TheOld Beachy Amish orOld Beachy Amish Mennonites, also calledMidwest Beachy Amish Mennonites, are aPlain, car-drivingBeachy Amish group, that preserves the old ways of the Beachy Amish including theGerman language. They live inKentucky andIllinois. They are part of theAmish Mennonite movement in a broader sense, but they are not an organized denomination.[1]
In 1927 the Beachy church emerged from a division in the (Casselman) RiverOld Order Amish congregation inSomerset County,Pennsylvania.[2] BishopMoses M. Beachy led the new congregation during that time and his name became associated with this faction. The Beachys favored a milder discipline for members whose only offense was transferring membership to otherAnabaptist churches, specifically the conservativeAmish Mennonite congregation that broke away from Moses Beachy's congregation in 1895.[3]
Between 1946 and 1977, the majority of the Beachy Amish embraced elements of revivalistic theology. The Old Beachy Amish who wanted to preserve the old ways of Beachy Amish resisted this change and subsequently formed new congregations in the late 1960s by withdrawal from existing Beachy Amish congregation. From around 1970 until the early 1990s, the center of the Old Beachy Amish was inParis, Tennessee.
Mostly in the years 1991 and 1992, there was a massive exodus from the congregation in Paris, because of internal tensions concerning the use of English. By 2000, the Old Beachys had completely left the Paris region.[1]
As descendants from theOld Order Amish, the Old Beachy Amish are anAnabaptistChristian group in the tradition of theRadical Reformation of the early 16th century. In contrast to other Beachy Amish they have retained thePennsylvania German language, which they also use for church service and which is an important factor of their distinctive identity.[1]
They have dress standards as strict as or stricter than many Old Order Amish. They use cars, electricity, and telephone but require the cars to be black and do not allow microwaves and answering machines.[4] The use of tape and CD players and computers is tightly restricted. According toDonald Kraybill the Old Beachy Amish are similar in lifestyle to the Old Order Amish.[5]
| County | State | Adherents |
|---|---|---|
| Adams County | Illinois | 171 |
| Casey County | Kentucky | 135 |
| Graves County | Kentucky | 109 |
| Richland County | Illinois | 123 |
| Saline County | Illinois | 97 |
| Webster County | Kentucky | 112 |
In 2010 there were 747 adherents in six locations:Casey County, Kentucky, with 135 adherents,Webster County, Kentucky with 112 adherents,Graves County, Kentucky, with 109 adherents,Adams County, Illinois, with 171 adherents,Richland County, Illinois with 123 adherents, andSaline County, Illinois with 97 adherents.[6] According toDonald Kraybill the Old Beachy Amish had about 400 baptized members in 2010.[5] According to theMennonite World Conference, there were eight Old Beachy Amish congregations with 790 baptized members in 2018.[7]
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