candidate will be a married man. New ministers are needed when one dies, or when a district becomes too large and must divide. The actual event of choosing a new minister is considered one of the most emotional and important to be experienced in the Amish religion.
An announcement that a new minister will be chosen is usually made at least two weeks prior to the communion service, so everyone has time to pray and meditate. There are not to be discussions among the people as to who they plan to "nominate," nor does anyone indicate his desire to become a minister.
Voting is completed by the congregation after the communion service, and those who receive three or more votes are named the candidates. Each candidate selects a hymnal, and the one who finds a slip of paper with a verse written on it tucked inside is deemed the one chosen by God from among the congregation. Most Pennsylvania Amish weddings take place after the autumn harvest, from late October through December.
Traditionally, they are held Tuesdays and Thursdays, so there is time in between to get ready for and clean up after each. Even so, it can get pretty busy during the "wedding season," with some Amish going to two or three weddings in one day!
An Amish wedding is a particularly joyous occasion, for two baptized members of the church are joining in marriage, continuing the faith and starting a new family together. While parents do not select who their children will marry, approval must be given, and the deacon usually acts as the go-between.
At a church service after fall communion, the couples planning to marry are "published," or announced in front of the congregation. After the service, the benches are put together to form tables for the wedding meal, which is a feast indeed, including "roast," a mixture of bread filling and chicken, mashed potatoes, cole slaw, apple sauce and creamed celery.
Some leafy celery stalks are also put in jars to decorate the table. Among the desserts are pies, doughnuts, fruit and pudding. There are usually several wedding cakes, some made by the women, but often one from a bakery as well, which are usually eaten later in the day. It will take several seatings to feed or more guests. In the afternoon, the young people have a singing, and soon it is time for those who have stayed through the day to enjoy the evening meal.
Hymn-singing again follows the meal, dominated by "faster hymns. The couple will spend upcoming weekends visiting relatives, sometimes stopping at five or six houses between a Friday and Sunday night. Wedding gifts are usually given to them at this time. By the spring, the couple is usually ready to move into a home of their own, and the groom will have begun growing his beard.
This is an Amish tradition that signifies a man is married. Like all religious groups, The Amish have traditions that they observe upon the death of a family member. And like so many of their religious ceremonies, the Pennsylvania Amish are reminded that their focus should not be so much on this world as on the world yet to come.
Funeral practices of the Lancaster Amish settlement differ somewhat from those in other areas. In Lancaster County, an Amish body is taken to a local funeral director who is familiar with Amish funeral customs.
Family members might wash the body before the undertaker arrives. The undertaker embalms the body and typically dresses it in long underwear before placing it in the coffin. Coffins are six sided, with two pieces on hinges that fold down to reveal the body from the chest up, and lined with material made and provided by the Amish. The coffin is then returned to the Amish family.
The body is usually dressed in white clothing by family members of the same sex. For men, this means white pants, vest, and shirt; for women a white dress, cape and apron. Because theological authority rests within each of the approximately 1, local congregations, the different subgroups and congregations vary in how they apply the principles of their faith to daily life — especially as it relates to dress styles, technology, and the amount of interaction with the outside world.
Despite variations between the many subgroups, the vast majority of Old Order Amish communities terminate formal education at the eighth grade, meet in homes for religious services, wear distinctive plain clothing, and reject television, online access, and public utility electricity.
Despite these distinctive practices a lot of people confuse the Amish with other somewhat similar groups who are not, in fact, Amish at all. Mennonites Mennonites are not Amish, though many people with an untrained eye confuse traditional Mennonites with Amish.
The Amish and the Mennonites both trace their roots to the Anabaptist Movement in Europe that began in shortly after the Protestant Reformation.
Sharing the same religious heritage, Mennonites and Amish later separated into two branches in Members of both groups came to North America in the 18th century and often settled near each other in separate communities. Today, in the 21st century, the North American Mennonite population of some , people has dozens of subgroups. Mennonites are roughly divided into two types: traditional plain-dressing Mennonites and those who have assimilated somewhat into mainstream culture. Assimilated Mennonites pursue higher education, live in urban areas, engage in professions, use up-to-date technology, and wear contemporary dress.
There are two types of traditional Mennonites: those who use horse and buggy transportation and those who drive cars. The horse-and-buggy driving Mennonites, who also speak Pennsylvania German, are often confused with the Amish. Unlike the Amish, Mennonite men do not wear beards. The fabrics worn by traditional Mennonite women typically have patterns and designs, in contrast to the plain fabrics of Amish women.
Traditional Mennonites of all types live mostly in rural areas, hold church services in meetinghouses, wear plain dress, rarely enter college, and use electricity, but they often place restrictions on television and internet access. These two groups have many members from an Amish background whose ancestors left the Amish in the 20th century to form these more "progressive" groups.
Some ex-Amish continue to join these groups, among others. Despite their name, however, these churches lie outside the Amish orbit because they do not use horse-and-buggy transportation or speak Pennsylvania German. Work, taxes and military service Traditionally, farming of all kinds has been at the center of Amish work life. However, in the past century, according to the Young Center, increasing numbers have become involved in business enterprises, most notably in carpentry and sales of farm products.
They also form construction crews that build houses and other buildings for non-Amish and sometimes work at "English"-owned factories and workshops, such as those in Indiana that manufacture recreational vehicles.
They are taxed on their earnings. According to the Young Center, "They pay all the taxes — income, property, sales, estate, corporate, school — that other people do. In fact many of them pay school taxes twice — for both public and private Amish schools.
Instead, they believe that members of the church should care for one another's physical and material needs. In some states, according to the Young Center, the Amish have also been exempted from workers compensation for the same reason.
Amish also are exempt from military service due to their belief in non-resistance, a term they prefer over pacifism. This applies not only to war, but also law-enforcement, politics and legal actions. Technology Amish life is governed by the "Ordnung," a German word for order. The rules vary from community to community.
According to the Young Center, "Most Amish groups forbid owning automobiles, tapping electricity from public utility lines, using self-propelled farm machinery, owning a television, radio, and computer, attending high school and college, joining the military, and initiating divorce. According to the Young Center, the Amish do not consider technology evil in itself, but believe that it has the potential to bring about assimilation into the surrounding society. Horse-and-buggy transportation keeps the community anchored in its local geographical base.
In addition, most Amish are not permitted to drive motor vehicles but are allowed to hire outsiders — known as "English" — to drive them.
Their right to end school at age 14 was confirmed by a ruling of the United States Supreme Court.
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