Amish Country

Greetings from "The Amish Country"!

The various Amish or Amish Mennonite church fellowships are Christian religious denominations that form a very traditional subgrouping of Mennonite churches. The Amish are known for simple living,plain dress and reluctance to adopt modern convenience.

The history of the Amish church began with a schism in Switzerland within a group of Swiss and Alsatian Anabaptists in 1693 led by Jakob Ammann Those who followed Ammann became known as Amish. These followers were originally from three main places: the German-speaking parts of Switzerland, the Alsace of France, and the Palatinate of Germany. In the early 18th century, many Amish and Mennonites emigrated to Pennsylvania for a variety of reasons. Today, the most traditional descendants of the Amish continue to speak Pennsylvania German, also known as Pennsylvania Dutch. However, a dialect of Swiss German predominates in some Old Order Amish communities, especially in the American state of Indiana. Over the years, the 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 as many as eight different subgroups of Amish with most belonging, in their order of conservatism, to the Scwartzentruber Amish, Andy Weaver, Old Order,New Order or Beachy Amish sects. As of 2000, over 165,000 Old Order Amish live in Canada and the United States. A new study, produced in 2008, suggests their numbers have increased to 227,000.