Amish America

The Amish Church District

The Amish arrange themselves into compact groupings known as church districts. 

Each district has its own name, usually a geographically-based one--Lamoni South, Randolph, and Crab Orchard are examples of places providing names for districts, these being found in Iowa, Mississippi, and Kentucky.

Since the Amish travel by horse-and-buggy to one another's homes for Sunday service, most districts are grouped together in a logical, geographical manner.  The district line often runs down the middle of the road, which means you might attend with a different group of families than your neighbor across the street.

photo: Bill Coleman

Districts in northern Indiana and Arthur, Illinois tend to be block-shaped, keeping with the gridlike road plans of the area.  Holmes County, Ohio congregation lines meander along the winding lanes that are characteristic of the hilly country.

New Order Amish churches tend to be more spread out in Holmes County, Ohio--probably because New Order Amish constitute a minority of the 200+ congregations here and must bunch together however possible.  In some districts, members' homes may be ten or more miles apart from one another, about a 90-minute buggy ride.  Contrast that with, say, a certain district in the heart of Lagrange County, Indiana, whose families all fit on a half-mile-by-mile postage stamp of land.  Walk to church?  No sweat.

A church typically has a set of two or three ministers, a deacon, and a bishop whom they might share with another district.  Generally speaking, the ministers and the bishop do the preaching on Sundays, and the bishop acts as the head of the congregation and final level of authority.         

The deacon usually does not preach, but helps with discipline issues and is a bit of a social go-between,  for instance acting to facilitate pre-nuptial proceedings between families. 

Regarding discipline, the deacon will probably be the first guy that stops by after work to talk to you about 'putting away' your jet-ski or whatever offending technology or behavior you may be engaged in.  In this sense he may act as the bishop's 'right-hand' before he himself would get involved.

When churches get too big, they split.  Typical church size is 25-35 families;  when a church nears 40 families, it's usually thinking about dividing. 

Some settlements have unusually large congregations, however--in Allen County, Indiana, nearly a third have 40 or more families.  The record holder is a district which as of 2006 had a whopping 59 families under one bishop.  That is what you'd call a ripe one.

photo: Randall Persing

Once a district splits, it's time to think about selecting a new ministry and eventually a bishop, a process that may take a few years.  In the meantime, the original bishop 'takes care' of the new district.

Church is on one Sunday, off the next.  Usually, if your district is off, you might pop in to the neighboring district's service, or go visiting to family and friends.  One thing is certain--no work gets done except for the most necessary chores--caring for animals, for example. 

And no business deals whatsoever--milk companies have had to make arrangements with Amish dairies to pick up milk (usually a daily thing) late Saturday night and then again shortly after midnight Monday morning, in order to accomodate this most strict of Amish customs.

Amish trivia

Amish folks, like the rest of us, enjoy hearing the odd bit of trivia or unusual fact.  Hence, three tidbits of Amish trivia, taken from Brad Igou's compilation The Amish in their Own Words:

1.   Quilts.  The Amish are well known for their proficiency in the quilting realm.  Some of their pieces fetch upwards of $1000.  The average quilt takes around 250-350 yards of thread.  'The Shetlers' of Glasgow, Kentucky, hold the record--using 1,270 yards for a 'big ocean wave' quilt. 

photo courtesy of Bill Coleman

2.Old Age and Kids.  The oldest Amish person was Salina Stoltzfus of Lancaster County, who passed away in 1981 at the age of 108. 

John J. and Lydia Miller of Danville, Ohio had 100 grandchildren by 1986--an even 50/50 girl-boy split.

Bennie and Annie Fisher had a 22-year gap between their first and second child--Noah came in 1924, John appeared on the scene in 1946.  Two more children were born after John, when Annie was 45 and 47 years old.

3.Circle Letters.  Some Amish participate in what are known as circle letters, whereby a group is formed and each person adds a letter to a pack of letters that goes around and around a circle of around a dozen people, each adding his own and sending it on. 

Circle letters are popular among different groups-- spread-out family members, groups of teachers, wheelchair-bound individuals, organic farmers, and Amish bishops, among others.

There is also the Ohio-to-Ontario 'Andy Mast Circle Letter'--consisting of 14 Amish with the same name.

Some Amish and Mennonites in Kentucky

Genevieve at Prarie Bluestem shares some local insight in a piece about the influx of Amish and Mennonites into the Kentucky community where she lives.

In Christian County live not only Amish but Old Order Mennonites, who also travel by horse-and-buggy and share many similarities with the Amish. 

It seems a wide variety of other Mennonite designations are active in the area as well.

Genevieve says that at first the Anabaptist groups were not welcomed with open arms.  Some locals used vandalism and unfriendly literature to show their displeasure.

Apparently over the past two decades, the area has adapted fairly well to the presence of these unusual peoples.  Genevieve says damage to roads caused by horseshoes and steel tractor wheels has been a problem for some, however (a not uncommon complaint in Amish-inhabited areas).


I'd expect similar experiences to play out in communities across the country as the Amish branch out in coming years. 

New Amish settlements are started every year, and some inevitably fail.  In fact, over 150 communities started since 1860 subsequently went bust, according to Amish historian David Luthy's excellent works on extinct settlements.

Some may last decades before disintegrating, while others may not even make it a full year. 

But many survive and even thrive, as seems to be the case in this area of Kentucky.

Thanks Genevieve for the response!