Plain people

Last updated
Plain people
AmishFamilyNiagaraFalls.jpg
An Amish family
Regions with significant populations
United States
Religions
Anabaptism, Quakers (Conservative Friends)

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 (including head covering for women). [1] 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. [2] Conservative Friends are traditional Quakers who are also considered plain people; they come from a variety of different ethnic backgrounds.

Contents

Origins

Anabaptists

The Swiss Flag Flag of Switzerland.svg
The Swiss Flag

The Mennonite movement was a reform movement of Anabaptist origins begun by Swiss Brethren and soon thereafter finding greater cohesion based on the teachings of Menno Simons, and the 1632 Dordrecht Confession of Faith. The Amish movement was a reform movement within the Mennonite movement, based on the teachings of Jacob Ammann, who perceived a lack of discipline within the Mennonite movement by those trying to avoid persecution. Ammann argued that Romans 12:2 prohibited conformation with the world.

Quakers

William Penn, having experienced religious persecution as a Quaker, offered asylum to others who were suffering religious persecution, an offer that many followers of Ammann accepted, starting with the Detweiler and Sieber families, who settled in Berks County, Pennsylvania, in 1736. Many of them settled near Lancaster, Pennsylvania, which offered some of the most productive non-irrigated farmland in the world. By 1770, the Amish migration had largely ceased.

Plain dress

Women of the Old Order River Brethren, an Anabaptist Christian denomination, wearing the cape dress and kapp Old Order River Brethren women.jpg
Women of the Old Order River Brethren, an Anabaptist Christian denomination, wearing the cape dress and kapp

Notable plain groups in the Anabaptist tradition are the Amish (Old Order Amish, New Order Amish, Kauffman Amish Mennonites and Beachy Amish Mennonites), Para-Amish (Believers in Christ, Vernon Community and Caneyville Christian Community), many Mennonites (Old Order Mennonites, Conservative Mennonites, Reformed Mennonites, Orthodox Mennonites, Old Colony Mennonites and Holdeman Mennonites), Hutterites, [3] Bruderhof, [4] certain Schwarzenau Brethren (Old German Baptist Brethren, Old Brethren, and Dunkard Brethren), certain River Brethren (Old Order River Brethren and Calvary Holiness Church) and Charity Christians. [1] [5] [6]

A small number of Quakers (chiefly Conservative Friends and Holiness Friends) still practice plain dress as a part of their testimony of simplicity. [7] [8] [9] [10] The Shakers, a small religious community, dress plainly. [11] Many Apostolic Lutherans also wear plain dress. [12] Historically, members of the Moravian Church wore plain dress. [13]

Early Methodists wore plain dress, with clergy condemning "high headdresses, ruffles, laces, gold, and 'costly apparel' in general". [14] In his sermon On Dress, John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist movement, expressed his desire for Methodists to wear plain clothing in the manner practiced by Quakers: "Let me see, before I die, a Methodist congregation, full as plain dressed as a Quaker congregation." [15] Peter Cartwright, a Methodist revivalist, noted the gradual decline of wearing plain dress among Methodists; [16] today, members of denominations in the conservative holiness movement, such as the Allegheny Wesleyan Methodist Connection and Evangelical Wesleyan Church, continue to dress plainly, [17] [18] sometimes including abstention of wearing of jewelry, such as wedding rings. [19] The Fellowship of Independent Methodist Churches, which continues to observe the ordinance of women's headcovering, stipulates "renouncing all vain pomp and glory" and "adorning oneself with modest attire." [20]

Traditional Adventists and Mormon fundamentalists also wear plain dress. [21]

Plain customs

Customs of plain people include:

Religious practices

Anabaptist plain groups typically have a bishop presiding over one congregation (Amish) or over a district (group of congregations) (Old Order Mennonites). Mennonites mostly meet in church buildings, but most Amish meet in members' homes. Services among Amish and Plain Mennonites are mostly held in Pennsylvania German, a language closely related to Palatinate German, with extra vocabulary. Bishops are commonly chosen by lot as a reflection of God's will. While the bishop tends to be influential, he tends to rule by building consensus rather than by issuing edicts.

