The Old Beachy Amish or Old Beachy Amish Mennonites, also called Midwest Beachy Amish Mennonites, are a

Plain In geography, a plain is a flat expanse of land that generally does not change much in elevation, and is primarily treeless. Plains occur as lowlands along valleys or at the base of mountains, as coastal plains, and as plateaus or uplands. ...

, car-driving Beachy Amish group, that preserves the old ways of the Beachy Amish including the

German language German ( ) is a West Germanic language mainly spoken in Central Europe. It is the most widely spoken and official or co-official language in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and the Italian province of South Tyrol. It is als ...

. They live in

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virgini ...

and

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Roc ...

. They are part of the Amish Mennonite movement in a broader sense, but they are not an organized denomination.

History

In 1927 the Beachy church emerged from a division in the (Casselman) River

Old Order Amish The Amish (; pdc, Amisch; german: link=no, Amische), formally the Old Order Amish, are a group of traditionalist Anabaptist Christian church fellowships with Swiss German and Alsatian origins. They are closely related to Mennonite churches, ...

congregation in Somerset County,

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; (Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, Ma ...

. Bishop Moses 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 other

Anabaptist Anabaptism (from Neo-Latin , from the Greek : 're-' and 'baptism', german: Täufer, earlier also )Since the middle of the 20th century, the German-speaking world no longer uses the term (translation: "Re-baptizers"), considering it biased. ...

churches, specifically the conservative Amish Mennonite congregation that broke away from Moses Beachy's congregation in 1895. The majority of the Beachy Amish transformed into Evangelical churches between 1946 and 1977. 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 the around 1970 until the early 1990s the center of the Old Beachy Amish was in

Paris, Tennessee Paris is a city in and the county seat of Henry County, Tennessee, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 10,316. A replica of the Eiffel Tower stands in the southern part of Paris. History The present site of Pari ...

. Because of internal tensions concerning the use of English, there was a massive exodus from Paris, mostly in the years 1991 and 1992. By 2000, the Old Beachys had completely left the Paris region.

Belief and practice

As descendants from the

, the Old Beachy Amish are an

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words '' Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρ ...

group in the tradition of the

Radical Reformation The Radical Reformation represented a response to corruption both in the Catholic Church and in the expanding Magisterial Protestant movement led by Martin Luther and many others. Beginning in Germany and Switzerland in the 16th century, the Rad ...

of the early 16th century. In contrast to other Beachy Amish they have retained the Pennsylvania German language, which they also use for church service and which is an important factor of their distinctive identity. 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. The use of tape and CD players and computers is tightly restricted. According to Donald Kraybill the Old Beachy Amish are similar in lifestyle to the Old Order Amish.Donald B. Kraybill: ''Concise Encyclopedia of Amish, Brethren, Hutterites, and Mennonites'', Baltimore 2010, page 238.

Members and congregations

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 Adams County is the westernmost county in the U.S. state of Illinois. As of the 2020 census, the population was 65,737. Its county seat is Quincy. Adams County is part of the Quincy, IL– MO Micropolitan Statistical Area. History Adams Cou ...

, with 171 adherents, Richland County, Illinois with 123 adherents, and Saline County, Illinois with 97 adherents. According to Donald Kraybill the Old Beachy Amish had about 400 baptized members in 2010. According to the Mennonite World Conference, there were eight Old Beachy Amish congregations with 790 baptized members in 2018.Mennonite World Conference: Membership USA: ''Old Beachy (Amish Mennonite)''
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References

External links

A Beachy Amish Mennonite information website

Pilgrim Ministry: Beachy Amish churches

in the Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online {{Amish Anabaptism Mennonitism Sub

History

Belief and practice

Members and congregations

See also

References

External links