Just out of curiosity...

[Andrew21091]

I've wondered this for a while. How many converts do you think the Amish get? Do they even accept converts? I've never heard of anyone converting to the Amish church. It doesn't seem like they would have a lot I would think. Anyone know?

[ms.hoorah]

(I am not Amish, but I have worked and lived among the 2 types and have Mennonite friends.  My response may contain errors.)

 It is rare that anyone seeks to become Amish.  Some people will enter the Mennonites community through conversion.  Most Amish elders speak English which they use to purchase supplies or sell their wares, but at community/home events they will speak a type of German ( Pennsylvania German or Swiss German).   Their are two subtypes of Amish and they will speak dialects based on their “order”. 

IMO, to join the Amish, you would have to live among them for years.  They value God, humility and honesty.  You would have live as their neighbor for years to prove that you have the same values before approaching community elders.  You could easily join their community as an adopted child. The Amish have serious genetic problems in their community so some adopt children from the foster care system and some adopt internationally.  Last summer I talked with an Old Order Amish, who was selling pies along the road near Erie, PA, with her two, Chinese adopted children.

The Mennonites in Pennsylvania are “plain” people like the Amish but have electricity for necessary household items and their workshops/barns.  They will own one plain car or truck for work.  Their community is more inviting and they would welcome you to worship with them.   They actively ask people to worship with them (in non-aggressive ways).  {I just looked at the Mennonite Church USA website and was shocked to see women without their hair kapps.  There must be sects of Mennonites that are radically different from Pennsylvania Mennonites.}

[Andrew21091]

Ok, that's interesting and its the kind of info I was looking for. Thanks.

[ms.hoorah]

I saw this today and thought you might find it interesting. It is about a new Amish community and their new neighbors.  The name Hochstelter/Hochstetler/Hostetler is a common surname among the Old Order Amish.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/maine/articles/2009/11/29/maine_town_quickly_embraces_new_amish_neighbors/?page=1

[searn77]

(This is a little off topic to the OP but wasn't sure if it was too much off-topic to be put in a new thread or not)

Has anyone else heard of the Amish man who converted to Orthodoxy and wants to start an Orthodox amish-like community? I remember reading this not to long ago but can't seem to find anything about him or his idea of starting this community anymore.

[Asteriktos]

I'm not aware of an Amish convert that wanted to do that, but I do know that there was some interest among certain Orthodox Christians in setting up a similar situation. There was a thread on Euphrosynoscafe.com about it, and there was also an entire (though rather small) forum dedicated to that idea, and living simply in general (I can't remember the website address of that forum though, and it may not even be around anymore... I believe Ebor also posted there, she might have a link to it).

[GammaRay]

Has anyone else heard of the Amish man who converted to Orthodoxy and wants to start an Orthodox amish-like community? I remember reading this not to long ago but can't seem to find anything about him or his idea of starting this community anymore.

When I read the OP, I wished there was an Amish-like Orthodox community.

[Nebelpfade]

All I have to say to the prospect is:  The lack or limitation of modern technology...  the horror!

[Schultz]

I know for a fact there was an Amish elder (I believe of the Old Order) who converted and became an Orthodox priest; I corresponded with him some years ago.  Alas, it was from an old email account that no longer exists and I cannot for the life of me remember his name  

I don't think he was actively trying to start an intentional community, but I could be wrong.  I believe he was just very happy to be in the Church and a very Godly man.  When I first emailed him and asked him if I could ask him some questions regarding his conversion, he said, "I will answer any and all, so long as they are for the glory of God!"

I knew then and there that the Church had received a keeper, so to speak.

[ytterbiumanalyst]

All I have to say to the prospect is:  The lack or limitation of modern technology...  the horror!

I live and work in Amish country (though a few years ago they built their own school, and now their children do not attend our public school anymore). It's an unfortunate misunderstanding that the Amish eschew technology. Actually, technology has nothing to do with their lifestyle. What they denounce is being dependent on "the world"--those outside their community. It is for that reason they will not subscribe to phone service or connect to a power grid; if they did, they would be dependent on the world for those services. Similarly, they do not buy manufactured goods made in "the world," such as automobiles, because they do not want to be dependent on that manufacturer. They can build their own buggies, and therefore that technology is acceptable.

