Taken from the Merriam-Webster’s Encyclopedia of World Religions

Here is a dose of daily religion from A to Z.

Today’s religious topic is as follows:

”Amish”, also called Amish Mennonite, member of a conservative Christian Group in North America, primarily members of the Old Order Amish Mennonite Church. They originated in Europe as followers of Jakob Ammann, a 17th-century MENNONITE elder whose teachings caused controversy and SCHISM during the years 1693-97 among the Mennonites in Switzerland, Alsace, and south Germany. Ammann insisted that any Mennonite who had been excommunicated should be shunned or avoided by all other Mennonites and that anyone who told a falsehood should be excommunicated. He introduced washing of feet into the worship service and taught that church members should dress in a uniform manner, that beards should not be trimmed, and that it was wrong to attend services in state church. Although he subsequently sought reconciliation with those who disagreed with him, the attempts failed. Amish settlements and congregations sprang up in Switzerland, Alsace, Germany, Russia, and Holland, but migration to North America in the 19th and 20th centuries and assimilation with Mennonite groups gradually eliminated the Amish in Europe.

The Amish began migrating to North America early in the 18th century and first settled in eastern Pennsylvania, where a large settlement is still found. Schisms and disruptions occurred after 1850 because of tensions between the “old order,” or traditional Amish, and those who wished to adopt “new order” or progressive methods and organizations. During the next 50 years  about two-thirds of the Amish either formed separate, small churches of their own or joined either the Mennonite Church or the General Conference Mennonite Church.

Those who continued the characteristic lifestyle of the Amish are primarily members of the Old Order Amish Mennonite Church. In the late 20th century there were about 50 Old Order Amish settlements in the United States and Canada, the largest in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Iowa, Illinois, and Kansas. Their settlements are divided into autonomous congregations of about 75 baptized members. If the district becomes much larger it is again divided because the members meet in each other’s homes. There are no church buildings. Each district has a bishop, two to four Mennonites in formal doctrine. Holy Communion is celebrated twice each year, and washing of feet is practiced by both groups. Adults are baptized and admitted to formal membership in the church at about age 17 to 20. Service are conducted in Palatine German, commonly known as Pennsylvania Dutch, with some English, as well.

The Amish are known for their plain clothing and their plain way of life. They tend to live on largely self-sufficient family farms. The men wear broad-brimmed black hats, beards, and homemade plain clothes fastened with hooks and eyes instead of buttons. The women wear bonnets and long full dresses. No jewelry is worn. The Amish also shun telephones and electric lights and drive horses and buggies rather than automobiles.

(Comeback on 9/20/14 and continue to learn about religion. Tomorrow you’ll read and learn about “Amitabha”.

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