Amish and Mennonites...

[Sandsam]

Absolutely. I am completely fascinated by the Amish and Menonnites. My interest started when I read a Christian book about the old order Amish. Now I am devouring book after book (right now I am reading The Covenant by Beverly Lewis) and I think about what it would be like to live in a Plain community. The simplicity, the routine, life-in-God, the community-feel are all very appealing.

[lisamarie]

A few people at my church have been talking about a community like this - buying some land and sub-dividing, or even just all moving to an area close to each other where we can be somewhat self-sufficient.

 

My church does this--but we just try to buy houses near each other. There are 10 different neighborhoods that many people have opted to buy houses in to be near other church families, though not everyone does it. It is wonderful for borrowing a cup of sugar, having playmates for your kids, building real relationships, having someone to watch your kids at a moment's notice, etc. I highly recommend it. The only issue that I've ever had with it is that when I was a kid, several of our neighbors left our church. They were still my friends and we still had good relationships with their families, but just know that it can happen. These people left under good terms so there were no hurt feelings other than my childhood wonderings of why my friends left. But that's not always the case.

[Laurie4b]

There is overlap among the stricter Mennonite and some Amish groups. I could go into almost any Mennonite/Amish church between Pennsylvania and Colorado and find someone I am related to. My kids have 3,000 3rd cousins in my paternal great-grandfathers' line alone. I attended a plain Mennonite service once with my MIL one time in a state where none of my immediate family had ever lived. They asked me who my family was. I said my grandfather was the youngest son of Moses T_______. Their reply? Oh, you must be Bill and Rosie's granddaughter! Now, which one of their sons is your dad? At my grandfather's funeral, about half the relatives were Amish and most of the balance were Mennonite.

 

My Mennonite first cousins look just like you and I. Some of my second cousins...not so much. You may take my statement at face value. The Amish and Mennonites are the same "people". They share DNA. They share a common heritage. The Amish and Mennonite churches are closer to siblings than cousins. In the Mennonite church I attended until I was almost ten, some women wore plain clothes. Many either wore headcoverings growing up or still wore them.

 

I understand about the DNA, etc! My dh is the same stock, too. I had not, however, ever met any old order Mennonites. The Mennonites I know, some of whom are related to dh, are culturally very much like anyone else in a conservative church, except for the head coverings.

[LAS in LA]

There seems to be a lot of misinformation. I'm under no illusions about the Amish/Mennonite. I've shared here before some of the negative aspects. I could tell you story after story. There are a few things the Amish/Mennonites do very well, though.

 

This is just one of them:

 

http://mds.mennonite.net/home/

 

 

It is very common for people in my extended family to participate in things like this. When I was back for Christmas last year, my uncles were discussing a bad situation a second cousin was in. The family was going to donate money and the men were going to get her house fixed up. They do pro bono work in the community. They go to disaster areas. My aunt, a nurse, works in a practice where the doctors cover for each other so that they can each spend time overseas doing medical work. The practice donates the medicine.

 

:iagree: The culture of generosity is a heritage I appreciate. Disaster auctions are a great place to see this in action. People donate items to be sold and the money goes to help MDS. I've seen quilts, etc. sold for large sums and then re-donated to be sold again, raising even more money!

 

And am I right that there are actually more "non-ethnic-Mennonites" in churches around the world than there are N.-European-descended ones in the US and Canada?

 

And don't forget the singing. I wish I could give my own children the gift of hearing four-part harmony every Sunday.

[LAS in LA]

I think one of the difficulties with this is that it can actually be very hard to live that way as a single family. Many of the things those communities do they manage because they are a community and help each other out. A good example is that they do not get bank loans, they get loans from the community to build a home and start a business, or they have neighbours who will look after the kids while you get your crop in, or whatever.

 

But that is a two edged thing. It means the whole community has a hand in deciding if your business plan is a good one, and in raising your kids, for example. I think often people really want that kind of life but in fact are not willing to put themselves under the group in the way they'd have to for it to work.

 

Even in successful communes and co-op communities, that kind of thing is what causes the most conflict and why people sometimes find they are not what they expected or hoped for.

 

I think many of us living in the modern West yearn for real community while also sabotaging it to some extent.

 

:iagree:

[Liz CA]

We live around Amish communties as well and all isn't what it seems to be. I will admit I love the idea of their simplicity. But they certainly aren't as simple as they once were.

 

 

I wonder if it is becoming increasingly difficult to live the "plain" way because our society is so tied in to computers, technical gadgets and the digital age. Also, their young people may want to assimilate more than in past generations.

I am sad to hear that some don't treat their animals well. This would seem counterproductive if you are relying on your horse to plow your field. Would seem to me they would care well for the animals to insure good health and longevity.

