THE AMISH AND MENNONITE COMMUNITIES: On December 25, Amish and Mennonite communities celebrate as a family with special meals not unlike wedding dinners. On the 26th, they may visit with extended family, friends and relatives, to give gifts and celebrate the commercial side of the holiday.
Mennonites Christmas
They spend time truly celebrating the birth and life of Christ. Ultimately, the Mennonites place more importance in Good Friday and Easter, as they believe the death and resurrection of Christ created hope for eternal life.
Families also exchange some small gifts – and some send Christmas cards, often to their “English” friends. Christmas card making is a very popular tradition – adults & children make handmade “stamped” Christmas cards – some of them are now even sold in Amish stores.
Yes, the Amish definitely celebrate and recognize Christmas. Just like anyone else, Amish each have their own family traditions, meals and ways of celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ.
During the last 100 years, the church considered the consumption of alcohol to be a sin. But that “marker” is passing away. While a large majority of us—probably 75 percent by now—accepts some use, we honor those for whom the consumption of alcohol continues to be “always wrong.”
Many Mennonites stress the importance of missionary work, helping to spread their faith to over fifty countries around the world, while the Amish tend to focus their efforts closer to home, sharing information about ministries, services, testimonies, and opportunities to Amish and non-Amish (English) communities alike.
The doctrines of nonconformity to the world, church discipline, nonswearing of oaths, and nonresistance (a Mennonite teaching based on New Testament ethics that rejects both war and the use of coercive measures to maintain social order) are affirmed but not practiced universally.
The LGS Mennonites use funeral directors but carefully choose ones who are respectful of their traditions and beliefs. Some LGS Mennonite groups prefer to dig their own graves and lower the coffin by hand. After the service, a faspa or afternoon meal is shared by members of the deceased.
For the more modern Mennonites, dress is not an issue. The only standard is that women are encouraged to dress modestly, and persons interpret that differently. Women wear slacks and jeans as well as dresses. In the summer, you would find many wearing shorts.
Mennonites, unlike Mormons, don't wear undergarments designed to confer a special holy feeling.
The Mennonite church has adopted a more liberal stance towards technology, with many members utilizing modern conveniences such as electricity and cars. They also allow telephones and televisions in the home, although they're generally opposed to the internet.
Mennonites believe that God called for a day of rest, a day to reflect and worship. We set aside that day as a time of meeting together in worship and teaching from the Bible, and often we gather with our families and/or church families to spend time together.
Mennonites also believe that the core values of living a good life before the eyes of God are modesty, simplicity, and practicality. Hence, though they also have firm beliefs, they try to remain practical. The traditional Mennonite ways would not allow Mennonite couples to wear wedding rings.
Unlike the Amish, Mennonites are not prohibited from using motorized vehicles. In addition, Mennonites are also allowed to use electricity and telephones in their homes. When it comes to their beliefs, the Amish and Mennonite faiths are very similar. The differences lie mainly in the outward practice of those beliefs.
The Amish and Mennonites believe that it is a Biblical command for women to cover their heads while praying. And we must always be ready to pray, therefore they wear a prayer covering all the time. They believe that a woman having her head covered is a sign that she is in submission to her husband.
Some of the important characteristics of the Mennonite faith are strict pacifism, a plain lifestyle, shunning oaths, and commitment to social justice. The Amish are often mistaken for Mennonites. They are a distinct group that broke away from the Mennonites in the late 17th century.
Many Mennonites are farmers, and traditionally their diets rely heavily on meat, eggs, dairy and seasonal produce.
7:10, 11 The Lord's command through Paul: no divorce, no separation. But if separation does occur, then no remarriage. Either the individuals must remain unmarried or else be reconciled.
In Australia, there are Nationwide Fellowship Mennonite congregations in Deloraine, Tasmania and also in Canowindra, New South Wales (Lachlan Valley Mennonite Church).
Mennonites do not have any dietary restrictions as exist in some other religious groups. Some conservative Mennonites abstain from alcohol, but other Mennonites do not, with Mennonite distilleries existing as early as the late 16th century.
The 1963 Mennonite Confession of Faith stated that marriage should be a monogamous, heterosexual lifetime commitment. The Christian home should have regular family worship.
A family leaves behind the trappings of the 21st century to lead a simple, self-sufficient and pious life in rural Tasmania.
You may know that Pennsylvania German, also known as Pennsylvania Dutch (PD), is the primary language of most Amish and conservative Mennonite communities living in the United States today.
The Markham-Waterloo Mennonites, although still dressing in the traditional style, allow car ownership and telephones. Their more progressive attitudes toward technology led to tensions and a split from the Old Order Mennonites. Today, they cautiously use cell phones and computers, but not televisions or radios.