4 | The Social Architecture of Amish Society
1. J. A. Hostetler (1993) describes these in detail. See also Hostetler and Huntington (1992).
2. The role of the Amish wife is described during the wedding ceremony: “The man should know that God has appointed him as head of the woman, that he is to lead, rule and protect her lovingly.” The wife “is to honor and respect him and be subject to him . . . she shall be quiet . . . and take good care of the children and housekeeping.” Wives are told to conduct themselves submissively and are asked to pledge to “live in subjection to their husband.” See Handbuch (1978:38–39).
3. L. Stoltzfus (1998).
4. For an excellent discussion of Amish women and feminism, see Olshan and Schmidt (1994). Louise Stoltzfus (1994, 1998) shares valuable insights into the lives and values of Amish women.
5. For an extended discussion of the role of Amish women in business, see Kraybill and Nolt (1995), especially 45–47 and 240–44.
6. “The Hausfrau Diary,” in The Diary, December 1999, 74.
7. Recipes for Home Canning and Freezing, 36. This 36-page booklet names no author or publisher. (Printed by the Gordonville Book Shop. Seventh printing, October 1998.)
8. Huntington (1981) has written an excellent essay on the Amish family. For a description of age roles in the Amish family, see Hostetler and Huntington (1992).
9. More progressive Amish couples are likely to use artificial means of birth control. However, church leaders typically frown on such behavior. For a variety of reasons, older women sometimes undergo sterilization to prevent further births. Various forms of birth control as well as sterilization represent a modernizing trend—a shift from fate to choice.
10. For a description of this small Amish village southeast of Sarasota, see Intelligencer (14 January 1987).
11. A household is defined as a living area having separate eating and bathroom facilities. Many extended families have two or three households in the same house. This estimate of the size of the Lancaster church districts is based on the research described in Appendix A.
12. J. A. Hostetler (1993:108).
13. The listing of all the ordinations in the Lancaster settlement is available in Ein Diener Register (2000).
14. The leaders are called Diener (servant). The Handbuch (1978) identifies them as Volliger Diener (bishop), Diener zum Buch (minister, or servant, of the book), and Armendiener (deacon, or servant, to the poor). Their roles are described in Gemein (n.d.) and in the Handbuch (1978:29–33). Paton Yoder (1987b) provides an excellent review of the ordained offices and notes that the term bishop was not used by the Amish until the 1860s.
15. A bishop is not required by church polity to have two districts. Typically a bishop has a “home” district, but he often oversees a second district for several years until the congregation is ready to ordain its own bishop. In some instances a bishop may oversee three districts, and in other cases only one. A bishop usually is responsible for two districts.
16. Schlabach (1988) and Yoder and Estes (1999) provide the best introduction and analysis of these gatherings, which played a key role in the formation of Old Order Amish identity. For a discussion of the role of the Ordnung in the Ministers’ Meeting, see J. N. Gingerich (1986). An Amish deacon from the Lancaster area, “Tennessee” John Stoltzfus, participated in the series of Ministers’ Meetings. His relationship to the meetings is traced by P. Yoder (1979a, 1979b). See also Yoder and Bender (1979).
17. The progressives in the lower Pequea district formed what eventually became the Millwood Mennonite Church. Progressives in the Conestoga district were the progenitors of what is today the Conestoga Mennonite Church. For primary source materials on these divisions, see P. Yoder (1979a, 1987a). A discussion of the Conestoga division can be found in Mast and Mast (1982). For the Pequea division, see A. N. King (1977).
18. The use of meetinghouses remains a sensitive issue. In the early 1990s an Amishman built a mobile building that could be set up and taken down fairly quickly. It was used at some benefit auctions, and then some districts started using it for weddings. But the bishops “wanted nothing to do with it,” said one member, “because they thought it would lead to a church house and larger weddings. So they put it out [banned it] in the fall of 1995.”
