General Library and Archives

1. Dress Is a Language

2. Religious Basis for Plain Clothing

3. Where Did the Plain Pattern Come From?

4. The Faithful Few

5. Change: A Case Study from the Mennonite Church

6. Who Else Dresses Plain?

7. Common Objections to Plain Dress

8. My Path to Plainness

9. Will Plain Dress Survive?

10. General Clothing Details

11. Women’s Clothing

12. Men’s Clothing

13. Plain Dress in Detail

 

Pages: 160

Publisher: Good Books

Year: 1997

Introducing the Amish in America

1. The Amish in America: An Overview

2. Era of Consolidation, 1800-50

 

Amish Church Polity, Beliefs, and Discipline

3. The Amish Congregation and the Structure of the Ministry

4. Nineteenth-Century Amish Beliefs and Lifestyle

The Amish View of Christ and his Church

3. “Keeping House”: Banning and Shunning

 

The Great Schism

7. The Coming of the Great Schism, 1848-62

8. The Diener Versammlungen, 1862-65

9. Point of No Return, 1865

10. The Annual Conferences of 1866-78

 

Amish, Amish Mennonites, and Mennonites

11. Amish Mennonites

12. Toward union with the Mennonite Church

13. Old Order Amish

 

Pages: 359

Publisher: Herald Press

Year: 1991

Table of Contents

 

 

 

The Beachy Amish
Mennonite Fellowship Churches

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

    Elmer S. Yoder

1. Stepping Across Fifteen Hundred Years

2. The Religious Reformation and the Anabaptists

3. The Division of 1693-1711

4. The Amish in the Americas

5. The Meidung Controversy

6. The Beachy Amish Churches Emerge and Consolidate

7. Organization and Ministerial Body

8. Congregational and Community Life

9. Inter-Mennonite and Parachuch

10. The Congregations

11. Introducing the Ministers

12. Retrospect and Prospect

 

Pages: 444

Publisher: Diakonia Ministries

Year: 1987

By Daniel Kauffman

 

Doctrines of the Bible was published in 1928, at a time of conservatism among Mennonite churches. Today, the book is used as a reference guide by many conservative Mennonites and Beachy Amish-Mennonites. The book is recommended for those interested in an overview of what plain Anabaptists generally believe and the Bible references for why.

Part I-The Doctrine of God

1. God-His Being and Attributes

2. God-His Works

3. The Trinity

4. God the Father

5. God the Son

6. God the Holy Ghost

Part II-The Doctrine of Man

1. Man

2. Man-Historical Sketch

3. Man in His Fallen State

4. Man Redeemed

5. Death

Part III– God and Man

1. Man’s Fall-God’s Redemptive Grace

2. Revelation

3. The Bible

4. The Home

5. The Church

6. The Day of Rest and Worship

7. Angels

Part IV-The Realms of Darkness

1. Satan

2. Satan-His Dominions

3. Sin

4. Unbelief

3. Obedience

4. Worship

5. Self-denial

6. Nonconformity to the World

7. Nonresistance

8. Swearing Oaths

9. Secret Societies

10. Life Insurance

11. Love

12. Purity

13. Humility

14. The Christian’s Hope

Part VIII– The Doctrines of the Future

1. The Second Coming of Christ

2. The Resurrection

3. The Judgment

4. Hell

5. Heaven

Subject Index

 

Pages: 639 (hardcover)

Publisher: Herald Press

Year: Originally published 1928

Table of Contents

Part V-God’s Plan for Salvation

1. The Atonement

2. Redemption

3. Faith

4. Repentance

5. Justification

6. Conversion

7. Regeneration

8. Adoption

9. Sanctification

Part VI-The Doctrine of the Church

1. The Christian Church

2. The Ministry

3. The Congregation

4. Christian Ordinances

5. Baptism

6. The Communion

7. Feet Washing

8. The Devotional Covering

9. The Christian Salutation

10. Anointing with Oil

11. Marriage

Part VII-Christian Life

1. Christian Service

2. Prayer

The Beachy Amish-Mennonite

Fellowship Churches

by Elmer S. Yoder

 

Written for the Beachy Amish-Mennonite's sixtieth anniversary, this was the first comprehensive Beachy book  at its publication (1987). The book is rudimentary in appearance, but contains a wealth of information about the Beachys, including a complete history of most congregations and an index of ordained men. Its strength is its comprehensive overview of early Beachy history. The book also discussions institutions, social patterns, strange events and stories, and monumental moments in church’s history.