[LarlaB]

And do your Mennonite cousins live without electricity, ride in buggies, wear long dresses, have certain facial hair, not wear buttons, etc?

 

None of the Mennonites I know do any of the above. Where I used to live in PA, that was all standard for Amish.

 

 

My dad's side of the family is conservative Mennonite- I think some are Old Order Mennonite, and at one point "black bumper" (Which means, sigh, you car is black and has a black bumper instead of chrome).

 

Very plain dress- no buttons, jeans or ties for men, always cape dresses, black stockings & head covering for women. Yes to the facial hair, no make up etc But they have electricity and drive cars- just very plain/simple home. :)

[Meriwether]

:iagree: The culture of generosity is a heritage I appreciate. Disaster auctions are a great place to see this in action. People donate items to be sold and the money goes to help MDS. I've seen quilts, etc. sold for large sums and then re-donated to be sold again, raising even more money!

 

And am I right that there are actually more "non-ethnic-Mennonites" in churches around the world than there are N.-European-descended ones in the US and Canada?

 

And don't forget the singing. I wish I could give my own children the gift of hearing four-part harmony every Sunday.

 

The Mennonite Relief Sales are very cool. One of my uncles owns a construction company. He and his workers, also Mennonites, built a playhouse to auction off. A very, very nice playhouse. And, at least when I was a kid, 90% or better of the money donated goes directly to relief. They keep the overhead very low.

[Meriwether]

I understand about the DNA, etc! My dh is the same stock, too. I had not, however, ever met any old order Mennonites. The Mennonites I know, some of whom are related to dh, are culturally very much like anyone else in a conservative church, except for the head coverings.

 

Well, then, our kids are probably cousins somehow.:lol: The congregation at the church where my mom went as a kid (Mennonite) looks much like any other conservative congregation now. The women of my Grammy's generation all wore headcoverings, but not all were plain.

[LAS in LA]

Well, then, our kids are probably cousins somehow.:lol:

 

Do we need a s/o thread to figure out how we're all related? I can't play that game til tomorrow when Grandma's awake -- she'd have us sorted out in 3 minutes flat!! :D

[mom4him]

I yearn for a simpler life and work towards that constantly. I have cleaned out our main living area of 'stuff' considerably and plan to keep going. I have no desire to go without my washer, dryer, dishwasher, nice cook stove. We dress very plain according to some peoples standards but we dress for comfort/modesty not because some one has told us we need to do this. I think that is where to me the real issue would come in. My two youngest went to a church for almost a year that believed women should wear skirts/dresses only. I do wear skirts probably 85+% of the time but when I want/need to put a pair of jeans on I don't want someone looking over my shoulder declaring 'I am a sinner' because of it.

More simple? YES! Legalistically religious? NO!

[mytwomonkeys]

i live in an area that has a lot of mennonites. evidently, many families moved here decades ago from pennsylvania. my current church was actually founded as mennonite by some of those families (but switched about 17 years ago to non-denominational). my pastor was raised mennonite, although he doesn't identify as that at all now. i love it here!! great people. :)

[lorrainejmc]

I had that on my wishlist after getting the Amish Peace book, but deleted it because I couldn't be sure if it was a book bashing the Amish.

 

I don't know if that's the case with this book at all, but I'm saying just be careful what you buy if you're looking for something about them. Find something that could give both points of view, not a book that would be written by someone with selfish intent or an axe to grind. Sometimes that's hard to find.

 

If it's a good book in this way, I'd love to know.

 

No. I didn't find it to be "Amish bashing" in any way. It was more about the author's spiritual struggle within himself but I learned a great deal about the Amish way of life during the course of this book.

[lorrainejmc]

I yearn for a simpler life and work towards that constantly. I have cleaned out our main living area of 'stuff' considerably and plan to keep going. I have no desire to go without my washer, dryer, dishwasher, nice cook stove. We dress very plain according to some peoples standards but we dress for comfort/modesty not because some one has told us we need to do this. I think that is where to me the real issue would come in. My two youngest went to a church for almost a year that believed women should wear skirts/dresses only. I do wear skirts probably 85+% of the time but when I want/need to put a pair of jeans on I don't want someone looking over my shoulder declaring 'I am a sinner' because of it.

More simple? YES! Legalistically religious? NO!

 

I try to live like this too. It's actually very freeing to no longer be wanting stuff all the time.

[EthiopianFood]

The Mennonite Relief Sales are very cool. One of my uncles owns a construction company. He and his workers, also Mennonites, built a playhouse to auction off. A very, very nice playhouse. And, at least when I was a kid, 90% or better of the money donated goes directly to relief. They keep the overhead very low.

 

:001_smile: I just volunteered at our relief sale last month. Yes, they do keep the overhead low. It is all through www.mcc.org which is an awesome organization to donate to, for those interested in that sort of thing. They serve to serve, not to sneak in a Bible (this is good or bad, depending on who you ask, but there it is).