19. See Beulah Hostetler (1992) for a discussion of this issue in the formation of Old Order group identity.
20. The Diary (1975:7:80).
21. For historical background on Amish Aid, see G. L. Fisher (1978:355, 379) and The Diary (1973:5, 86).
22. Directory (1973:19–24).
23. The Diary (1969:1:4; 1976:8:177).
24. For the minutes of the annual meetings, see Steering Committee (1966–2000). Olshan (1993, 1994b) describes the evolution and function of the Steering Committee.
25. The Diary (1969:1:4; 1976:8:177).
26. Rules and Regulations (1983).
27. Articles (1984).
28. The Pequea Bruderschaft Library primarily collects materials related to the Lancaster settlement. The Heritage Historical Library in Aylmer, Ontario, holds a collection of Amish-related materials covering all the settlements in North America.
29. The history and rationale for this program are described in a small pamphlet Regulations and Guidelines for the Old Order Amish Product Liability Aid, adopted and established in the fall of 1992. The pamphlet was printed in 2000 by Gordonville Print Shop.
30. A twelfth organization is the Amish Book Committee, which publishes the Ausbund, prayer books, and other religious books. It was founded in 1913. A detailed history of its origins is recorded in The Diary (1970:2:191–95).
31. The clinic is located south of Strasburg at P.O. Box 128, Strasburg, PA 17579 (717/687-9407).
32. Wagler (n.d.:7).
33. Standards (1981:41).
5 | Rites of Redemption and Purification
1. See Kasdorf (1997:136–44), who expands on the orality of Amish culture in her dissertation on Joseph W. Yoder. She notes that even Plato worried that those who rely on writing will lose their memory.
2. There are, of course, ritual variations from settlement to settlement across North America, but within an Amish affiliation, the ritual formulas are firmly established and perpetuated by oral tradition and practice.
3. J. N. Gingerich (1986:181).
4. The Ordnung is the reservoir of “understandings” about expected behavior that have accumulated in Amish culture over time. A minister described the evolution of the Ordnung: “Our fathers’ church leaders had a strong desire to hold on to the old way of life, and although much has changed over the years they have been successful in holding the line to the point that we have been separated from the world, which, in time, created a culture different from that of the world. This did not come overnight, nor did it come through rash or harsh commands of our bishops, but by making wise decisions to hold firm to the old-time religion from one time to another, from one generation to another” (J. F. Beiler 1982:353).
5. J. F. Beiler (1982:383).
6. The eighteen articles of the Dordrecht Confession of Faith form the basis of the instruction classes. The classes emphasize the importance of baptism and communion as the principal components of “true Christian faith.” At the end of the instruction period, applicants are asked a series of questions to measure their theological knowledge—for example, “Who has called you?” “Who has redeemed you?” The last session of instruction emphasizes the importance of complying with the Ordnung, and the ministers “make it very clear to the applicants what kind of a covenant they are making” (Handbuch 1978:24–26). The Lancaster ministers’ manual says the candidates are to be asked several times if they are willing to submit to the order of the church (Gemein n.d.:4).
7. J. A. Hostetler (1993:78).
8. Most church districts have a baptismal service every other fall. Youth are typically baptized in their home district but occasionally may be baptized in an adjoining one if they want to be baptized be
fore the next baptismal service in their district.
9. This wording is found in In Meiner Jugend (2000:190–91). See also Handbuch (1978:26) and Gemein (n.d.:6), for variant wording of the vows.
10. Handbuch (1978:25) and Gemein (n.d.:5–7).
11. The description of the worship service is based on participant observation in worship services in Lancaster County in the spring of 1986 and the summer of 2000.
12. Technically, the worship begins with the first sermon and ends with the benediction. The singing is considered extraneous to the worship service. The ministers are absent (in the counsel room) during the first two songs, and some of the women begin preparing the meal during the last song.
13. The meal typically involves slices of bread, peanut butter, smearcase (cheese spread), pickled vegetables, snitz (dried apple) pie, and coffee. Some districts also serve bologna and cheese. Plates and napkins are not used, and the food is not passed. Several seatings are usually necessary to serve everyone.