 

 

 

 

Table of Contents

Mennonites in Texas:

The Quiet in the Land

 

By Susan Gaetz Duarte

 

What started out as an interest in family history turned into a masters thesis in photography. About a decade after completion, Gaetz Duarte published much of her work in Mennonites in Texas, a visually-stimulating account of a Texan Beachy A.M. congregation. The photographs of the community are beautiful, and the accompanying text includes a concise summary of Beachy A.M. history, practice, and thought. The first half of the book includes a photo essay of an Old Colony Mennonite settlement in western Texas, written and photographed by Camden.

 

Pages: 123 (hardcover)

Publisher: Texas A&M University Press

Year: 2006

Doctrines of the Bible

An Introduction to Old Order and

Conservative Mennonite Groups

 

by Stephen Scott

 

Beachy Amish-Mennonites are similar in belief and practice to many of the conservative Mennonites, albeit with Amish roots. This book details the beliefs, culture, and daily life of a variety of the Beachy A.M.’s closely related kin: the Old Order and conservative Mennonites. A useful compass for those seeking to understand and navigate the many subgroups of plain Anabaptists.

 

Table of Contents

Why Do They Dress That Way?

 

by Stephen Scott

 

This is the most comprehensive and detailed account of plain dress among conservative Anabaptist groups. The book addresses why plain Anabaptists wear distinctive dress, what different groups wear, and how plain dress developed. There are several topical chapters of interest: one provides rebuttals for common objections to plain dress, another is a case study of a Mennonite group that abandoned plain dress, and a third chapter is the author’s testimony as to how and why he came to adopt plain dress. The book is well cited, authoritative, and friendly to a variety of audiences. Highly recommended.

 

Table of Contents

Tradition & Transition:

Amish-Mennonites and Old Order Amish 1800-1900

 

By Paton Yoder

 

The Beachy Amish-Mennonites are but one branch of Amish-Mennonite. This book describes the emergence of the Amish-Mennonites as a movement separate from the Old Order Amish, beginning in the 1860s. While not part of this original Amish-Mennonite movement (which claimed a majority of the Amish at that time), the Beachy type of Amish-Mennonites would emerge in the 1900s after many Amish-Mennonite conferences dropped the word “Amish” and merged with the Mennonites. Today, the Beachys are the largest group of Amish-Mennonites, but also only one of the few Amish-Mennonite groups remaining.

The Amish-Mennonites of North America

(Vol. 1: A-M Heritage Series)

 

by Cory Anderson

  

Hardcover, 304pp., 2012

 

From Florida to California, from five members to 263, from German in services to English, and from suspenders and broadfall pants to T-shirts and blue jeans, the Amish-Mennonites of North America are one of the most diverse and dispersed Anabaptist groups today. Originally “Amish with cars,” the Amish-Mennonites have followed many paths in the over 100 years since the first churches that now inhabit this movement originated. This book is a grand-scale portrait of the Amish-Mennonites.

—It features places: over 200 meetinghouse photographs, each with an accompanying profile. Detailed maps orient the reader and track church origins.

—It features people: over 50 church pages include a picture of the real “church,” the people. Charts and graphs from a 2012 census illuminate population trends.

—It features our past: a thorough, yet concise, essay about the Amish-Mennonite origins and development makes clear a history that will be intriguing to the lifetime members and young alike.

