Beachy Amish

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Beachy Amish
Beachy Mennonites
Classification Anabaptist
Orientation Conservative Anabaptism [1]
Scripture King James Version
LanguageEnglish
Origin1927
Somerset County, Pennsylvania, United States
Congregations154
Members9,310

The Beachy Amish Mennonites, also known as the Beachy Amish or Beachy Mennonites, are a Conservative Anabaptist tradition of Christianity. [1] [2] [3] [4]

Contents

Commonalities held by Beachy Amish congregations include adhering to the Dordrecht Confession of Faith and practicing Anabaptist distinctives, such as nonresistance, plain dress, separation from the state, and believer's baptism. [1] They form a loose association of churches without a central governing body. Other Beachy congregations have organized into denominations, such as the Ambassadors Amish Mennonite Churches and the Maranatha Amish-Mennonite Churches. [5] [6]

The Beachy Amish originated as a schism from the Old Order Amish over practices related to church discipline and revivalism, though over time, people from various backgrounds have come to join Beachy Amish congregations. [7] Although they have retained the name "Amish" they are quite different from the Old Order Amish: they do not use horse and buggy for transportation, with a few exceptions they do not speak Pennsylvania Dutch anymore, nor do they have restrictions on technology except for radio and television. In the years 1946 to 1977 a majority of the Beachy Amish incorporated certain elements of revivalist practice, such as the preaching of the New Birth. [2] The traditionalists who wanted to preserve the old Beachy Amish ways then withdrew and formed their own congregations. Today they are known as Midwest Beachy Amish Mennonites or Old Beachy Amish. [2]

History

The Beachy church arose from a 1927 division in the (Casselman) River Old Order Amish congregation in Somerset County, Pennsylvania. [8] Bishop Moses M. Beachy led the congregation during that time and his name became associated with the faction. The Beachys favored a milder discipline for members whose only offense was transferring membership to other Anabaptist churches, specifically the conservative Amish Mennonite congregation that broke from Moses Beachy's congregation (then not under Beachy's leadership) in 1895. [9] [ better source needed ]

The Beachy Amish were transformed at mid-20th century into a more evangelical group by both the incorporation of revivalist Amish who had left their original churches and joined the Beachy Amish and by a growing revivalist influence within the Beachys. [2] One especially influential man in Lancaster County was an Amish (and later Beachy Amish) evangelist from Oklahoma, David A. Miller. Through his and other revivalist influences an Amish youth group evolved known as the "Goodies" due to their emphasis on a renewed spiritual life and avoiding the period of rumspringa as experienced in many Amish youth groups. Many of the "Goodies" eventually joined the Beachy Amish community in Lancaster County. [10]

Beliefs and distinctives

In contrast to the Old Order Amish, the Beachys have meetinghouses, Sunday School, and a Bible School for young adults, and most also support missionary work. Excommunication is used less frequently and accompanying bans are even rarer.

Many Beachy churches identify as being a part of the Conservative Mennonite tradition, [4] though they have retained certain practices and a lifestyle still similar to the Old Order Amish include:

Practices that distinguish the Beachy church from the Old Order Amish include:

Beachy Amish Mennonites differ from other Conservative Mennonites in that their congregations usually have more autonomy, as opposed to a stronger centralized governance. [12]

Denominations

Branches off of the Beachy Amish Mennonite Church include more conservative denominations, such as the Ambassadors Amish Mennonite Churches, the Maranatha Amish-Mennonite Churches, and the more traditional Old Beachy Amish, also called Midwest Beachy Amish-Mennonites, who retained much of the traditions of 1940s and 50s, including the use of the German language in church and everyday life. [5] [6] [13] The Tampico or Kauffman Amish Mennonites also retained much of the old Amish traditions, including Pennsylvania Dutch and Hochdeutsch.