14. For background and scholarly sources on the Ausbund, consult the Mennonite Encyclopedia (1956), vol. 2, s.v. “Ausbund,” as well as Bartel (1986), J. A. Hostetler (1993:227–29), Luthy (1971b), Ressler (1986), and Schreiber (1962a). The first known European edition, published in 1564, has been followed by many other editions and printings. The American edition used in the Lancaster settlement includes stories of some forty Swiss Anabaptists who suffered severe persecution between 1645 and 1685. These vivid stories of suffering have been translated and published by J. E. Kauffman (1975). English translations of 69 of the 140 songs of the Ausbund along with historical material have been published by the Ohio Amish Library (Songs 1998). Bartel (1986) and Durnbaugh (1999) provide helpful discussions of the unique style of Amish singing.
15. Ressler (1978) details the background of this hymn and its use among the Amish and Mennonites.
16. Gibbons (1869:59–69).
17. J. A. Hostetler (1993:278) notes that the speed of singing the “Lob Lied” in different Amish groups across the country ranges from eleven to thirty minutes, depending on their degree of conservatism. The more conservative the group, the slower it is sung.
18. The admonitions toward positive examples, die Vorstellung, take up as much as 90 percent of the time with only about 10 percent devoted to die Abstellung, things that are not allowed.
19. Handbuch (1978:33).
20. Luthy (1975) describes Amish ordination customs across several settlements.
21. Gemein (n.d.:10–11).
22. Handbuch (1978:33).
23. The use of the lot is based on the account recorded in Acts 1:23–26, where lots were cast to select someone to replace Judas Iscariot.
24. Based on information gathered from her field interviews, Louise Stoltzfus helped to clarify the procedures related to confession as well as shunning.
25. The Lancaster ministers’ manual distinguishes between “sins of brotherhood or weakness that can be corrected between brothers . . . and sins of carnality, such as adultery, fornication ...” The more serious sins, which also include “inordinate living, idleness in useless words, business conduct, and external appearances,” are cause for cutting sinners off like a branch until they are willing to be fruitful again. The six-week exclusion is sometimes referred to as “setting someone back from counsel.” They are to take no part in Members’ Meetings or in communion and should not receive the brotherly greeting, or kiss (Gemein n.d.:18–20).
26. Handbuch (1978:26–28) and informants.
27. Technically, the ban refers to the exclusion of members from communion and the fellowship of the church. The six-week exclusion from communion is sometimes called the small ban, in contrast to the big ban—excommunication. Meidung, or shunning, refers to the social avoidance of those who are excommunicated or excluded from communion. Because the Bann, or excommunication, automatically implies Meidung, in everyday discourse Bann and Meidung are sometimes used interchangeably. Such overlap of terminology occurs in the Lancaster County bishop’s statement on Bann und Meidung in Bericht (1943).
28. The Amish process of excommunication and shunning resembles Benedictine language and practice in some ways. See, for example, Benedictine Rules 23 through 29, which cover excommunication and association with the excommunicated. Matthew 18:15–16 and 1 Corinthians 5:5 are highlighted in both Amish and Benedictine practice. See Rule (1982:49–53).
29. Dordrecht (1976:35).
30. The Moses Hartz controversy at the turn of the century in Lancaster County (discussed in Chapter 8), prompted debate on whether people who left the Amish church for a more progressive Anabaptist church, such as the Mennonites, should be shunned. Those who advocated a strong shunning (Streng Meidung) felt that such people should be shunned. More progressive members felt that the shunning should be relaxed in such a case. The debate surrounding the Hartz case was one of the factors leading to the 1910 division. Even after this division, the debate continued to smolder until the Old Order bishops issued a special statement in 1921 in which they argued that they were not practicing a new form of shunning but were merely following the traditional Amish custom as agreed to in a Ministers’ Meeting in 1809 and as taught by Bishop David Beiler in 1861. Discussion of the proper application of shunning continued during the first half of the twentieth century, prompting publication of several statements on it in Bericht (1943). The long and heated debates over the use of shunning from 1693 to the present testify to its potent power for social control and its cardinal role in Amish identity and polity.
