The Riddle of Amish Culture

by Donald B. Kraybill

  FIGURE 4.1 Births, Baptisms, and Weddings in the Lancaster Settlement, 1990–2000. Source: The Diary

  Social events, singings, “Sisters Days,” quilting parties, and work “frolics” are staged in homes. Occasionally, men will slip away for a day of deep sea fishing or several days of hunting, but the majority of Amish recreation is close to home and nature. In the past, vacations to “get away from home” were rare, but increasingly many couples take “trips” of several weeks to other settlements. Others will take shorter trips to historical sites, the zoo, or a flower show. A few older couples vacation in Florida for several winter months at Pinecraft, a small Amish village that attracts retirees from many settlements.10 Out-of-state travel by van, train, or bus (but not air) often includes visiting in other settlements.

  Despite increased traveling, home remains the site for many activities. Although the Amish do buy groceries and commercial products, much of their food is homegrown, and much clothing is homemade. Even table games are homemade. Instead of eating at a pizza shop, they will more likely make pizza at home. Men’s hair is cut at home. Time and money spent on shopping trips are thus minuscule compared to the American norm. There are no visits to the health spa, pet parlor, hairdresser, car wash, or sports stadium, and thus there is more time for “home work” and “home play.” Although the Amish use modern medicines, they are more likely to rely on home remedies, natural foods, and herbs; and they only visit a doctor as a last resort. Retirement occurs at home. Funerals are held at home, and the deceased are buried in nearby cemeteries. All of these centripetal forces pull the Amish homeward most of the time. Staying home is not a dreaded experience of isolation; it means being immersed in the chatter, work, and play of the extended family.

  Despite their commitment to home, recent trends are pulling some activities away. Less food and clothing and fewer toys and products are made at home. More commercial games and toys are bought. More couples are taking extended trips away from home. Nevertheless, by contemporary standards most of the dramas of Amish life are staged at home or very nearby. Very few life-cycle functions have left their homes, and in this regard the Amish stand apart from the modern world.

  In contrast to the mobility of contemporary families, Amish families are tied to a geographical area and anchored in a large extended family. Many people live on or within several miles of their childhood homestead. Others may live as far as fifteen miles away. After a new family settles down in a residence, it typically remains there for life. Thus geographical and family roots run very deep. A mother of six children explained that all of them live within Lancaster County and that she delights in visiting her thirty-six grandchildren at least once a month. Those living on the other side of her house, of course, she sees every day. With families averaging nearly seven children, it is not unusual for a couple to have forty-five grandchildren. A typical child will have two dozen aunts and uncles and as many as eighty first cousins. Although some of these relatives are scattered on the settlement’s fringe, many live within a few miles of home. To be Amish is to have a niche, a secure place in a thick web of family ties. Embroidered or painted rosters of extended family names hang on the walls of every Amish home—a constant reminder of the individual’s notch in the family tree.

  A modern kitchen in a contemporary Amish home. A gas refrigerator chills food and gas-pressured lamps provide light.

  THE CHURCH DISTRICT

  The Amish families who live near each other form a church district or congregation—the primary social unit beyond the family. In the Lancaster settlement the number of households per church district ranges from twenty to fifty, with an average of thirty-four. With many double households, the average district has about twenty major family units. Some 80 adults and 90 youth under nineteen years of age give the typical district a total of 170 people.11 Church services are held in homes, and as congregations grow, they divide.

  A district’s geographical size varies with the density of the Amish population. On the edge of the settlement, church districts stretch twelve miles from side to side, but in the settlement’s hub they shrink dramatically. Families in small geographic districts, often within a half-mile of each other, are able to walk to services. In recent years the physical size of church districts has shrunk because more people have gone into nonfarm occupations, which has reduced the spread of land required for a district.

  Roads and streams form the boundaries of most church districts. Like members of a traditional parish, the Amish participate in the church district that encircles their home. The members of a district worship together every other week. Sometimes they attend the services of adjoining districts on the “off Sunday” of their congregation. Residents of one district, however, cannot become members of another one unless they move into its territory. Because there are no church buildings, the homes of members become the gathering sites not only for worship but also for socializing.

  The church district is the social and ceremonial unit of the Amish world. Self-contained and autonomous, dozens of congregations are linked together by a network of ordained leaders and extended families. Baptisms, weddings, excommunications, and funerals take place within the district. Fellowship meals after worship and other activities bring members of the district together. Members visit, worship, and work together in a dense ethnic network. In short, the church district is family, factory, church, club, and precinct all bundled into a neighborhood parish.

  Districts ordain their own leaders and, on the recommendation of their bishop, have the power to excommunicate members. Errant members must confess major sins publicly before other members. Local congregations, under the leadership of their bishop, vary in their interpretation of religious regulations. Some districts permit power lawn mowers and others do not. Some allow fancier furniture than others. Decisions to aid other districts financially and to participate in community-wide Amish programs are made by the local district. Congregational votes are taken on recommendations of the bishop. John Hostetler has aptly called this system a “patriarchal democracy.”12 Although each member has a vote, it is usually a vote to accept or reject the bishop’s recommendation.

