How to Join the Amish: The Step-by-Step Guide

Atlee Miller, an Ohio New Order father of ten, tells you how to do it at amish-heartland.com.

In a nutshell:  come live with us, go to church, get a job, learn Pennsylvania Dutch, do all this for a year and then get educated in the ways of the church, and finally, get voted in by the church.  Voila.  It's that simple. 

Simple but far from easy.  A handful have done it, but not without sacrifice and struggle.  Why do they go through with it?  'A woman', joked one Amishman I know.  'That's usually what's involved.' 

Bonus:  Click for what the Amish think about outsiders wanting to join, and a bit about a few real-life converts.

Comments

[Matthew]

Have you read the following article about Amish converts? http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=17268211&BRD=1698&PAG=461&dept_id=21849&rfi=6

In it, Eric Miller (from the Behalt) is quoted. "The number of so-called Yankee-to-Amish conversions may be higher than observers believe, according to Paul Miller, executive director of The Amish and Mennonite Heritage Center in Berlin, Ohio. "I have a friend who converted from Catholicism to Amish. He said there were 100-some people that have become Amish from other backgrounds," Miller said. "The interesting thing was, as he pointed it out, the majority of those are from Catholicism to Amish.""

I think it would be a very interesting sociological study to compare converts to the Amish faith and identify common threads. And especially to pinpoint the event that made them go from an observer who admired and integrated the lifestyle and faith into their own personal life to seeking membership in the Amish church and living in community. Of course a maiden could always have something to do with it :-).

I have e-mailed Mr. Miller in an attempt to obtain an address to write to a convert, but have not received a response yet.

Matthew

[Amish America]

Matthew thanks for the link to the article. I liked it. I believe I heard about this fellow, the former pilot, joining, but hadn't read anything about it.
About the Catholics to Amish, I wonder how many of those were in modern times, vs. how many happened a couple hundred years ago when there was still a European Amish presence, and when there weren't the issues of dealing with a drastic lifestyle change and so on.

My first guess would be that more nowadays come from Anabaptist-related faiths, but that is pure speculation.

A study like you describe would be interesting. I wouldn't be surprised in Kraybill or one of his colleagues has something like that on tap. If not, someone ought to look at it. Would make a great book.

[Dave Carrig]

It's interesting to see that folks try to convert and that the Amish are even amenable to it.

I wonder how many of those who make the "attempt" to convert are under 30 verses over 30. I bet a person's age and worldly experience would contribute greatly to the success or failure of a conversion.

[Amish America]

Good question Dave, I am curious myself...I imagine the majority would come from the under-30 age range, what do you think?

[Sebastien]

The following log "How to Join the Amish: The Step-by-Step Guide" was very interesting and I would like to know how to get practical if I wish to join the community for a year and monger. Please write back with detailed-information. Ready to join.

[Amish America]

Hi Sebastien,

I would be glad to offer what help is within my scope, but what would you like to know, more specifically?