31. Dordrecht (1976:36). Scripture verses that are used to support the practice of shunning, in the Dordrecht Confession of Faith, include 1 Cor. 5:9–11; Rom. 16:17; 2 Thess. 3:14, 15; and Titus 3:10, 11.
32. Bericht (1943:2).
33. For a first-person story of shunning by a middle-aged Amish woman, see “Damned: Emma’s Choice,” which appeared in the Philadelphia Inquirer Magazine, 30 January 1994. A collection of stories of ex-Amish has been compiled by Garrett (1998).
34. When a major internal division occurs within the Amish church, members are given a grace period—a time to decide whether they want to leave without the threat of ostracism. The grace period ends if someone who was excommunicated by the Old Order Amish is later accepted into the more liberal group without a confession. In other words, when the splinter group no longer respects the Bann that the Old Order Amish apply to their wayward members, the lines are drawn. After that, Old Order members who transfer to the more liberal group are shunned. This was the case in both the 1910 and 1966 divisions in Lancaster County. Thus, Old Order members who joined the New Order Amish in 1966 at the time of the division are not shunned by the Old Order Amish today. However, Old Order members who joined the New Order Amish after the period of grace, are shunned today.
6 | Auctions, Frolics, and Gangs
1. I am grateful to Tay Keong Tan for first introducing me to the concept of social capital for interpreting Amish society. His dissertation (Tan 1998) provided the first application of social capital theory to Amish life. Academic definitions of social capital are not always clear. Some suggest that social capital consists of the values and social relationships available to generate common benefits, while others imply that social capital is the resources created by certain values and social structures. I view human values and knowledge as cultural capital, and the social networks, rituals, and structures as social capital. Both forms of capital are the raw materials that produce benefits for both the individual and the community. Social capital can be used to build up the common good or to tear it down as in a violent gang, hate group, or work slowdown.
2. Coleman (1990:653) calls this form of social capital “primordial” because it is rooted in an extended family system that has largely vanished in modern life.
3. There are about 2,500 single youth (16–25 years of age) in the settlement.
4. Township supervisors wrote to an Amish official and asked him “to do all in your power to correct the drinki
ng and drunkenness that presently prevails among Amish youth . . . [since] according to records the last fatal accidents that occurred in Leacock township were either the direct result of, or involved drinking Amish youth.” In response to this plea, the Lancaster bishops met and agreed upon five points of an Ordnung that in rare fashion was published in the Minutes of the Old Order Amish Steering Committee from 1981–1986, 36–37 (trans. Noah G. Good).
5. My colleague Richard Stevick (2000) makes this important distinction in his study of Amish youth in various settlements across the country. He has conducted the most complete and definitive study of Amish adolescents to date. His careful research and thoughtful suggestions have been most helpful to me in preparing this section on Amish youth.
6. Introduction to the booklet 17th Annual Wood Workers Get Together, 6 June 1998, Lancaster County.
7. The best description of Amish weddings can be found in Scott (1988). The description in this section is partially based on observations at a wedding attended by the author in November 1998.
8. From an unpublished and undated manuscript, “Ascension Day,” by Sam Stoltzfus.
9. Edward T. Hall (1977:85–128) provides an excellent discussion of the difference between low-context and high-context cultures. His analysis of code, context, and meaning has informed and enriched my understanding of the Amish as a high-context culture.
10. Plain Communities Business Exchange, August 2000, 15.
11. Personal conversation with an Ohio Amish farmer.
12. From an unpublished and undated manuscript, “Lancaster County’s Barn Raising,” by Sam Stoltzfus. Other quotes in this section on barn raising are from the same source.
13. For two accounts and reflections by Amish women on death, see E. King (1992) and E. Smucker (1995). King reflects on the murder of her aunt, and Smucker on the accidental death of her son. Bryer (1978, 1979) provides a psychological study of death and dying among the Amish.
14. A funeral director who buries many of the Amish in the Lancaster settlement provided helpful insights into burial practices in an extended interview. See Scott (1988) for a good description of an Amish funeral in central Pennsylvania.
The Riddle of Amish Culture Page 39