Population and distribution

According to a graph at beachyam.org, an unofficial website of the Beachy Amish, the membership had risen from less than 3,000 in 1957 to more than 11,000 in 2009. [14]

In 2006, there were 11,487 Beachy members in 207 churches. [15] In 2020, the states with the highest representation were Pennsylvania, Kansas and Ohio. [16] However, the county with the highest proportion is Macon County, Georgia, with 3.41% of the population in 2020 being Beachy Amish adherents. [17] International Beachy churches or mission work can be found in El Salvador, Belize, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Paraguay, Ireland, [18] Ukraine, Romania, Kenya, Australia, and Canada. Mission work is sponsored by Amish Mennonite Aid (AMA), Mennonite Interests Committee (MIC), or individual churches.

In 2017, there were 9,310 Beachy Amish members in 154 churches worldwide according to the Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online (GAMEO). There were churches in the US, Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Ireland, Kenya, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Romania and Ukraine. [19]

Worship

The most common hymnary used by the Beachy Amish is the Christian Hymnary (1972). The hymn book, Hymns of the Church, (2011), edited by John D. Martin, is gaining in popularity among the denomination. [20] [21]

See also

Literature

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mennonites</span> Anabaptist groups originating in Western Europe

Mennonites are a group of Anabaptist Christian communities tracing their roots to the epoch of the Reformation. The name Mennonites is derived from the excommunicated Roman-Catholic chaplain Menno Simons (1496–1561) from Friesland, part of the Holy Roman Empire, present day Netherlands. Menno Simons became a prominent leader within the wider Anabaptist movement and was a contemporary of Martin Luther (1483–1546) and Philip Melanchthon (1497-1560). Through his writings about the Reformation Simons articulated and formalized the teachings of earlier Swiss Anabaptist founders as well as early teachings of the Mennonites founded on the belief in both the mission and ministry of Jesus. Formal Mennonite beliefs were codified in the Dordrecht Confession of Faith (1632), which affirmed "the baptism of believers only, the washing of the feet as a symbol of servanthood, church discipline, the shunning of the excommunicated, the non-swearing of oaths, marriage within the same church", strict pacifistic physical nonresistance, anti-Catholicism and in general, more emphasis on "true Christianity" involving "being Christian and obeying Christ" as they interpret it from the Holy Bible.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Plain people</span> Simple lifestyle Christians

Plain people are Christian groups in the United States, characterized by separation from the world and by simple living, including plain dressing in modest clothing. Many plain people have an Anabaptist background. These denominations are largely of German, Swiss German and Dutch ancestry, though people of diverse backgrounds have been incorporated into them. Conservative Friends are traditional Quakers who are also considered plain people; they come from a variety of different ethnic backgrounds.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nebraska Amish</span> Most conservative Amish subgroup

The Nebraska Amish, also called Old Schoolers, are a relatively small affiliation of the Amish. They are the most conservative subgroup of Amish, indicated not only by their use of technology but also by their particular style of dress. They emerged in 1881 as a conservative split from the Byler Amish, who themselves emerged as the first conservative splinter group from the Amish mainstream in 1849.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Old Order River Brethren</span>

The Old Order River Brethren are a River Brethren denomination of Anabaptist Christianity with roots in the Radical Pietist movement. As their name indicates, they are Old Order Anabaptists.

The Rosedale Network of Churches is a Christian body of Mennonite churches in the Anabaptist tradition. Rosedale Network of Churches was originally formed in 1910 by a group of Amish Mennonites to promote unity while preserving autonomy of the local congregation.

Old Order Mennonites form a branch of the Mennonite tradition. Old Order are those Mennonite groups of Swiss German and south German heritage who practice a lifestyle without some elements of modern technology, still drive a horse and buggy rather than cars, wear very conservative and modest dress, and have retained the old forms of worship, baptism and communion.

Moses M. Beachy was the founding bishop of the Beachy Amish Mennonite churches in 1927 and a former bishop in the Old Order Amish churches.

Weavertown Amish Mennonite Church is a Beachy Amish Mennonite congregation located in the village of Weavertown, between the somewhat larger villages of Bird-in-Hand and Intercourse in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.

