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301. __ It a special Amish tradition to place jars of celery on the wedding-meal tables at regular intervals so that the leaves of the celery for a flower-like arrangement. If you see that an Amish farmer is growing lots of
celery in his garden, it could be that his daughter is going to get married soon.
302. __ Wedding gifts are not usually given at the wedding reception (although some friends do give small gifts right after the wedding) but later when the bride and groom visit relatives. Typical gifts include kitchen items (dishes, pots, pans, storage containers, kitchen gadgets), canned food, tools (shovels, digging irons, hammers, screwdrivers, wrenches, wheelbarrows, rakes, buckets, kerosene lamps), and furniture...everything a couple needs to set up housekeeping.
303. __ Sometimes the newly married Amish couple give out candy bars as treats to the guests.
304. __ Throughout the day of an Amish wedding, snacks are placed on the table and people can snack all day long until the evening meal. Snacks like potato chips, raw celery, apples, cookies, and pudding are common.
305. __ The evening wedding meal is even larger than the noon meal. Typical food served at the evening meal include stewed chicken over homemade wafers, fried sweet potatoes, macaroni and cheese, peas, cold cut ham and cheese, pumpkin and lemon sponge cakes, and cookies.
306. __ At an Amish wedding meal, one often sees special wedding cakes that are placed before the bride and groom, three at a time. In the evening, six wedding cakes are actually eaten.
307. __ Ice cream is served as a special treat at the evening meal at weddings. Couples must eat from the same dish.
308. __ Silent prayers are said both before and after the midday wedding meal. A silent prayer is also said before the evening wedding meal. After the meal, however, Christian songs are sung from the Unpartheyisches Gesangbuch, a songbook containing songs that are a bit more fast and lively. All the songs are sung in German but the lyrics have nothing at all to do with the English melodies (which are borrowed from hymns like “What a Friend We Have in Jesus,” “Sweet Hour of Prayer,” “How Great Thou Art,” “Jesus, Saviour, Pilot Me,” and “Amazing Grace.” In other words, the Amish are not singing German versions of these English songs. They are just using the melodies. Even secular Christmas tunes are used!
309. __ The wedding day ends around 11:45 p.m. in some instances but often much later.
310. __ The day after the wedding, the newlywed couple must wash the the tablecloths, towels, and other laundry. All the benches and tables are removed from the house and the regular furniture put back in. The dishes and silverware (general community property kept in chests and used at every wedding) are cleaned and packed away. All this is done before a 9:00 breakfast.
311. __ Most Amish baptisms take place in September with a few done in August.
312. __ Those wishing to be baptized in the Amish church must attend nineteen instruction sessions that cover the eighteen articles of faith found in the1632 Confession of Dortrecht and the Ordnung (or regulations of the church).
313. __ The Amish confession of faith includes articles dealing with God and the creation, the fall of man, the restoration of man through the promise of the coming Christ, the advent of Christ into the world and the reason of his coming, the law of Christ (which is the Holy Gospel or New Testament), repentance and amendment of life, holy baptism, the office of teachers and ministers in the church, the Lord’s Supper, the washing of the saints’ feet, matrimony, the office of civil government, defense by force, the swearing of oaths, excommunication or expulsion from the church, the shunning of those expelled, and the resurrection of the dead and the Last Judgment.
314. __ Amish ministers do not actually prepare sermons ahead of time. They read the Bible a lot and, on the day of the church service, they speak in church from their hearts. They often draw parallels between the Old Testament and the New Testament.
315. __ The Amish prayer book is called the Christenpflicht (Christian Duty).
316. __ For Communion, the Amish have two deacons bring in a loaf of bread (wrapped in a white cloth) during the sermon and, after prayer is offered, the bread is cut it into long strips. The bishop takes a strip of bread, breaks it, and puts it in his mouth. He breaks off more pieces and gives the pieces to every ordained man there and then to all the laymen in the church and then to all the women in the church. They eat the bread as they are given it. When everyone has been served, everyone stands and a prayer is said. Then the wine is distributed in the same order, each person drinking from a common cup.