  Because families live so close together, many members of a district are often related. Throughout the settlement six surnames—Stoltzfus, King, Fisher, Beiler, Esh, and Lapp—account for over 70 percent of the households. The rank order of surnames is displayed in Table 4.2. Kinship networks are dense both within and between church districts, and there are many repetitious names. For example, there are 115 Samuel Stoltzfuses, 115 Mary Stoltzfuses, 56 Mary Kings, 52 John Kings, and so on in the Lancaster settlement. One rural mail carrier had to distinguish among sixty Stoltzfus families. Moreover, he had three Amos E. Stoltzfuses and three Elam S. Stoltzfuses on the same route!

  TABLE 4.2

  Rank Order of Household Surnames

  The frequency of similar names has led to many nicknames based on physical traits, personal habits, or an unusual incident related to the person. The nicknames tend to follow patriarchal lines across several generations. “Cookie Abner” derives from a teenage eating incident, and “See more Levi” has very large eyes. “Pud Reuben” was a heavyset man who was nicknamed “Pud.” His children became Pud’s Aaron, or Pud’s Sally. Families sometimes develop nicknames—“the Squeakies,” “the Piggys” (who live near Piggy’s Pond), “the Mo-boys,” “the Izzies,” “the Jackies,” and “the Butchers” to name a few of hundreds. One woman said, “I’m a Bootah. That goes way back to my great-grandparents. When they got their marriage license, the clerk wasn’t too bright, and she wrote their names ‘Bootah’ (butter) instead of Beiler. So ever since we’ve been the Bootahs. I think our children will be Squeakies because the nicknames usually follow the man’s line, but they don’t always pass from one generation to the next.”

  LEADERSHIP ROLES

  The leadership team in each district typically consists of a bishop, two or three ministers, and a deacon.13 The leaders are viewed as servan
ts of both God and the congregation. In fact, their German titles translate literally as ‘servant.’14 A bishop serves as the spiritual head and typically presides over two districts.15 One district is the bishop’s “home” congregation. Congregations meet every other week, and thus their bishop is able to attend each of their regular meetings. The bishop officiates at baptisms, weddings, communions, funerals, and members’ meetings. As spiritual head of the leadership team, he interprets and enforces church regulations. If disobedience or conflict arises, he is responsible to resolve it. Family and church networks are often entangled in controversies of one sort or another that require delicate diplomacy.

  The bishop is responsible for recommending excommunication or, as the case may be, the reinstatement of penitent members. While considerable authority is vested in the office of bishop, final decisions to excommunicate or reinstate members require a congregational vote. Diverse personalities among the bishops lead to diverse interpretations of rules. Some leaders are “open-minded,” whereas others take firm doctrinaire positions. Some are stern, and others are loving and gentle. The bishop is the incarnate symbol of church authority. One member remarked that every time she sees a policeman, he “reminds me of a bishop.” She added, however, that her bishop is a kind person, more concerned about the inner spiritual life of people than about outward regulations.

  If the office of bishop is vacated by death or illness, a nearby bishop is given temporary oversight of the congregation. Eventually one of the ministers from the two congregations is ordained bishop by the biblical custom of “casting lots.” The ordination of a bishop may be delayed several years if the eligible ministers are too young or inexperienced. A senior bishop explained that he prefers to ordain bishops who have demonstrated their ability to raise a family dedicated to the church. Plans to ordain a bishop are approved by the local congregation as well as by the settlement-wide Bishops’ Meeting.

  The minister, or preacher, fills the second leadership role in the local district. A congregation usually has two and sometimes three preachers, depending on their age and health. One of them serves as the lead minister, working closely with the bishop to give spiritual direction to the congregation. In addition to general leadership, ministers preach long sermons without the aid of notes. Without professional credentials or special training, ministers are selected from within the congregation and serve unpaid for life. They earn their own living by farming, carpentry, or other related occupations, including business.

  Each congregation has a deacon whose public duties are limited to reading Scripture and prayers in worship services. He supervises an “alms fund” and attends to the material needs of families. The deacon assists with baptism and communion and carries responsibility for reproving wayward members. At the request of the bishop, the deacon, often accompanied by a minister, visits members who have violated church regulations. The outcome of the visit is reported to the bishop, who then takes appropriate action. The deacon also carries messages of excommunication or reinstatement to members from the bishop. One bishop called this aspect of the deacon’s role “the dirty work.”

  The deacon also represents the congregation when young couples plan to marry. The groom brings a church letter of “good standing” from his deacon to the deacon of the bride’s congregation, who then meets with her to verify the plans for matrimony. The bride’s deacon then announces, or “publishes,” the date of the wedding in the local congregation. The deacon does not arrange marriages, but he does symbolize the church’s supervision of them. The bishop, ministers, and deacon function as an informal leadership team that guides and coordinates the activities of the local district.

  THE MOBILE SANCTUARY

  The rotation of worship services from home to home shapes Amish identity and forms the bedrock of their social organization. This distinctive feature has bolstered the strength of their community. While the Old Order Amish share some cultural traits with other Plain people in the region, the Amish are set apart because they are not “meetinghouse” people. Their mobile “sanctuary” distinguishes them from Old Order Mennonites, who worship in meetinghouses. The Amish view a permanent church building as a symbol of worldliness, a view that goes back to the Anabaptist rejection of cathedrals in Europe.

