Over the years, as Amish churches have divided many times over doctrinal disputes, subgroups have developed. The "Old Order Amish", a conservative faction that withdrew in the 1860s from fellowship with the wider body of Amish, are those that have most emphasized traditional practices and beliefs. There are many different subgroups of Amish with most belonging, in ascending order of conservatism, to the Beachy Amish, New Order, Old Order, or Swartzentruber Amish groups.
Amish affiliations Donald B. Kraybill, Karen M. Johnson-Weiner and Steven M. Nolt speak of different Amish "affiliations" in their book The Amish. They define an affiliation as "a cluster of two or more districts with at least twenty years of shared history". They continue: "affiliated congregations share similar Ordnungs, which specify distinctive lifestyles and visible symbols that set them apart from other affiliations". When referring to affiliations, Amish themselves speak of "our people" (unser Leit) and "our way" to do things. By 2012 there were more than 40 affiliations, with smaller subgroups within some affiliations counted, there were more than 65. In addition to that, there were more than 130 fairly independent congregations.
The majority of affiliations reflects mainly the different local Ordnungen (Orders) in different Amish settlements, e.g., Lancaster Amish, Elkhart-LaGrange Amish or Holmes Old Order Amish, even though there are also other differences. Other affiliations are the result of splits over major questions, such as shunning, and reflect Ordnungen that are either more conservative or more progressive than the Old Order mainstream. Examples for this are the Swartzentruber and Kenton Amish (very conservative), Andy Weaver Amish (conservative) and Michigan Amish Churches of Amish, which still use horse-drawn carriages, but are considered by many to be relatively liberal.
Amish convert and independent scholar Christopher Petrovich has challenged Kraybill, Johnson-Weiner, and Nolt's definitions of an affiliation on the grounds that their delineations of affiliations rest on somewhat arbitrary grounds, that they conflate the concept of a settlement and religious affiliation, that their imposition of a 20-year minimum of shared history to count as an affiliation is not only arbitrary but is inconsistently applied, and that their fragmenting of the Amish world into tiny factions not only ignores the reality of Amish religious relations but is useless to researchers looking for an ordinal scale of affiliations.
Petrovich proposes that Amish affiliations be sorted along the following variables: (1) Shared identity arising from historic breaches in fellowship (2) Disciplinary procedures (3) Technology allowances and prohibitions (4) Theological beliefs (5) Community practices
From these criteria, he identifies six Amish religious affiliations: (1) Swartzentruber (2) Kenton (3) Andy Weaver (4) Old Order-mainstream (5) New Order-traditional (6) New New Order
Kraybill et al.'s original scheme critiqued by Petrovich is provided in "Amish affiliations Ranked by Number and Church Districts, 2011":
Affiliation Date estab-lished Origin States Settle-ments Churchdistricts Lancaster 1760 Pennsylvania 8 37 291 Elkhart-LaGrange 1841 Indiana 3 9 177 Holmes Old Order 1808 Ohio 1 2 147 Buchanan/Medford 1914 Indiana 19 67 140 Geauga I 1886 Ohio 6 11 113 Swartzentruber 1913 Ohio 15 43 119 Geauga II 1962 Ohio 4 27 99 Swiss (Adams) 1850 Indiana 5 15 86 Troyer 1931 Ohio 6 17 53 Swiss (Allen) 1852 Indiana 7 17 46 Dover, Delaware 1915 Delaware 10 16 42 Andy Weaver/Dan 1955 Ohio 1 4 40 Nappanee, Indiana 1841 Indiana 1 1 37 New Order non-electric 1967 Ohio 7 13 35 Arthur, Illinois 1864 Illinois 2 4 31 New Wilmington, Pennsylvania 1847 Pennsylvania 2 6 28 Daviess 1868 Indiana 1 1 26 Kenton 1953 Indiana 6 13 25 Ashland 1954 Ohio 6 9 23 Jamesport/Bloomfield 1953 Missouri 3 5 20 Michigan-related 1970 Michigan 3 15 20 Nebraska 1881 Pennsylvania 2 5 19 Renno 1863 Pennsylvania 2 4 19 New Order-electric 1972 Pennsylvania 6 16 17 Fredericktown 1972 Ohio 2 4 15 Kalona, Iowa 1846 Iowa 1 3 13 Kansas/Oklahoma 1883 Kansas 3 6 12 Milverton, Ontario 1824 Ontario 1 4 12 Missouri/Illinois 1960 Missouri 2 9 11 Somerset 1772 Pennsylvania 3 6 10 Tobe Hostetler 1940 Ohio 1 4 10 Milroy/West Union 1969 Indiana 3 3 9 Guys Mills/Fredonia 1972 Pennsylvania 2 4 7 Aylmer 1953 Ontario 1 3 5 Byler 1849 Pennsylvania 2 1 5 New Order-Tobe 1967 Ohio 1 1 5 Abe Miller 1970 Tennessee 2 3 4 New Order Fellowship 1983 Ohio 3 4 4 Turbotville 1970 Pennsylvania 1 1 3 Kokomo 1848 Indiana 1 1 2 Subtotal n/a n/a 410 1,780 Unclassified n/a n/a 133 Total n/a n/a 1,913
Use of technology by different Old Order Amish affiliations
The table below indicates the use of certain technologies by different Amish affiliations. The use of cars is not allowed by all Old and New Order Amish, as well as radio, television and in most cases the use of the internet. The three affiliations: "Lancaster", "Holmes Old Order" and "Elkhart-LaGrange" are not only the three largest affiliations, they also represent the Old Order mainstream among the Amish. The most conservative affiliations are above, the most modern ones below. Technologies used by very few are on the left, the ones used by most are on the right. The percentage of all Amish, who use a technology is also indicated approximately.
