 An Amish family | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
|---|---|
| United States | |
| Religions | |
| Anabaptism,Quakers (Conservative Friends) |
Plain people are Christian groups in the United States, characterized byseparation from the world and bysimple living, includingplain dressing in modest clothing (includinghead covering for women).[1] Many plain people have anAnabaptist 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 traditionalQuakers who are also considered plain people; they come from a variety of different ethnic backgrounds.
TheMennonite movement was a reform movement ofAnabaptist origins begun bySwiss Brethren and soon thereafter finding greater cohesion based on the teachings ofMenno Simons, and the 1632Dordrecht Confession of Faith. TheAmish movement was a reform movement within the Mennonite movement, based on the teachings ofJacob Ammann, who perceived a lack of discipline within the Mennonite movement by those trying to avoid persecution. Ammann argued thatRomans 12:2 prohibited conformation with theworld.
William Penn, having experiencedreligious persecution as aQuaker, 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 inBerks County, Pennsylvania, in 1736. Many of them settled nearLancaster, Pennsylvania, which offered some of the most productive non-irrigated farmland in the world. By 1770, the Amish migration had largely ceased.
Notable plain groups in the Anabaptist tradition are the Amish (Old Order Amish,New Order Amish,Kauffman Amish Mennonites andBeachy Amish Mennonites),Para-Amish (Believers in Christ,Vernon Community andCaneyville Christian Community), many Mennonites (Old Order Mennonites,Conservative Mennonites,Reformed Mennonites,Orthodox Mennonites,Old Colony Mennonites andHoldeman Mennonites),Hutterites,[3]Bruderhof,[4] certainSchwarzenau Brethren (Old German Baptist Brethren,Old Brethren, andDunkard Brethren), certainRiver Brethren (Old Order River Brethren andCalvary Holiness Church) andCharity Christians.[1][5][6]
A small number of Quakers (chieflyConservative Friends andHoliness Friends) still practice plain dress as a part of theirtestimony of simplicity.[7][8][9][10] TheShakers, a small religious community, dress plainly.[11] ManyApostolic Lutherans also wear plain dress.[12] Historically, members of theMoravian Church wore plain dress.[13]
EarlyMethodists wore plain dress, with clergy condemning "high headdresses, ruffles, laces, gold, and 'costly apparel' in general".[14] In his sermonOn 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 Methodistrevivalist, noted the gradual decline of wearing plain dress among Methodists;[16] today, members of denominations in theconservative holiness movement, such as theAllegheny Wesleyan Methodist Connection andEvangelical Wesleyan Church, continue to dress plainly,[17][18] sometimes including abstention of wearing of jewelry, such as wedding rings.[19] TheFellowship of Independent Methodist Churches, which continues to observe theordinance of women's headcovering, stipulates "renouncing all vain pomp and glory" and "adorning oneself with modest attire."[20]
TraditionalAdventists andMormon fundamentalists also wear plain dress.[21]
Customs of plain people include:
Anabaptist plain groups typically have abishop 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 inPennsylvania German, a language closely related toPalatinate 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 anordnung 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 theSouthwestern 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.
The Old Order Amish are among the fastest-growing populations in the world. They have lowinfant 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, thePennsylvania 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 Amishexonym 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 inLancaster 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 butshun 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 ofrumspringa, often with a certain amount of misbehavior that would not otherwise be tolerated.
The Amish generally do notproselytize 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 ofdouble 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 ofconsanguinity has led to certain genetic problems occurring more frequently among the Amish. Dr.D. Holmes Morton has established theClinic 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 ofmutual 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 fromSocial 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.
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.
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'.
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.