317. __ In Amish churches (in the house), the men sit on one side of the room and the women sit on the other side of the room.
318. __ In ordination (the process whereby ministers are chosen by the mish, all adult men are nominees if they receive at least two votes in a secret-ballot election in the church. A sermon taken from I Timothy, Chapter 3 is given on the topic of the qualifications of Christian ministers. The names of the men receiving two votes are called out. Let’s say that there are five men selected. Five hymn books are chosen and a white slip of paper is placed in one hymnal and rubberbands are put around the five books. On the slip of paper are the words taken from Acts 1:24: “And they prayed and said, ‘Thou, Lord which knows th hearts of all men, show whether of these two thou hast chosen.’” The place where the word “two” goes is left blank and the number of candidates was written into the blank. The books are then mixed up and placed upright on a table. The five men, sitting all together, go over to the table and select one book each. The bishop opens one book at a time. The man who has the book with the slip in it is chosen to become a minister. He often sobs and weeps because this is a solemn responsibility.
319. __ When a man has been chosen to become a minister, the bishop says to the man, “If you can accept this service, you may rise to your feet. I give you my hand; stand up.” The candidate stands up and the bishop places his hand on the man’s shoulder and says in German, “In the name of the Lord and the church is this ministry given you. You shall preach the Word of the Lord to the people, encourage and admonish them to the full extent of your ability. You shall be a servant for the church, you shall help to work with the ordinances of the Lord. You shall preach of the forefathers at the required times, and help to preach at funerals where it is fitting and you are asked to help. When anyone wishes to join church, you shall teach them the ordinances of God and the rules of the church until such time as they become members of the Church. Our Almighty God will strengthen you in this work with His good and Holy Spirit, for we ask it in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.”
320. __ After ordination (becoming a minister), the bishop kisses the minister and the other candidates kiss him as do all the ordained men in attendance and finally all the men of the church. The women of the church greet the new minister’s wife with holy kisses. They give the new minister words of encouragement and support.
Cont...
301. __ It a special Amish tradition to place jars of celery on the wedding-meal tables at regular intervals so that the leaves of the celery for a flower-like arrangement. If you see that an Amish farmer is growing lots of
celery in his garden, it could be that his daughter is going to get married soon.
302. __ Wedding gifts are not usually given at the wedding reception (although some friends do give small gifts right after the wedding) but later when the bride and groom visit relatives. Typical gifts include kitchen items (dishes, pots, pans, storage containers, kitchen gadgets), canned food, tools (shovels, digging irons, hammers, screwdrivers, wrenches, wheelbarrows, rakes, buckets, kerosene lamps), and furniture...everything a couple needs to set up housekeeping.
303. __ Sometimes the newly married Amish couple give out candy bars as treats to the guests.
304. __ Throughout the day of an Amish wedding, snacks are placed on the table and people can snack all day long until the evening meal. Snacks like potato chips, raw celery, apples, cookies, and pudding are common.
305. __ The evening wedding meal is even larger than the noon meal. Typical food served at the evening meal include stewed chicken over homemade wafers, fried sweet potatoes, macaroni and cheese, peas, cold cut ham and cheese, pumpkin and lemon sponge cakes, and cookies.
306. __ At an Amish wedding meal, one often sees special wedding cakes that are placed before the bride and groom, three at a time. In the evening, six wedding cakes are actually eaten.
307. __ Ice cream is served as a special treat at the evening meal at weddings. Couples must eat from the same dish.
308. __ Silent prayers are said both before and after the midday wedding meal. A silent prayer is also said before the evening wedding meal. After the meal, however, Christian songs are sung from the Unpartheyisches Gesangbuch, a songbook containing songs that are a bit more fast and lively. All the songs are sung in German but the lyrics have nothing at all to do with the English melodies (which are borrowed from hymns like “What a Friend We Have in Jesus,” “Sweet Hour of Prayer,” “How Great Thou Art,” “Jesus, Saviour, Pilot Me,” and “Amazing Grace.” In other words, the Amish are not singing German versions of these English songs. They are just using the melodies. Even secular Christmas tunes are used!
