John Schmid (born 1949) is an American country and folk singer and songwriter who is popular among the Amish and Old Order Mennonites. He sings songs both in English and in Pennsylvania German. [1] He is especially popular in the Holmes/Wayne Amish settlement in Ohio where he lives. [2] He may be the "only man ever to write songs in Deitsh". [3]
He is not a native speaker of Pennsylvania German, but learned it at a young age from classmates. According to Ira Wagler, author of the best selling book "Growing Up Amish", he speaks "flawless PA Dutch". [4] He grew up north of Fredericksburg, Ohio in a not very religious family, but as a young adult he became a Christian. [5]
Soon after their wedding in 1980 John and his wife Lydia moved to Costa Rica working as teachers and hosting a house for visiting missionaries. He also was a youth minister in association with Latin America Mission and later, Young Life. In 1990 music became a full-time calling for him. In the beginning he did mostly prison-ministry journeys with his songs. [6] According to his website, "In a typical year, John ministers in more than 50 prisons, 30 churches, four to five camps, six evangelistic crusades, 40 banquets, a street fair or two, several weekend seminars, as well as numerous concerts and living rooms," particularly in Ohio, Indiana, and Florida. [7]
He has recorded 24 CDs, three of them entirely in Pennsylvania German. He sings popular Pennsylvania German songs like "Mei Vadder un Mudder sinn Deitsch" and "Schnitzelbank". [8] [9] He is an admirer of Johnny Cash and has sung many of his songs. [10]
He lives with his wife Lydia in Berlin, Ohio and has three grown children. [11]
Holmes County is a county located in the U.S. state of Ohio. As of the 2010 census, the population was 42,366. Its county seat is Millersburg. The county was formed in 1824 from portions of Coshocton, Tuscarawas and Wayne counties and organized the following year. It was named after Andrew Holmes, an officer killed in the War of 1812.
The Pennsylvania Dutch (Pennsilfaanisch-Deitsche), also referred to as the Pennsylvania Germans, are a cultural group formed by early German-speaking immigrants to Pennsylvania and their descendants. The word Dutch refers to the German settlers, known endonymically as Deitsch or Deutsch ; it does not refer to people from the Netherlands. Most Pennsylvania Dutch emigrated in the 17th and 18th centuries to the Americas from within the Holy Roman Empire, which included areas that were later to become Germany, Switzerland and Austria. Over time, the various dialects spoken by these immigrants fused into a unique dialect of German known as Pennsylvania German or Pennsylvania Dutch.
Pennsylvania German, often called Pennsylvania Dutch, is a variety of West Central German spoken by the Old Order Amish, Old Order Mennonites and other descendants of German immigrants in the United States and Canada, closely related to the Palatine dialects. There are possibly more than 300,000 native speakers in the United States and Canada. In Pennsylvania 29.9% of the population currently claim German ancestry.
Over 50 million Americans claim German ancestry, which makes them the largest single claimed ethnic group in the United States. Around 1.06 million people in the United States speak the German language. It is the second most spoken language in North Dakota. In 16 states, it is the most spoken language other than English and Spanish.
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 peculiar 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.
Pennsylvania Dutch English is a dialect of English that has been influenced by the Pennsylvania German language. It is largely spoken in South Central Pennsylvania, both by people who are monolingual and bilingual. The dialect has been dying out, as non-Amish younger Pennsylvania Germans tend to speak General American English. Very few non-Amish members of these people can speak the Pennsylvania German language, although most know some words and phrases. The World War II Generation was the last generation in which Pennsylvania Dutch was widely spoken outside the Old Order Amish and Old Order Mennonite communities.
A horse and buggy or horse and carriage refers to a light, simple, two-person carriage of the late 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries, drawn usually by one or sometimes by two horses. Also called a roadster or a trap, it was made with two wheels in England and the United States, and with four wheels in the United States as well. It had a folding or falling top.
Rumspringa, also spelled Rumschpringe or Rumshpringa, is a rite of passage during adolescence, translated in English as "jumping or hopping around", used in some Amish communities. The Amish, a subsect of the Anabaptist Christian movement, intentionally segregate themselves from other communities as a part of their faith. For Amish youth, the Rumspringa normally begins around the ages of 14–16 and ends when a youth chooses either to be baptized in the Amish church or to leave the community. For Wenger Mennonites, Rumspringa occurs between ages of 17 and 21.
The New Order Amish are a subgroup of Amish that split away from the Old Order Amish in the 1960s for a variety of reasons, which included a desire for "clean" youth courting standards, meaning they do not condone the practice of bundling, or non-sexually lying in bed together, during courtship. Tobacco and alcohol are also not allowed. They also wished to incorporate more evangelical elements into the church, including Sunday school and mission work. Some scholars see the group best characterized as a subgroup of Old Order Amish, despite the name.
The "Schnitzelbank" is a simple song, popular most with German Americans.
Philip Paul Bliss was an American composer, conductor, writer of hymns and a bass-baritone Gospel singer. He wrote many well-known hymns, including "Almost Persuaded" (1871); "Hallelujah, What a Saviour!" (1875); "Let the Lower Lights Be Burning"; "Wonderful Words of Life" (1875); and the tune for Horatio Spafford's "It Is Well with My Soul" (1876).
The Amish have been portrayed in many areas of popular culture.
John Birmelin has been called the Poet Laureate of the Pennsylvania Dutch and is one of the most popular poets and playwrights in the Pennsylvania German language.
The Amish are a group of traditionalist Christian church fellowships with Swiss German Anabaptist origins. They are closely related to, but a distinct branch off from, Mennonite churches. The Amish are known for simple living, plain dress, Christian pacifism, and are slower to adopt many conveniences of modern technology, with a view to not interrupting family time, nor replacing face-to-face conversations whenever possible.
The Swartzentruber Amish are the most well-known and one of the largest and the most conservative subgroups of Old Order Amish. Swartzentruber Amish are considered a subgroup of the Old Order Amish, although they do not fellowship or intermarry with more liberal Old Order Amish. They speak Pennsylvania German as their mother tongue as well as English.
Amish believe large families are a blessing from God. Amish rules allow marrying only between members of the Amish Church. The elderly do not go to a retirement facility; they remain at home.
Subgroups of Amish developed over the years, as Amish churches have divided many times over doctrinal disputes. The 'Old Order' Amish, a conservative faction that withdrew from fellowship with the wider body of Amish in the 1860s, 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.
Love Finds You in Sugarcreek, Ohio is a film adaption of the novel of the same title by Serena B. Miller. Directed by Terry Cunningham, produced by George Shamieh, distributed by Mission Pictures International, production by Belltower Productions, and funded by Three Point Capital. The production was filmed on location in Holmes County, Ohio with a majority of the filming taking place in Sugarcreek, Ohio during the fall of 2013 which coincided with the time frame set by the Novel. The film first aired on Up in June, 2014, with a subsequent release scheduled later internationally and on DVD.
The Andy Weaver Amish, locally also called "Dan Church", "Dan Amish" or "Danners", are a conservative subgroup of Old Order Amish. They are more conservative than average Old Order Amish.