From: The Encyclopedia of Canada's Peoples/Amish/Orland Gingerich
Amish life has traditionally centred around the church, a term that refers not only to religious activities but also to the community of believers. The basic tenets of the Amish are in line with mainstream Christianity. Their distinctiveness consists primarily in a practical application of the New Testament and the teachings of Jesus to everyday life. Adult baptism, voluntary church membership, and pacifism are fundamental beliefs. Church organization has customarily consisted of a threefold leadership: deacons, ministers, and bishops. Each congregation has a bishop, who functions as the chief administrator. Ministers are responsible for preaching and deacons for charity and other congregational duties. Leaders are chosen by members of the congregation and, if necessary, by lot. The Amish have a lay ministry, which serves without seminary training or salary.
In Europe, Amish worship had been conducted in homes or barns because of the frequent need to relocate as a result of persecution and because of the emphasis on the church as the people, not the building. By 1886, however, all five Amish congregations in Ontario had built meeting-houses; these were in a simple style of architecture without religious symbols. However, among congregations in Wellesley and Mornington townships, some individuals objected to the use of meeting-houses and continued to worship in homes. They met as one congregation until the early 1890s, when they formed several separate congregations with the help of Amish bishops from Holmes County, Ohio. Subsequently, these people were referred to as Holmsers and ultimately as Old Order Amish. They continue to follow a traditional form of worship and lifestyle and to avoid the use of modern technology. Old Order congregations still worship in the German language, and hymns from the Ausbund, a hymnal dating back to the sixteenth century, are sung in a chant style. Early in the twentieth century, a further split occurred when the Nafziger congregation in Mornington (1903) and the Lichti congregation in Wellesley (1911) were formed.
For the Amish community, the local congregation has always formed the focus and inter-congregational contacts have generally been informal. One exception is the Amisch Mennoniten Brandvereins, or Amish Fire and Storm Aid Society (later Amish Fire and Storm Aid Union), formed in 1872. Some Amish had insured their buildings as early as the 1840s and 1850s with commercial companies; however, because of opposition within the group to this practice, they decided to form their own insurance plan. Each congregation provides a representative or director. At a yearly meeting these representatives elect an executive committee, the secretary of which also serves as treasurer (although the representatives are responsible for collecting funds in their own congregations). The union is a non-profit organization, there is no head office, and the secretary-treasurer serves part-time for a small honorarium. All the Amish from the most traditional to the most acculturated continue to participate in this organization, a phenomenon unknown among Amish elsewhere in North America.
No other formal organization existed among the Amish congregations in Ontario prior to 1923, but in that year the five original congregations formed the Ontario Amish Mennonite Conference. The conference had no authority over congregations since local autonomy was jealously guarded. Yearly meetings were devoted primarily to the discussion of matters of common concern. In 1956 the conference received its first official charter, and in 1963 it renamed itself the Western Ontario Mennonite Conference and adopted a new pattern of ministry, followed by a new constitution in 1970. As a result of changes implemented in the 1960s, the conference Amish, in contrast to Old Order Amish, adopted a typical Protestant form of church leadership and government, with church councils, elders, and pastors, but the emphasis on the congregation was maintained. A number of congregations have ordained women, most of whom are seminary-trained, as pastors. Worship in conference congregations is conducted in English. In 1988 the Amish conference integrated with two Mennonite groups to form the Mennonite Conference of Eastern Canada.
In the past, a belief in pacifism was expressed primarily by non-participation in the armed forces. All Amish groups continue their opposition to military service, but their concern for humanity has taken on broader dimensions, primarily through the Mennonite Central Committee (Ontario). Participation by Old Order groups is usually limited to financial contributions, although they are active in the Mennonite Disaster Service, a North America–wide organization that responds to calamities such as fires and tornadoes. Conference Amish are also involved in prison ministries and civil mediation work.