309. __ The wedding day ends around 11:45 p.m. in some instances but often much later.
310. __ The day after the wedding, the newlywed couple must wash the the tablecloths, towels, and other laundry. All the benches and tables are removed from the house and the regular furniture put back in. The dishes and silverware (general community property kept in chests and used at every wedding) are cleaned and packed away. All this is done before a 9:00 breakfast.
311. __ Most Amish baptisms take place in September with a few done in August.
312. __ Those wishing to be baptized in the Amish church must attend nineteen instruction sessions that cover the eighteen articles of faith found in the1632 Confession of Dortrecht and the Ordnung (or regulations of the church).
313. __ The Amish confession of faith includes articles dealing with God and the creation, the fall of man, the restoration of man through the promise of the coming Christ, the advent of Christ into the world and the reason of his coming, the law of Christ (which is the Holy Gospel or New Testament), repentance and amendment of life, holy baptism, the office of teachers and ministers in the church, the Lord’s Supper, the washing of the saints’ feet, matrimony, the office of civil government, defense by force, the swearing of oaths, excommunication or expulsion from the church, the shunning of those expelled, and the resurrection of the dead and the Last Judgment.
314. __ Amish ministers do not actually prepare sermons ahead of time. They read the Bible a lot and, on the day of the church service, they speak in church from their hearts. They often draw parallels between the Old Testament and the New Testament.
315. __ The Amish prayer book is called the Christenpflicht (Christian Duty).
316. __ For Communion, the Amish have two deacons bring in a loaf of bread (wrapped in a white cloth) during the sermon and, after prayer is offered, the bread is cut it into long strips. The bishop takes a strip of bread, breaks it, and puts it in his mouth. He breaks off more pieces and gives the pieces to every ordained man there and then to all the laymen in the church and then to all the women in the church. They eat the bread as they are given it. When everyone has been served, everyone stands and a prayer is said. Then the wine is distributed in the same order, each person drinking from a common cup.
317. __ In Amish churches (in the house), the men sit on one side of the room and the women sit on the other side of the room.
318. __ In ordination (the process whereby ministers are chosen by the mish, all adult men are nominees if they receive at least two votes in a secret-ballot election in the church. A sermon taken from I Timothy, Chapter 3 is given on the topic of the qualifications of Christian ministers. The names of the men receiving two votes are called out. Let’s say that there are five men selected. Five hymn books are chosen and a white slip of paper is placed in one hymnal and rubberbands are put around the five books. On the slip of paper are the words taken from Acts 1:24: “And they prayed and said, ‘Thou, Lord which knows th hearts of all men, show whether of these two thou hast chosen.’” The place where the word “two” goes is left blank and the number of candidates was written into the blank. The books are then mixed up and placed upright on a table. The five men, sitting all together, go over to the table and select one book each. The bishop opens one book at a time. The man who has the book with the slip in it is chosen to become a minister. He often sobs and weeps because this is a solemn responsibility.
319. __ When a man has been chosen to become a minister, the bishop says to the man, “If you can accept this service, you may rise to your feet. I give you my hand; stand up.” The candidate stands up and the bishop places his hand on the man’s shoulder and says in German, “In the name of the Lord and the church is this ministry given you. You shall preach the Word of the Lord to the people, encourage and admonish them to the full extent of your ability. You shall be a servant for the church, you shall help to work with the ordinances of the Lord. You shall preach of the forefathers at the required times, and help to preach at funerals where it is fitting and you are asked to help. When anyone wishes to join church, you shall teach them the ordinances of God and the rules of the church until such time as they become members of the Church. Our Almighty God will strengthen you in this work with His good and Holy Spirit, for we ask it in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.”
320. __ After ordination (becoming a minister), the bishop kisses the minister and the other candidates kiss him as do all the ordained men in attendance and finally all the men of the church. The women of the church greet the new minister’s wife with holy kisses. They give the new minister words of encouragement and support.
Cont...