 

The Amish-Mennonites of North America is a landmark work that the entire family will enjoy.

Section One: The Old Order Mennonites

1. The Beginnings of the Old Order Mennonite Movement

2. Traveling Slowly in the Straight and Narrow Way: The Horse-and-Buggy Old Order Mennonites

3. Traveling More Rapidly in the Straight and Narrow Way: The Automobile Old Order Mennonites

4. An Old Road with Many Branches: Stauffer Mennonites

5. The First Keepers of the Old Way: The Reformed Mennonites

Section Two: The Conservative Mennonites

6. The Conservative Mennonite Conference

7. Blending the New and the Old

8. The Growing Conservative Mennonite Movement

9. The Conservative Way

The Ornament of a Spirit:

The Reasons Covering Styles Change

 

by Cory Anderson

 

This book addresses the Bible teaching about the head covering (1 Cor. 11) and offers observations about current changes in covering styles among plain Anabaptists. From the back cover:

 

The Christian woman's head covering is one of the defining doctrines of the conservative Anabaptist church. Some groups, such as the Amish, have remained consistent in their application of this doctrine from one generation to the next. Others, including many Mennonite and Amish Mennonite groups, have changed styles, often allowing the covering to become smaller, more transparent, or more stylish. 

 

Why do Christian women cover their heads? 

The opening chapters of this book provide basic teachings on the covering, explaining and defending the reasons for wearing it. 

 

Why all the fuss about covering styles?

For those who already understand the doctrine and have a strong conviction for the covering, the bulk of the book explores the symbolic meaning behind different covering styles and probes the underlying motives behind style changes. Readers will find their convictions strengthened as they understand the historical significance of the traditional Anabaptist covering with its hundreds of years of symbolism.

 

Second ed., pgs. 164, s/c.

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The Amish-Mennonites across the Globe

(Vol. 2: A-M Heritage Series)

 

by Cory and Jennifer Anderson

  

Hardcover, 326pp., 2019

 

What does a North American system of religious separatism look like in a global context? The answers can be found in 19 countries across the globe, where Amish-Mennonites have been planting churches since 1961. This book provides a window into the lives and cultures of international converts and transplants, hours of interest for children, a chance to ponder some of the complexities of starting churches, geography and cultural lessons, and over 50 questions for the aspiring missionary The Amish-Mennonites across the Globe is a great global excursion for the young and old alike.

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Overcoming Evil God’s Way

 

By Stephen Russell

 

We live in a world wracked by violence and despair. Does that mean that every act of violence must be met with an equal or greater counterblow? Overcoming Evil God’s Way asserts that the biblical message offers hope of repentance, forgiveness, and reconciliation in place of hatred, vengeance, and fear. This book looks at both the historical and the biblical evidence for the nonresistant lifestyle of Christians.

 

Why do Christians disagree among themselves about war?

What is the overarching narrative of the Bible, and what does it have to say about peace?

What is the Christian's right and just battle?

What is the biblical model for the Christian life?

How have platonism and Islamic thought weakened the church's grasp on nonresistance?

What place does the gospel of peace have in winning Muslims and others who have discounted the Christian message, life, and community?

 

Russell is a member of a Beachy Amish-Mennonite church and teaches at Faith Builders Educational Programs.

 

 $11.99 + shipping.

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Fitted to Holiness

How Modesty Is Achieved and Compromised among the Plain People

 

by Cory and Jennifer Anderson

 

Fashion designers know the impact of clothing. They study it, they make a living off of it, and they know how to design immodesty, well. Can plain people apply these same concepts to understand how modesty is achieved and when it is compromised? This volume, which packs in a tremendous amount of research, nurtures an appreciation for that single practice identifying the plain churches’ convictions most clearly: dress. It will help the reader appreciate both God’s mandate for holiness in dress and the many subtle—and not-so-subtle—ways it is under attack today.

Hardcover, 410pp, 2019

 

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