TheCommunity of True Inspiration, also known as theTrue Inspiration Congregations,[1]Inspirationalists, and theAmana Church Society) is aRadical Pietist group of Christians descending from settlers of German, Swiss, and Austrian descent who settled inWest Seneca, New York, after purchasing land from theSeneca peoples' Buffalo Creek Reservation.[2] They were from a number of backgrounds and socioeconomic areas and later moved toAmana, Iowa (where they are currently based) when they became dissatisfied with the congestion ofErie County and the growth ofBuffalo, New York. Christian worship in the Community of True Inspiration continues, largely unchanged from its inception.
From the time of theEdict of Nantes in 1598 until 1685,France had permittedCalvinistProtestants, known asHuguenots, to practice their religion and exercise the full rights of citizens while still maintainingRoman Catholicism as thestate religion. However, in 1685, KingLouis XIV of France issued theEdict of Fontainebleau which ordered that Huguenot church buildings and schools be closed, and sought tosuppress the religion. TheInspirés ('Inspired') were Huguenots in Southern France whoradicalized following their suppression and begun an itinerant ministry preaching theend time was at hand with claims of prophetic inspiration. They spent the remainder of the 17th century traveling throughout theNetherlands andEngland asrefugees, before many of them settled in thePietist center of Halle.[3]
TheInspirés influenced three brothers surnamed Pott who lived in Halle until they wereexiled and went toHanau andWetteravia east ofFrankfurt in 1714. The Pott brothers were several of manyPietists who had come to the area to take advantage of the religious tolerance of the counts ofIsenburg-Eisenberg. There, they gave what many understood as divinely-inspiredecstatic speeches in atrance-like state. They sometimes experienced uncontrollable jolting motions of their entire bodies while they were preaching, which was understood as verification that they were seized by a divine spirit. Their message was a call to repentance and awakening.[3]
Many were drawn to the Potts, and the group that gathered around them emerged as a distinct group in the late autumn of 1714. This group is known as the Inspirationalists. Soon, others began preaching in a similar style and experienced similar convulsions. Among these other early leaders wereEberhard Ludwig Gruber,Johann Friedrich Rock, andUrsula Meyer of Thun.[3]
Everywhere theInspirés and Inspirationalists went, communities gathered around them.[citation needed] However, political freedom was very limited in this era, and the Inspirationalists were routinely banished and were unable to find a place in Europe they could permanently settle. Their religious practices, includingavoidance of military service andrefusal to take an oath, kept them in conflict with German authorities.[citation needed] Many of these communities were short-lived, and all the leaders continued to travel and were frequently banished by political rulers. Major centers of the Inspirationalists were successively atHimbach nearHanau until 1740, thecastle of Gelnhausen until 1753,Lieblos, and thenHerrnhaag until the 1820s. The second generation of leaders in the 18th century were Wilhelm Ludwig Kampf and Paul Giesebert Nagel.[4]
Gruber stayed for a time with the community ofBrethren in Schwarzenau.[4] However, the Inspirationalists found Brethren to be legalistic, sectarian, and sterile in contrast to their owncharismatic and prophetic missionary zeal. Ursula Meyer twice prophesied that Brethren leaderAlexander Mack was to meet an early death so that he would not continue to burden his co-religionists. She similarly disapproved ofAnabaptistAndreas Boni.[5] The groups ended up competing, and poor relations likely spurred the Brethren to leave Schwarzenau for the Netherlands in 1720.[6]
Their religion continued to grow until Gruber and Rock's deaths, but subsequently declined until a reawakening sparked by Michael Krausert, who preached for a revival and had much support.[7]
In the 1840s, renewed religious restrictions and requirements from political rulers prompted the Inspirationalists to migrate as a group to North America. Their first settlements were nearBuffalo on both sides of theNiagara River.[8] Sites includedWest Seneca and theTown of Elma.[9] They immediately began practicingcommunity of goods, working in textiles and agriculture.[8] This settlement became known as theEbenezer Colonies.[citation needed] They were soon dismayed to find the area crowded, with theurban presence ofgrowing Buffalo too close and conflicts with theSeneca Indians arising. In 1854, many of the Inspirationists moved to the Iowa River Valley to found theAmana Colonies.[8]
Official membership was 1,534 in 1925, and was more than a thousand as late as the 1980s.[9]
Worship in the Community of True Inspiration is characterized as follows:[10]
Services still follow a basic order of worship beginning with a silent period of worship, followed by a hymn, the recitation of the Apostles Creed by a member of the congregation, a prayer by the presiding elder, the recitation of the Lord's Prayer by the entire congregation followed by a reading from the Bible selected by the presiding elder. Following the presiding elder's commentary, the congregation reads a Psalm, and the service concludes with a second hymn.[10]
In addition to regular services on theLord's Day, the Community of True Inspiration has several holy days and seasons:
TheCommunity of True Inspiration Residence was listed on theNational Register of Historic Places in 2013.[11]
Community of True Inspiration, a Radical Pietist movement in 18th-century Germany which became a successful communal society in 19th-century America.
{{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)