  At about the time of the Civil War, some Amish were tempted to use church buildings. Beginning in 1862 a series of national Ministers’ Meetings grappled with, among other things, lightning rods, insurance, photographs, and holding worship services in meetinghouses.16 Few Lancaster bishops participated in these meetings because they feared that liberal changes in the Midwest would drift eastward and stir up controversy at home. Their fears were not in vain.

  Progressive-minded members in two districts of eastern Lancaster County began pressing for changes. The internal strife forced a stalemate that delayed the observance of communion in one congregation for seven years (1870–77). The discord came to a head in the late fall of 1876 when preacher Gideon Stoltzfus in the lower Pequea district was “silenced” from preaching by his bishop. He was charged with fellowshipping with liberal Amish in the Midwest. Eventually, about two-thirds of his district, some seventy-five progressive members, left the Old Order Amish and formed what later became a Mennonite congregation. Within several years, the progressives fulfilled the Old Order’s worst fears by building a meetinghouse.

  A few miles to the east and a few months later, in the spring of 1877, a similar division erupted in the Conestoga district, leaving only eight families with the Old Order Amish. And as the sages predicted, the progressives in that area also erected a meetinghouse by 1882.17 These ruptures in two Lancaster districts within six months stunned the small Amish community, which at that time contained only six districts and less than five hundred members.

  Thus 1877 marks a pivotal point in the Amish saga—a landmark that still casts a shadow over Amish consciousness. From that juncture to the present, the Old Order Amish have seen what happens when a progressive group drifts off and builds a meetinghouse. Eventually they hold Sunday school, and soon they drop the German dialect. In time they accept cars and electricity, and before long they wear fancy clothes and attend high school. The 1877 division serves as a timely reminder of the long-term consequences when a progressive group becomes enchanted by such worldly things as meetinghouses.18

  Worshiping in homes is a prudent way of limiting the size of Amish congregations. The physical size of houses controls the numerical size of church districts. This practice serves two important roles: it keeps the organizational structure of the settlement simple, and it guarantees that each individual has a social home in a small congregation. So while the Amish sanctuary floats, the individual is securely anchored in a strong social network. People are known by first names. Birthdays are remembered, and illness is public knowledge. In contrast, Moderns often float anonymously in and out of permanent sanctuaries. The mobile Amish sanctuary affirms the centrality of the family by keeping religious functions tied to the home and integrated with family life. This is a radical departure from modern religion with its specialized services in sanctuaries cut off from the other sectors of life.

  A mobile meetinghouse not only assures individuals of a secure niche in a small social unit but also enhances informal social control. Close ties in family networks place informal checks on social behavior. The mobile sanctuary assures that, on the average, members will visit the home of every family once a year. These annual visits also serve as subtle inspection tours that stymie the proliferation of worldly furnishings in Amish homes. The visits shore up social cohesion and solidarity. How many people in contemporary congregations have toured the homes of all of their fellow members in the past year?

  The mobile sanctuary protests the “cathedrals” of modern Christendom, which the Amish view as ostentatious displays of pride that point, not heavenward, but earthward to the congregation’s social prestige. The financial resources used by many congregations for buildings, steeples, organs, and pastors ar
e used by the Amish for mutual aid. Expansion, fueled by biological growth, is not dependent on evangelistic programs and state-of-the-art facilities that compete with other churches. The Amish are baffled as to why Moderns build opulent homes but do not worship in them and then construct expensive sanctuaries for once-a-week gatherings. Although Amish homes are not luxurious, they are heavily used for worship, work, eating, and socializing.

  The decision to reject the meetinghouse has profound theological and sociological implications. Moving to a meetinghouse separates church and home, religion and life. It cuts a congregation’s ties to a specific geographic area and breaks up the intimate bonds of face-to-face relations. The use of a meetinghouse encourages the growth of large congregations where individuals easily become lost in the crowd. Finally, a meetinghouse becomes an abstract symbol, so that church becomes a place, rather than the living embodiment of a people; a location for worship, rather than the incarnation of religious practice.19 The mobile sanctuary, while not a public symbol, is deeply etched in Amish consciousness. Small, local, informal, lowly, and unpretentious, it is the structural embodiment of Gelassenheit—a major clue to the growth and well-being of Amish society.

  A FLAT STRUCTURE

  One of the striking aspects of Amish society is the absence of bureaucracy. The organizational structure is loose and fuzzy. Kitchens, shops, and barns provide office space for informal committees. There are no headquarters, professionals, executive directors, or organizational charts. Apart from schoolteachers, there are no paid church employees, let alone professional ones. The nebulous structure confounds outsiders. Public officials are not always sure who to contact to ascertain Amish opinions and policies. The vitality of Amish culture is remarkable, despite the lack of consultants, corporate offices, strategic plans, and elaborate flow charts. Amish society is linked together by a web of interpersonal ties that stretches across the community. How is unity possible with dozens of loosely coupled congregations?