Amish Religious Customs
In the last few decades, tourists have discovered the Amish. Each year, people travel to places like Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, hoping to catch a glimpse of Amish life. From the buggies and the plows, to the simply dressed people, the Amish have become fascinating to the non-Amish. The Amish population is around 140,000 and continues to grow. But who are the Amish and what makes their unique way of life so interesting, and why does the population continue to flourish? What advantages have the Amish found to rejecting traditional American culture, and keeping life so simple? These questions can begin to be answered by studying the Amish history, and how their values, customs and traditions tie into their religion. In the year 1517, a Catholic monk in Germany named Martin Luther, advocated church reform and new doctrines. Several German princes supported him, but government and religion still operated together. A group of Christians in Zurich, Switzerland, believed government and religion should be completely separate. They also believed that Christians should model themselves after the Beatitudes that Jesus of Nazareth discussed in his Sermon on the Mount, which discusses being "peacemake
Ordination is the customary practice of selecting the church leaders. Amish do not take honeymoons, but will travel for a month or two, visiting relatives, receiving wedding gifts to begin their new married life. The dinner lasts until late in the afternoon, with endless amounts of food, with lighthearted merrymaking as the evening wears on. The congregation has two or three ministers who give the sermons. After six weeks, the offender must confess their sin and promise to work with the church. Communion will not take place again for another six months. The wedding is announced two weeks before the ceremony. The washer stoops instead of kneeling to symbolize humility. Another tradition in the Amish culture is the engagement and wedding procedures. A family will host church services once or twice a year. The offender is then called back in and the punishment is publicly announced. Through Jesus Christ, Amen" (Kraybill,1989, 100). So this small group re-baptized each other. The Amish do not actually worship in a church. The minister speaks of the suffering of Christ while the congregation shares bread and wine.
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