Amish Mennonites came into existence through reform movements among North American Amish mainly between 1862 and 1878. These Amish moved away from the old Amish traditions and drew near to the Mennonites, becoming Mennonites of Amish origin. Over the decades, most Amish Mennonites groups removed the word "Amish" from the name of their congregations or merged with Mennonite groups.

The Mennonite Christian Fellowship churches, or just Fellowship churches, are an Amish Mennonite constituency within the conservative Anabaptist faith and tradition. The group is theologically and historically similar to the Beachy Amish Mennonite constituency. They are somewhat closer in thought to the Conservative Mennonites in matters of doctrine and conservatism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amish</span> Group of traditionalist Christian church fellowships

The Amish, formally the Old Order Amish, are an ethnoreligious group with Swiss German and Alsatian origins. Consisting of several Anabaptist Christian church fellowships, they are closely related to Mennonites, a separate Anabaptist denomination. The Amish are known for simple living, plain dress, Christian pacifism, and slowness to adopt many conveniences of modern technology, with a view neither to interrupt family time, nor replace face-to-face conversations whenever possible, and a view to maintain self-sufficiency. The Amish value rural life, manual labor, humility and Gelassenheit. As they rarely accept converts, maintain a separate language and culture from surrounding populations, and hold their faith in common, they have been described by scholars as an ethnoreligious group, combining features of an ethnicity and a denomination.

Conservative Mennonites include numerous Conservative Anabaptist groups that identify with the theologically conservative element among Mennonite Anabaptist Christian fellowships, but who are not Old Order groups or mainline denominations.

Over the years, as Amish churches have divided many times over doctrinal disputes, subgroups have developed. The "Old Order Amish", a conservative faction that withdrew in the 1860s from fellowship with the wider body of Amish, are those that have most emphasized traditional practices and beliefs. There are many different subgroups of Amish with most belonging, in ascending order of conservatism, to the Beachy Amish, New Order, Old Order, or Swartzentruber Amish groups.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Renno Amish</span> Religious denomination

The Renno Amish, also called Beachy Amish or "black toppers" are a subgroup of Amish that was formed in 1863 in Mifflin County, Pennsylvania. They are the moderately conservative Old Order Amish group in Kishacoquillas Valley, locally called Big Valley, but still relatively conservative compared with the Amish of other regions.

The Noah Hoover Mennonites, called "Old Order Mennonite Church (Hoover)" by the Mennonite World Conference, and sometimes called "Scottsville Mennonites”, are a group of very plain Old Order Mennonites that originally came from the Stauffer Mennonites and later merged with several other groups. Today it is seen as an independent branch of Old Order Mennonites. The group differs from other Old Order Mennonites by having settlements outside the US and Canada and by attracting new members from other groups on a larger scale. They have more restrictions on modern technology than all other Old Order Mennonite groups. They are rather intentionalist minded than ultra traditional.

A Seeker is a person likely to join an Old Order Anabaptist community, like the Amish, the Old Order Mennonites, the Hutterites, the Old Order Schwarzenau Brethren or the Old Order River Brethren. Among the 500,000 members of such communities in the United States there are only an estimated 1,200 to 1,300 outsiders who have joined them.

The Old Beachy Amish or Old Beachy Amish Mennonites, also called Midwest Beachy Amish Mennonites, are a Plain, car-driving Beachy Amish group, that preserves the old ways of the Beachy Amish including the German language. They live in Kentucky and Illinois. They are part of the Amish Mennonite movement in a broader sense, but they are not an organized denomination.

Charity Ministries, also called Charity Christian Fellowship, is a Conservative Anabaptist network of churches that was formed in 1982 in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.

