Unfinished wooden benches. I was always thankful for the backs, instead of the backless benches most Amish use.
Arriving at church Mom and I went inside while Daddy and the boys went out to the barn with the rest of the menfolk until it was time for services to begin. Once everyone had filed in and was seated at their regular spot, men on the right, women on the left, boys on the first four benches in the middle and the girls on the three remaining benches it was time for services to begin.
Two or three slow church songs were sung (taking up to 20 minutes per song) while the ministers went into a little room to pray and discuss what ever it was they were supposed to. Next came the preaching of two sermons and a scripture reading, and then the 15 minute prayer where I tried to keep my knees from creaking. Another slow song and church was over and we could visit with our friends until it was time to go home.
Thank you for this glimpse into he procedures that are followed in church. A far cry from most churches of today isn't it? And to think that people complain if services go one minute past the alloyed one hour sometimes!
ReplyDeleteBlessings,
Betsy
Amazing to see how much time Amish puts into their worship services. Separated by gender too. Hard to wrap our head around this lifestyle as what we have outside of their beliefs.
ReplyDeleteSo I guess the church is only open a few hours every other week. It is not open for anything else? Do weddings take place only on Sundays that there is church?
ReplyDeleteThank you for this glimpse into Amish worship. I wonder if our churches here could cope with hard wooden seats and long songs!
ReplyDeleteWow. 20 minute songs? That would make for a looong service. I'm impressed by the stamina required LOL
ReplyDeleteInteresting. When I think about the things some people complain about, they would never make it through a service like that!
ReplyDeleteI was wondering the same thing as Court Culver. It's hard to imagine the church being shuttered and locked for two weeks at a time. Our little church has something going on all the time.
ReplyDeleteBlessings,
Linda
20 minutes per song? And we think songs that last more than 3 minutes are long! :) Thanks for insight into an Amish Sunday service.
ReplyDeleteIt makes sense to me that you call it a meeting house. That's what we call them too in Quakerism, and your pictures look very familiar, though I think most of the benches I've seen have been rubbed with tung oil or linseed oil (or maybe it's just 100 years of hands rubbing them). Some of our older meeting houses still have a hip-height wall between the men's side and the women's side, though--at least in the liberal branch of Quakerism--we sit mixed nowadays.
ReplyDeleteDo you have two separate doors for entering the men's side and the women's side too?
The only time the church is open other than every two weeks for church is if there is a wedding or funeral.
ReplyDeleteMen enter the door at the back of the meeting house, women enter the two doors by the front porch.
Thanks for opening your world to us. Interesting the sexes are divided, although I'm not surprised. Has anything changed in the church today, or do they strictly follow old tradition?
ReplyDeleteShells–Tales–Sails