Amish Church/ Autumn

A perfect fall day for Amish Church.

My wife and I were on our way to our non-denominational church for Sunday services when we passed this picturesque Amish farm. Their service had already started and the farm appeared quiet and still. There were horses standing tied in a long line with their tails swinging.

The horses can almost be seen in this pic. They were close to the white shed, which happens to be where the Amish church service was being held. If a person listened carefully, you could hear the slow, scooping Amish-style singing filling the air.

Slow-moving vehicle signs seemed to match the autumn leaves perfectly.

 Here is another angle of the iconic Amish farm dressed in Sunday's best autumn attire.

This scene reminded me of a chapter in English River: Book III of my Amish Horses Series. In this novel, Lenny and Leah, attend a fall wedding on an Amish farm. The bride's dress matched the leaves. Amish do not use white material for a dress, including wedding dresses.

If you are ever visiting an Amish community on a Sunday morning. Drive along the country roads until you see a yard full of buggies. It is a delightful surprise.

Church- 1921 or 2021?

Amish Church hasn't changed much in the past 100 years.

However, there are some changes. In 1921 the meeting would have been held inside the farmhouse. In this photo, taken on 7/18/21 the service is being held inside the white pole building just beyond the buggies.

If you notice, a strip of tin siding has been removed for the purpose of letting air move through the building. This is important for a crowd of people meeting on a hot July day in Iowa. Keep in mind, no air-conditioning, no fans. 

The gathering happens around 9:30. Buggies pull into the driveway and women and children are dropped off near the house. Dad or an older brother drives the buggy out to a green pasture and they unhitch the horse or horses. (Large families come in double buggies which have two rows of seats and require two horses to pull the larger load.)

The men gather in a circle near the barn or under a shade tree until it seems everyone has arrived. They head inside the building, single file, in order of age, eldest first. Once the men and boys have all been seated on the men's side. The women and girls begin to file in and take seats on the women's side in order of age.

 

Services will last until around noon. Everyone will file out in reverse order. The men will gather in their circle and visit quietly. Older boys will form a circle of their own and compare notes from last week's adventures on their own farms. Little boys might step inside the barn to look at a newborn calf or colt.

The women will help the host housewife bring out the meal into the pole barn which the young men have converted into a cafeteria after the morning service ended.

Everything is done in a very orderly and peaceful way. The men return inside and take seats for the meal. Plenty of pickles and cheese are likely. Homemade bread and with the Amish specialty Peanut Butter with Karo syrup mixed into a perfectly creamy consistency. After the meal, the men and older boys gather their family horses and hitch them to the buggy. They stop by and pick up the women and little children and return to their own farms for a quiet Sunday afternoon. Chore time will come soon.

Amish Gathering

Amish folks gather together often. If you live anywhere near an Amish community, these sights will be familiar.

Every Sunday morning multiple thousands of horses clip clop down roads around the countryside heading to Amish or Old Order Mennonite church.

That is not the only time they can be seen gathering...

For the most part, Amish people are very social. They gather for birthdays, holidays, school functions, reunions, weddings, and funerals. Funerals are huge! If you are Amish and you knew the person who died, you will most certainly make every effort to be at that funeral. Amish folks hire non-Amish drivers to transport them across the country to the funeral of a friend or relative, or for a family reunion, or a wedding.

Amish teens and young singles gather often for Singings, volleyball and other social events.

If you live close enough to the gathering, you will walk. That is much easier than hitching up a horse and it is pleasant as well. These gatherings all include food! After someone comes for a visit from miles away, in a horse-drawn vehicle, you wouldn't think of sending them away without having something to eat. 

Even the horses are often given some hay to much on while the people visit. (as pictured above)

Amish families often gather for work projects. They gather to help each other build barns and other huge tasks, but they also gather and work together on small jobs. Extended families often join forces on a butchering day. They help each other can food, make applesauce, apple-butter, cider and once it is all made, they gather just for the fun of it and share what they made together.

Most of the Amish I've had the pleasure to know cherish their friends and find a way to meet up for a visit. I will say, if you stop by the home of an Amish friend you'd better not be in a hurry to get somewhere, because most of them love to have a long conversation.

Amish Church

I recently had the opportunity to visit Amish church. Early in the morning we climbed into a buggy and set off down quiet country roads.


My Amish friend has a young family. He and his wife visited in the front while his little sons stood near my feet in the back and we watched their horse trot and beautiful scenery pass by.




These horses (pictured below) had the day off and enjoyed the pleasures of a mutual back scratching.

 If you ever visit an Amish church, prepare yourself for a peaceful treat. I will warn you in advance to quiet yourself and be ready to sit still for several hours. You can do it, their children do! Four part harmonies are sung very slowly. No, I mean slower than you can imagine if you have not been to an Amish service before. Let the sounds seep into your soul. Bible reading will be in German. Preaching will be in Pennsylvania Dutch. I happen to understand just enough Dutch to almost guess what was being said during both sermons. At one point the minister was moved to tears and even the small part I understood moved me to tears as well.

Men sit on one side, women on the other. Elders were facing us from a bench up front on one side. In front of the women, a row of little girls around 10 were facing us. I couldn't help but notice the little girl nearest the ministers. She sat quietly through both sermons and listened intently, watching the speaker with an angelic face. I couldn't and wouldn't take a picture, but when I got home I drew a sketch of the moment to help me remember it. Oh yes, and another wonderful treat, lunch after the service. My favorite part is the amazingly sweet, creamy, Amish peanut butter on homemade bread.

This is a shortened version of my experience with Amish church. If you want to really experience life on an Amish farm consider reading one of my novels. Amazon Link

Sunday Morning Drive

        Last Sunday morning we drove to Kalona to meet up with my parents, sister and family at the Kalona Family Restaurant for breakfast. It's so peaceful on Sunday mornings in our area. The roads are almost empty except for Amish buggies heading to Church.

        This intersection was especially busy! There are 10 Amish districts in the Kalona area, which means that Amish families are gathering at 10 seperate farms for Sunday morning church services. The districts have something to do with area because it's pretty far to take a horse more than 10 miles. 

        Amish families will visit a neighboring district if they choose to. Sometimes they visit another service because of something special going on, such as a relative being baptized.

         After we finished breakfast we drove past this farm. As you can see, buggies were parked everywhere. The horses are all tied in a barn. One of my favorite moments in life, was when I stepped into a barn full (and I mean full) of buggy horses at my first Amish church service. For a person that loves horses, it was an unforgettable sight!