[Rosehip]

^^...as long as there are no pneumatic tires involved. After all, such tires are satanic as per this verse:

Eph 2:2 Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience

[BoredMeeting]

Some of the Russian Old Believer practices reminded me a lot of the Amish/Mennonite ways.

[jnorm888]

I've wondered this for a while. How many converts do you think the Amish get? Do they even accept converts? I've never heard of anyone converting to the Amish church. It doesn't seem like they would have a lot I would think. Anyone know?

Good question. Pittsburgh is right in the middle of two Ahmish / Mennonite big groups. Lancaster PA, and the one in Ohio. We tend to see alot of Ahmish/Mennonite teens who leave to work in the suburbs of Pittsburgh.  I don't know how long they stay in the world before they choose to go back home for good. But it's not uncommon to see them.

I have a hispanic friend (who is also a christian rapper, a boxer, and a soon to be bible scholar....he just got his BA and was just accepted to a school for his masters) who teaches at a Mennonite highschool. He also goes to one of their churches. But he is with the more mainstream mennonites. My mother takes tripps to their community (both in Lancaster as well as in Ohio) almost every year.

David Bercot joined the Mennonites some years ago. And I know that there has been some cross polination between some Russian Old Believers and some Anabaptist groups.

But outside of that I really have no idea if they have modern converts or not.


I do love the Ahmish and admire them in many ways.......in some ways they remind me of monks and how some of them live.









ICXC NIKA

[jnorm888]

All I have to say to the prospect is:  The lack or limitation of modern technology...  the horror!

I live and work in Amish country (though a few years ago they built their own school, and now their children do not attend our public school anymore). It's an unfortunate misunderstanding that the Amish eschew technology. Actually, technology has nothing to do with their lifestyle. What they denounce is being dependent on "the world"--those outside their community. It is for that reason they will not subscribe to phone service or connect to a power grid; if they did, they would be dependent on the world for those services. Similarly, they do not buy manufactured goods made in "the world," such as automobiles, because they do not want to be dependent on that manufacturer. They can build their own buggies, and therefore that technology is acceptable.

It's not always acceptable. I recall reading an article in where their was an argument about something that the old order Mennonites built.....in some parts of PA, the old order Mennonite kids are allowed to play with Ahmish kids.....and in some places they live side by side.

But their was an argument about a trackter or buggy.....I forgot what it was, but the kids made tires for it and their was an argument about it because it made the tracker or buggy or whatever go too fast.

So they do argue about technology that even they make. To them, they need to know how something will affect their community at large and as a whole.







ICXC NIKA

[jnorm888]

^^...as long as there are no pneumatic tires involved. After all, such tires are satanic as per this verse:

Eph 2:2 Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience

The tires that these old order Mennonite kids/teens made didn't have air in it. And I think they put them on a tracker and it caused a ruckus in their community. There maybe an article about it somewhere online.








ICXC NIKA

[jnorm888]

Some of the Russian Old Believer practices reminded me a lot of the Amish/Mennonite ways.

Yeah, their relationship goes way back.....for centuries.








ICXC NIKA

[Rosehip]

Some of the Russian Old Believer practices reminded me a lot of the Amish/Mennonite ways.

Yeah, their relationship goes way back.....for centuries.







ICXC NIKA

Can you provide sources, please?

[jnorm888]

Some of the Russian Old Believer practices reminded me a lot of the Amish/Mennonite ways.

Yeah, their relationship goes way back.....for centuries.


ICXC NIKA

Can you provide sources, please?

I read a book about it....yeah it was biased.....but what book isn't? But I read it many years ago when I was still following Bercot's ministry.

The book was called "The Russians' Secret:

http://www.anabaptists.org/books/russians/

http://molokane.org/molokan/History/Russians_Secret/index.htm

Other than that, I really don't have any other sources. Sorry.









ICXC NIKA

[Andrew21091]

Some of the Russian Old Believer practices reminded me a lot of the Amish/Mennonite ways.

Very true. Especially among the priestless Old Believers in Russia. After the condemnation of Old Belief by the Russian Church in 1666, many Old Believers were put to death, so many fled to the wilderness and lived in isolation from the outside world.

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