Beachy Amish

Beachy Amish

The Beachy Amish are a Christian Anabaptist group that are known as Amish Mennonites. They attend weekly services at a local Beachy Amish church, while Old Order & New Order Amish attend services once every other week at different houses, where their sermon is preached. The Beachy Amish live with the Old Order & New Order Amish, as many other Mennonites do. They are also allowed to have simple electricity such as alarm clocks. They are permitted to have mirrors also. The Beachy Amish, unlike the Mennonites, who can wear many different colors and floral patterns, follow the same dress code of the Old Order Amish. The Beachy Amish is yet another form of the Amish lifestyle.

The Beachy Amish Mennonite Churches separated from the stricter Old Order Amish. This separation began in 1927 in Somerset County, Pennsylvania under the leadership of Bishop Moses M. Beachy. Beachy favored a milder discipline than the Old Order. Until the 1950s, they resembled the Old Order from whence they came, but accepting some adaptations in technology and discipline. The Beachy Amish now have church buildings, Sunday Schools, a Bible School, and support missionary work, none of which the Old Order allow. With these innovations, they have come to resemble more closely the conservative Mennonite and Brethren groups rather than the Old Order Amish. In 1997 there were 7853 members in 114 churches, mostly in Pennsylvania and Ohio.

Reference

Handbook of Denominations in the United States, by Frank S. Mead, et al.