Most Anabaptist plain groups have an ordnung that among other things regulates clothing. The ordnung is a largely unwritten code of behavior, covering such items as clothing, vehicles, and the use of technology. The ordnung varies slightly from congregation to congregation though is in essence the same. Violations are not considered sins, although pride, selfishness and wilfulness are considered to be serious violations of the faith. The congregation can change the ordnung if there is a majority who desire to do so. Exemptions to the ordnung can be provided. In one instance, one farmer was granted permission to buy a modern tractor since he had arthritis and no children to help him harness horses. In other very hot, dry areas such as the Southwestern United States, where horses may not be able to work hard in the field throughout the day, some provision has been made for mechanical plowing and harvesting.

Amish young women at the beach, Chincoteague, Virginia. Femmes-Amish.jpg
Amish young women at the beach, Chincoteague, Virginia.

The Old Order Amish are among the fastest-growing populations in the world. They have low infant mortality rates. The average Amish woman can expect to have at least seven live births. [23] Other plain sects with the same or similar doctrines can be expected to have similarly explosive growth.

Despite this, the Pennsylvania Dutch—which includes Amish, Old Order Mennonite, and Conservative Mennonites—are expected by some to become a smaller percentage of the population as the sects respond to high prices of farmland by spreading out all over the United States and internationally, and the "English" (the Amish exonym for non-Amish persons regardless of ancestry) population spreads out from Philadelphia into suburban and rural areas. Many Amish and plain Mennonites of the last 30 years have moved into non-farm work, such as construction, woodworking, harness making, shopkeeping, auctioneer services and other crafts. Donald Kraybill believes there are plain church communities in 47 states.

Among people at least five years old living in Lancaster County in 2000,

Most but not all Anabaptist plain churches do not admit children to their church membership, requiring baptism first during the teen years, and so they impose no sanctions on those who do not join but shun those who fall away from the church once becoming a member. Among some groups of Old Order Amish, teenagers who are not yet baptized are not bound by the rules and go through a period of rumspringa , often with a certain amount of misbehavior that would not otherwise be tolerated.

Health

The Amish generally do not proselytize and discourage intermarriage with outsiders unless they have joined the Amish. Because of their historic tendency to relocate less in their lifetime, a high birthrate, a high number of double cousins as compared with the general public, and a lower number of possible marriage partners, this has historically resulted in marriages of 3rd, 4th, 5th, and other cousins who share ancestors. Similar to European royalty, this close degree of consanguinity has led to certain genetic problems occurring more frequently among the Amish. Dr. D. Holmes Morton has established the Clinic for Special Children to study and treat families with these problems. [25]

Many of the plain churches prohibit insurance, and instead they follow a system of mutual aid to assist each other charitably in case of sickness, accident, death, or property damage. Internal Revenue Service Form 4029 [26] allows one to claim exemption from Social Security taxes under certain restrictive conditions, and members of the plain groups who do not pay these taxes also do not receive death, disability, or retirement benefits from Social Security.

See also

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 Radical Reformation. The name Mennonites is derived from the cleric Menno Simons (1496–1561) of 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", nonresistance, 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">Old Order River Brethren</span> Denomination of Anabaptist Christianity

The Old Order River Brethren, formerly sometimes known as York Brethren or Yorkers, are a River Brethren denomination of Anabaptist Christianity with roots in the Radical Pietist movement. As their name indicates, they are Old Order Anabaptists.

Peace churches are Christian churches, groups or communities advocating Christian pacifism or Biblical nonresistance. The term historic peace churches refers specifically only to three church groups among pacifist churches:

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.

Donald B. Kraybill is an American author, lecturer, and educator on Anabaptist faiths and culture. Kraybill is widely recognized for his studies on Anabaptist groups and in particular the Amish. He has researched and written extensively on Anabaptist culture. He is Distinguished Professor Emeritus at Elizabethtown College and Senior Fellow Emeritus at Elizabethtown's Young Center for Anabaptist and Pietist Studies.

