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    Home » Everything Amish » Plain Culture

    An Amish Church

    Published: Aug 6, 2015 · Updated: Aug 6, 2015 by Kevin Williams | 1 Comment

    By Kevin Williams

    The vast majority of Amish, New Order and Old Order, worship in their homes.  The tradition dates back to Europe when the group was persecuted mercilessly for their beliefs and the religion had to go "underground", which meant worshipping in peoples' homes.  The custom has stuck even though persecution generally stopped when they arrived in the USA.  Still, there are a handful of Amish church districts in the USA, for varying reasons, that do worship in a church building.  Some, like in Unity, Maine, want to be more accommodating to outsiders interested in the Amish faith.  Others, like in Oakland, Maryland, have a church building to accommodate their large congregation.  In Oakland, Maryland 72 families worship.   That is about 3 times the size of an average Amish congregation.  A few years ago when a new church building was constructed on donated land in Oakland the bishop and some elders discussed dividing with the other half of the congregation attending the old church building but the bishop said "we've always been one, so we're not going to divide."

    Here are some photos of the Oakland Amish church, complete with a large outbuilding stable for horses and a row of hitching posts.  The grounds are kept immaculate by church members volunteering.

    The previous Oakland Amish church building which is now sparesly used.

    The previous Oakland Amish church building which is now sparesly used.

    Amish Church Building

    Amish Church Building

    pics 082

    A barn for horses to stay during services

    A barn for horses to stay during services

    Amish church from a side angle

    Amish church from a side angle

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    About Kevin Williams

    Hi, my name is Kevin Williams and I am owner of Oasis Newsfeatures and editor of The Amish Cook newspaper column.

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    Comments

    1. Sheila

      August 06, 2015 at 1:56 pm

      The first church pictured is the one I remember most when visiting Oakland for weddings or funerals.

      Reply

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    Kevin Williams - The Amish Editor Amish Cook Column

    Hi There, I'm Kevin!

    Welcome to Amish365, where I share my knowledge of Amish cooking and culture! I’ve spent almost three decades exploring Amish settlements and kitchens from Maine to Montana and almost everywhere in between. I’ll occasionally throw in stories of my travels, journalism adventures (I’m a Pulitzer prize-nominated journalist), fascination with grocery stores and Kmarts, and much more!

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