The Amish is a small conservative Protestant group and an offshoot of the Anabaptist Mennonite Church. Approximately 383,000 of them live in Canada and the United States, mostly in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Indiana. The group first migrated to North America in 1720 and eventually disappeared from Europe.

The strict Old Order Amish Mennonite Church, to which most members belonged, was founded in 1693 in Switzerland by Jakob Ammann (c. 1645–c. 1730).

Ammann was a Swiss minister who insisted on strict discipline. Members were to avoid those under the ban of excommunication, even within the family. The members also resisted new technologies, an educated ministry, and denominational institutions.

Ammann incorporated foot washing into his worship sessions, following the pattern set by Jesus. In addition, members of the church were required to wear uniforms, refrain from attending state churches, and grow out their beards.

Amish settlements formed in Switzerland, Alsace, Germany, Russia, and Holland, and later in North America. Over time, they vanished from Europe. Tensions between conservative “old order” Amish and more liberal “new order” groups started to arise after 1850. While the “new order” Amish welcomed developments in technology and social change, the older order Amish did not.

The group founded small, closed agricultural settlements in North America. Among their many distinctive practices were their regular celebration of the Lord’s Supper, in which they washed each other’s feet, their avoidance of the excommunicated, and their simple clothing. When someone is accepted as a formal member of the church, typically between the ages of 17 and 20, they are baptized.

The Martyr’s Mirror is a book that documents Amish history and pays tribute to the numerous Amish, Mennonite, and Anabaptist predecessors who gave their lives for their faith. It is typically kept in a particular position in Amish households, next to the Bible. The national newspaper covering the numerous Amish and Mennonite communities is called The Budget, and it was founded in 1890. It is published in Ohio’s Sugarcreek.

Amish communities are split into autonomous congregations with 75 baptized members and church districts. There is an elder, two to four preachers, and a bishop in each district. Instead of having a physical church, members hold services in barns or each other’s homes. Food for the meal that follows and benches for the service are packed into the wagon that is pulled to the host’s property. There are no cooperating agencies, mission organizations, or general conferences.

An apparent sign of Amish identity is their dress code, which is that of seventeenth-century European peasants. It is a reflection of their resistance to change, respect for tradition, and understanding of scriptural prohibitions against following worldly conventions (e.g., Romans 12:2).

Men wear broad-brimmed black hats, dark-colored suits, straight-cut coats without lapels, suspenders, broadfall slacks, solid-colored shirts, black socks, and shoes. After marriage, men grow beards but are not allowed to grow moustaches.

Old Order Amish women and girls wear bonnets, long full dresses with capes over the shoulders, shawls, and black shoes and stockings; their capes and aprons are fastened with straight pins or snaps. Amish women never cut their hair, which is worn in a bun, and they are not allowed to wear jewelry of any kind.