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Plain dress</span> Clothing worn by some religious groups

Plain dress is a practice among some religious groups, primarily some Christian churches in which people dress in clothes of traditional modest design, sturdy fabric, and conservative cut. It is intended to show acceptance of traditional gender roles, modesty, and readiness to work and serve, and to preserve communal identity and separation from the ever-changing fashions of the world. For men, this often takes the form of trousers secured by suspenders, while for women, plain dress usually takes the form of a cape dress along with a headcovering.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Groffdale Conference Mennonite Church</span>

The Groffdale Conference Mennonite Church, also called Wenger Mennonites, is the largest Old Order Mennonite group to use horse-drawn carriages for transportation. Along with the automobile, they reject many modern conveniences, while allowing electricity in their homes and steel-wheeled tractors to till the fields. Initially concentrated in eastern Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, their numbers had grown to 22,305 people resided in eight other states as of 2015. They share the pulpit with the Ontario Mennonite Conference but have some differences in Ordnung.

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

The Amish, formally the Old Order Amish, are a group of traditionalist Anabaptist Christian church fellowships with Swiss and Alsatian origins. As they maintain a degree of separation from surrounding populations, and hold their faith in common, the Amish have been described by certain scholars as an ethnoreligious group, combining features of an ethnicity and a Christian denomination. The Amish are closely related to Old Order Mennonites and Conservative Mennonites, denominations that are also a part of Anabaptist Christianity. 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.

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.

The Orthodox Mennonites, also called Wellesley Orthodox Mennonites and Huron Orthodox Mennonites, are two groups of traditional Old Order Mennonites in Canada and the US with about 650 baptized members. Even though plain to a very high degree and primitivist concerning technology, they are rather intentionalist minded than ultra traditional. Since 1999 they were joined by several other Old Order Mennonite communities.

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.

Nonconformity to the world, also called separation from the world, is a Christian doctrine based on Romans 12:2, 2 Corinthians 6:17 and other verses of the New Testament that became important among different Protestant groups, especially among Wesleyans and Anabaptists. The corresponding German word used by Anabaptists is Absonderung. Nonconformity is primarily expressed through the practices of plain dress and simple living.

The John Dan Wenger Mennonites are an Anabaptist Christian denomination that belongs to the Old Order Mennonites. They use horse and buggy transportation and are mainly located in Virginia. Under the leadership of Bishop John Dan Wenger, they separated from the Virginia Old Order Mennonite Conference in either 1952 or 1953.

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.

Brethren is a name adopted by a wide range of mainly Christian religious groups throughout history. The largest movement is Anabaptist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Old Order Anabaptism</span> Branch of Anabaptist Christianity

Old Order Anabaptism encompasses those groups which have preserved the old ways of Anabaptist Christian religion and lifestyle.