[MIch elle]

Plain and Simple by Sue Bender is excellent!

[Margo out of lurking]

..

[Meriwether]

Do we need a s/o thread to figure out how we're all related? I can't play that game til tomorrow when Grandma's awake -- she'd have us sorted out in 3 minutes flat!! :D

PM if you want, I'd love to know. I'd have to call Mom though; she'd know much more than I do.

[Ipsey]

Until last year, I lived in a community with a large German Baptist population, also called Dunkards, or Old Order. They have anabaptist roots, specific dress and head covering, facial hair (men and some women!), but probably more similar to Mennonite than Amish lifestyles.

 

Until we moved there, I'd been entirely unaware of this sect. I'll never forget the shock of driving down our new street for the first time, seeing one of the women, and thinking, oh my goodness, WHERE have we moved???? :D

 

In an ironic twist, two of the three German Baptist families on our street had young children and chose to send them to public school (not unusual, but not the norm either). WE were the ones homeschooling! The third family consisted of two sisters, and it always cracked me up to see her in her full dress, on her riding lawn mower, talking on her cell phone.

 

As it's been said, they are no different than anyone else. Some are warm, gentle, Christlike. Others are prideful, unethical, rude.

 

The local church recently suffered a split over the use of computers and the internet, and many of the families began attending the local Southern Baptist church. I would imagine it was quite a transition on many levels; publicly, the noticeable difference is that the women no longer adhere to the old style of dress.

 

Really? I'm honestly asking because I don't know. German Baptists are the same as Dunkards? And I was pretty sure G.B. were different from Old Order. G.B's dress is pretty distinctive, for the women, I mean. At least the triangle shawl/cape thingy.

 

And the GB I'm familiar with don't dress their children in a plain fashion, but take it on only if they join the church. Old Order require plain dress for children. I don't know about Dunkards.

[Remudamom]

The young Amish get a chance to try out the English world when they are in their late teens. It's called Rumspinga. It means "run around".

 

Some Amish trained one of my driving ponies a bit for me, and we jokingly called her Rumspringa because she refused to slow down.

[Margo out of lurking]

..

[mommaduck]

The young Amish get a chance to try out the English world when they are in their late teens. It's called Rumspinga. It means "run around".

 

Some Amish trained one of my driving ponies a bit for me, and we jokingly called her Rumspringa because she refused to slow down.

:lol: One of the owners at the barn has a horse named Straightjacket, but we call her Floozy since she's the only female in the barn...and she knows it!

[BrookValley.]

Some Amish trained one of my driving ponies a bit for me, and we jokingly called her Rumspringa because she refused to slow down.

 

Ok, you owe me a new keyboard. Mine just met with an unexpected out-of-the-nose explosion of sparkling water. :lol:

[Mama2Many4]

I thought I wanted to live the "simple" life for a long time. Then we lost power for 6 days after hurricane Irene.

 

No thanks! I'll stick with my lights, computer, tv, washing machine, etc.

[annandatje]

There is a lot of good in that community but not all is quite as good as it seems. There can be a lot of strife in some families and communities.

 

True. There are certain patterns that seem to be par for course in rigid hierarchal patriarchal faiths. I have read several poorly written independently published books about people who decided to leave Amish life behind. In spite of the awkwardwriting, the information presesnted was worth the read.

 

Original poster, you could simplify life without changing religions. Personally I find myself happier when I avoid watching or reading news. Now I am not saying that people should be uninformed about the world they live in, but that you can skim to get a skeletal outline of what is going on in world without delving into tragic details.

 

The Mennonites do a lot of quality charitable work but they do not live as austerely as Amish generally. They are like the Amish's less colorful cousins.

Edited November 14, 2011 by annandatje
omitted word

[mcconnellboys]

I can tell you that I have business dealings with some of them at times and I really admire them....

[TravelingChris]

I think the saddest thing about Amish is their intermarrying. It has caused them to have the one of the highest rates of bipolar disease along with another group in the Azores who also intermarried.

 

All I had ever known about their style of living was from popular culture and commercial enterprises until I came to this board at least 12 years ago. Just one more way this board has been a really valuable source of info for me (not that this info is that important but other things have been).

[mommaduck]

I think the saddest thing about Amish is their intermarrying. It has caused them to have the one of the highest rates of bipolar disease along with another group in the Azores who also intermarried.

 

All I had ever known about their style of living was from popular culture and commercial enterprises until I came to this board at least 12 years ago. Just one more way this board has been a really valuable source of info for me (not that this info is that important but other things have been).

They have a high rate of genetic issues all around. The dwarfism can be traced back to ONE common immigrant ancestor.