Conservative Anabaptism includes theologically conservative Anabaptist denominations, both in doctrine and practice. Conservative Anabaptists, along with Old Order Anabaptists and assimilated mainline Anabaptists, are a subset of the Anabaptist branch of Christianity.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Beachy Amish Mennonites". Mennonite Archives of Ontario. 29 September 2017. The Beachy Amish Mennonites are a conservative Anabaptist denomination with Old Order Amish origins. They have supported the 1632 Dordrecht Confession of Faith and also maintained a set of distinctive practices and limits on lifestyle choices. However, they are not as strict in their practices as the Old Order Amish and have been evangelically oriented, prompting them to engage in outreach and mission programs. The Beachy denomination has been congregational but with many service programs stitching the individual churches together. While the formal Beachy denomination is the largest Amish Mennonite constituency, several other constituencies have their roots in the Beachy movement, including Maranatha Amish Mennonite, Ambassadors Amish Mennonite, Berea Amish Mennonite, Midwest Beachy Amish Mennonite, and Mennonite Christian Fellowship.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Anderson, Cory (5 September 2021). "Beachy Amish Mennonite Fellowship". Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online . Archived from the original on 2013-10-12. Retrieved 2021-09-05.
  3. ↑ Gilbert, Glenn G. (2006). Studies in Contact Linguistics: Essays in Honor of Glenn G. Gilbert. Peter Lang. p. 191. ISBN   978-0-8204-7934-7.
  4. 1 2 Anderson, Cory. "Amish-Mennonites and Other Plain Anabaptists". BeachyAM. Retrieved 18 May 2022.
  5. 1 2 Anderson, Cory. "Maranatha Amish Mennonite Churches". Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia. Retrieved 18 May 2022.
  6. 1 2 Anderson, Cory (2018). "Ambassadors Amish Mennonite Churches" . Retrieved 18 May 2022.
  7. ↑ "Amish orders". Ohio's Amish Country. Retrieved 22 April 2024.
  8. ↑ Yoder, Elmer S. (1987). The Beachy Amish Mennonite Fellowship Churches. Diakonia Ministries. ISBN   978-0-940883-01-7.
  9. ↑ Beachy, Alvin J. (14 May 1952). "The Amish of Somerset County, Pennsylvania: A study of the rise and development of the Beachy Amish Churches. A Thesis submitted to The Hartford Seminary Foundation in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Sacred Theology" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2011-07-25.
  10. ↑ Stoltzfus, Chris (2019-10-18). "The Amish Goodie Gang of the 1950s: A Story of Changing Identity and Spiritual Renewal". Journal of Amish and Plain Anabaptist Studies . 7 (1): 44–53. ISSN   2471-6383.
  11. ↑ Kraybill, Donald B. (2013). The Amish. Karen Johnson-Weiner, Steven M. Nolt. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN   978-1-4214-0914-6. OCLC   810329297.
  12. ↑ Kraybill, Donald B. (1 November 2010). Concise Encyclopedia of Amish, Brethren, Hutterites, and Mennonites. JHU Press. p. 240. ISBN   978-0-8018-9911-9.
  13. ↑ Anderson, Cory. "Midwest Beachy Amish Mennonite Church - GAMEO". Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia.
  14. ↑ The Beachy Amish Mennonites: Church Profiles, Maps, and Statistics at beachyam.org.
  15. ↑ "2008 Yearbook of American & Canadian Churches". The National Council of Churches. Archived from the original on 2011-11-14. Retrieved 2009-12-01.
  16. ↑ "Rankings by Counties, Metro-Areas, States (Quicklists) | Statistics | US Religion". www.thearda.com. Retrieved 2023-11-20.
  17. ↑ "Rankings by Counties, Metro-Areas, States (Quicklists) | Statistics | US Religion". www.thearda.com. Retrieved 2023-11-20.
  18. ↑ Langan, Sheila (2021-03-19). "Did you know Ireland has an Amish community?". Irish Central . Archived from the original on 2014-11-08. Retrieved 2021-09-05.
  19. ↑ "Beachy Amish Mennonite Fellowship - GAMEO". gameo.org. Retrieved 2023-11-20.
  20. ↑ Review, Rachel Stella | Mennonite World (2017-10-23). "Hymnals: old, new, sometimes gathering dust". Anabaptist World. Retrieved 2023-11-20.
  21. ↑ "The Christian Hymnary. Bks. 1-4 | Hymnary.org". hymnary.org. Retrieved 2023-11-20.
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