TheCaneyville Christian Community was anAnabaptist community, located inCaneyville, Kentucky, living aplain conservative lifestyle, true to the vision of formerOld Order Amish bishopElmo Stoll.G. C. Waldrep classifies them as "para-Amish". Among Anabaptists the community is often simply called "Caneyville".
In 2021 both settlements of the Community, Caneyville and Brownsville, ended their independence and joined theMichigan Churches affiliation of the Old Order Amish.[1] Later, Brownsville disbanded entirely, and Caneyville began affiliation with Blessed Hope Christian Fellowship nearWindsor, Kentucky. Blessed Hope Christian Fellowship is an offshoot of the churches originally associated withCharity Christian Fellowship.
In 1990 the"Christian Communities" were founded inCookeville, Tennessee, byElmo Stoll, a former bishop of the Old Order Amish inAylmer, Ontario. Stoll's aim was to create a church mostly modeled on the Amish, but with community of goods and without theGerman language and other obstacles in order to help Christianseekers from a non-plain background to integrate into a very plain, low technology Christian life without materialism.[2] He was successful in establishing a community, but without community of goods, and soon many people fromAmish,Old Order Mennonite andGerman Baptist Brethren backgrounds, but also - as intended -seekers[3] joined his community. In addition, the "Christian Communities" soon spread to other locations in the United States and Canada. Elmo Stoll was the charismatic leader of the communities who held them together.[4]
After Elmo Stoll's early death in 1998, disunion started among the "Christian Communities". Bryce Geiser, who has aGerman Baptist background, replaced Elmo Stoll as the leader of the "Christian Communities", but he could not hold together all the different people from different backgrounds. In 2001 the five congregations of the "Christian Communities" announced that they would disband the Cookeville community and the movement as a whole. That led in the end to the disbanding of two of the five "Christian Communities", while two others joined theNoah Hoover Mennonites and one affiliated with an Amish group fromMichigan.[5]
In 2004 Bryce Geiser, Andrew Hess and Aaron Stoll, a son of Elmo Stoll, started anew and founded the Christian Community atCaneyville, Kentucky, in order not to give up Elmo Stoll's vision.[6]
Caneyville was anOld Order community, meaning that they usedhorses and buggies instead of cars,dressed Plain and avoided electricity, computers, cell phones, and other modern conveniences.Internal combustion engines were also not used, butsteam engines instead. They used wood stoves, which the community makes, and many things were propane powered, as is the custom among manyAmish.[7] The community makes a living mainly frommarket gardens and the manufacture ofwood stoves. They originally adhered to Elmo Stoll's vision.[6][8]
Donnermeyer and Anderson describe the Community as follows:
The group's temperament is intentionalist, non-traditional, and inventive, yet all within a rationalized discourse supporting their ritual procedures, doctrinal expositions, and strict technological, dress, and home décor standards.[9]
The community started with about 15 families on a 200-acre (0.81 km2) property. The original members did not all have an Old Order background, but came fromAmish,German Baptist Brethren, and "seeker" backgrounds. Caneyville established a daughter community nearBrownsville, Kentucky, some 30 miles (48 km) away.[10] The Brownsville community disbanded after several years.
Currently (2025), Caneyville has adapted the use of community vehicles and electricity in the homes. Inter-communal transportation includes golf carts and utility vehicles. "Blackbox" phones and email-to-fax services have been incorporated into daily use. The community still operates with the original vision concerning land ownership and business.
A bi-monthly pamphlet, called "Plain Things", was published by the Caneyville Christian Community, but eventually ceased publication.[11]