I was invited by one of my customers to attend Amish church tomorrow. We're going to meet at the farm and buggy over to the neighbor's where it's being held this week.
Church is consistently held at 8, standard time, which these days means 9 am. I'm looking forward to the fellowship and food.
Amos' wife Barbie suggested Amish clothes. Maybe she'll have something ready when I get there.
My High German/PA Dutch training is almost nil, but I'll at least get three hours of exposure tomorrow. And hopefully another delicious piece of snitz pie.
So, how was church? My first Old Order Amish church service was 3 weeks ago and my behind was sore for a week from the 3 hours spent on a hard wooded bench without a back. I hope they gave you a chair!
It was similar to what you describe…luckily I got a seat on the bench next to the wall. I understood about 12 words but got clued in on the buggy ride home on the sermons' topics. People were friendly and I enjoyed talking with them afterwards. And the food of course. Even with the length and not being able to understand anything it was a great experience. Singing was particularly nice, I even hummed along a bit.
Where was the service you attended? That's great that you had the chance.
Hi, it was near Summerhill, NY. It is a small (13 families) new (started in ~2002) conservative (milk cows by hand) group. They are poorer than any Amish I have seen in PA, OH, or IN. The house only had particle board for siding and the interior "walls" were the brown paper backing of the insulation between the studs – no drywall and was filled with house flies and the school is an old house that has not been painted in ~50 years. The people were welcomeing and friendly – it helped that I am plain and have a farm background. They had me sit on the minister's bench facing everyone – not my idea! I understood none of the service, but I greatly enjoyed the singing style, the food and visiting afterwards.
Bruce thanks for sharing that, sounds like you had a very interesting experience…and sounds like your background helped with the connection…I don't know if this group you describe would have been as welcoming towards me–this past weekend as I stood in a row of Amish men wearing my suit, blue shirt and tie (amongst men wearing identical white shirts, hats and vests), I stood out like Waldo in a very, very easy 'Where's Waldo?' puzzle.