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 Bronner, Simon J. (4 March 2015). Encyclopedia of American Folklife. Routledge. ISBN   978-1-317-47194-3. Only a tiny minority within the Church of the Brethren continues some vestigates of plain dress, such as the prayer covering for women. The Old German Baptist Brethren and the Dunkard Brethren, however, have maintained standards of traditional plain dress.
  2. ↑ Dueck, Jonathan (28 April 2017). Congregational Music, Conflict and Community. Routledge. ISBN   978-1-134-78605-3. But Mennonites… are from many places and diverse in terms of belief, drawing, historically, on European diasporic histories, and at present, negotiating a much broader variety of diasporic histories, perhaps especially in Asia (Indonesia, for example), Latin America (Colombia, Brazil, Mexico, among others) and Africa (Congo, for example). A subset of these groups of Mennonites—Swiss Mennonites and Russian Mennonites—sometimes identify or are identified as 'ethnic Mennonites'.
  3. ↑ Hostetler, John (1997). Hutterite Society. The Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 105. ISBN   0-8018-5639-6.
  4. ↑ Bronner, Simon J (4 March 2015). Encyclopedia of American Folklife. Routledge. p. 492. ISBN   9781317471950.
  5. ↑ Scott, Stephen (1 January 1996). Introduction to Old Order and Conservative Mennonite Groups: People's Place Book No. 12. Simon and Schuster. ISBN   978-1-68099-243-4.
  6. ↑ Lewis, James R. (2002). The Encyclopedia of Cults, Sects, and New Religions. Prometheus Books. p. 151. ISBN   9781615927388.
  7. ↑ Savage, Scott (2000). A Plain Life: Walking My Belief . Ballantine Books. ISBN   0-345-43803-5.
  8. ↑ Cooper, Wilmer (1999). Growing Up Plain Among Conservative Wilburite Quakers: The Journey of a Public Friend. Friends United Press. ISBN   0-944350-44-5.
  9. ↑ "Quaker Jane - Limiting your palette in an addle-pated world. Plain dress, quakers and spirituality". quakerjane.com.
  10. ↑ Manual of Faith and Practice of Central Yearly Meeting of Friends. Central Yearly Meeting of Friends. 2018. pp. 107–110.
  11. ↑ The Shaker Manifesto. N. A. Briggs, Publisher. 1878.
  12. ↑ Scott, Stephen (1 September 2008). Why Do They Dress That Way?. Good Books. p. 53. ISBN   9781680992786.
  13. ↑ Ritter, Abraham (1857). History of the Moravian Church in Philadelphia. Hayes & Zell. p.  145. Accessed 19 June 2017.
  14. ↑ Lyerly, Cynthia Lynn (24 September 1998). Methodism and the Southern Mind, 1770-1810. Oxford University Press. p. 39. ISBN   9780195354249 . Retrieved 19 June 2017.
  15. ↑ Wesley, John (1999). "The Wesley Center Online: Sermon 88 - On Dress". Wesley Center for Applied Theology. Retrieved 19 June 2017.
  16. ↑ Cartwright, Peter (1857). Autobiography of Peter Cartwright: The Backwoods Preacher. Carlton & Porter. p.  74.
  17. ↑ "I. The Church". Discipline of the Allegheny Wesleyan Methodist Connection. Allegheny Wesleyan Methodist Connection. Should we insist on plain and modest dress? Certainly. We should not on any account spend what the Lord has put into our hands as stewards, to be used for His glory, in expensive wearing apparel, when thousands are suffering for food and raiment, and millions are perishing for the Word of life. Let the dress of every member of every Allegheny Wesleyan Methodist Church be plain and modest. Let the strictest carefulness and economy be used in these respects.
  18. ↑ Elwell, Walter A. (2001). Evangelical Dictionary of Theology. Baker Academic. p. 564. ISBN   9780801020759.
  19. ↑ "Discipline of the Bible Methodist Connection of Churches" (PDF). 2014. pp. 33–34. Retrieved 19 June 2017.
  20. ↑ "Brief Description". Fellowship of Independent Methodist Churches. 26 January 2022. Archived from the original on 26 January 2022. Retrieved 3 August 2022.
  21. ↑ Robinson, D. E. (1990). "Adopt%20a%20Simple,%20Unadorned%20Dress" "Seventh-day Adventists and the Reform Dress". The Ellen G. White Estate, Inc. Retrieved 17 July 2018.
  22. ↑ Zimmerman, Diane (2000). Holding the Line: The Telephone in Old Order Mennonite and Amish Life. Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN   0-8018-6375-9.
  23. ↑ Meyers, Thomas J. (1990). "Amish". Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 2008-07-20.
  24. ↑ "United States Censues, 2000, Population and Housing Profile: Lancaster County, Pennsylvania".
  25. ↑ Kate Ruder, Genomics in Amish Country Genome News Network, July 23, 2004
  26. ↑ "Internal Revenue Service Form 4029; Application for Exemption from Social Security and Medicare Taxes and Waiver of Benefits" (PDF).

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