Affiliation Tractor for fieldwork Rototiller Power lawn mower Propane gas Bulk milk tank Mechanical milker Mechanical refrigerator Pickup balers Inside flush toilet Running water bath tub Tractor for belt power Pneumatic tools Chain saw Pressurized lamps Motorized washing machines Percentage of use by all Amish 6 20 25 30 35 35 40 50 70 70 70 70 75 90 97 Swartzentruber Nebraska Swiss (Adams) Buchanan/Medford Milverton, Ontario Dover, Delaware Andy Weaver/Dan * Geauga I Aylmer Renno Holmes Old Order * Elkhart-LaGrange Lancaster Nappanee, Indiana Arthur, Illinois New Order Non-electric Somerset Kalona, Iowa "Amish Technology Use in Different Groups" at http://amishamerica.com * Natural gas allowed
Old Order Amish
Old Order Amish are the main group of Amish who resisted innovations both in society and in church work. A series of conferences held in the years from 1862 to 1878 resulted in a clearer separation between the conservatives who later became known as "Old Order Amish" and the progressives who then referred to themselves as "Amish Mennonites".
The Old Order Amish are distinguished from less conservative groups of Amish by their strict adherence to the practice of forbidding automobile ownership and their traditional manner of dress. The Old Order Amish is the concept many outsiders have when they think of "Amish".
In 1990, Old Order Amish settlements existed in 20 states in the United States and in one province in Canada. Membership was estimated at over 80,000 in almost 900 church districts. By 2002, there were over 1,200 districts. According to sociologist Julia Erickson, of Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the Amish are among the fastest-growing populations in the world. Old Order Amish groups include the Byler group, Nebraska Amish in Mifflin County, Pennsylvania, the Reno group, and the Swartzentruber Amish in Holmes County, Ohio.
Old Order Amish subscribe to the Dordrecht Confession of Faith, a Dutch Mennonite Confession of Faith adopted in 1632. Doctrinally they are similar to other Swiss Mennonites but show the influence of the Dutch Mennonites. They practice shunning of excommunicated members, and emphasize that a person can only hope to be saved and that it is a form of pride to claim the assurance of salvation. Feet washing is observed twice annually, in connection with the Communion. Non-resistance, including refusal of military service in any form, is a standard practice.
Almost all Old Order Amish do not build church houses but meet for service in private homes every other Sunday. Because of this, they are sometimes called "House Amish".
In the following, subgroups of Old Order Amish are listed from conservative to progressive:
Nebraska Amish
The Nebraska Amish are perhaps the most conservative group of Old Order Amish. They live mostly in Pennsylvania but they also have one small settlement in Ohio. Around 1880, Bishop Yost H. Yoder led nine families from Juniata County, Pennsylvania, to Gosper County in south-central Nebraska, founding an Old Order settlement that would last until 1904. Yoder went back to the Kishacoquillas Valley in Pennsylvania in 1881 to assist a conservative Amish group. Because bishop Yoder was living in Nebraska for some time the group was nicknamed the Nebraska Amish by others.
Like other Old Order Amish, the Nebraska Amish do not use motorized equipment or indoor plumbing and wear very conservative clothing. Differences include the fact that the men do not wear suspenders and the women do not wear bonnets (wearing black kerchiefs and flat straw hats instead). Other differences include the fact that they do not place screens on their doors or windows, men only wear white shirts, curtains are not used in homes, buggy tops must be white, men's hair must be shoulder length, no lawn mowers are allowed and houses must not have projecting roofs.
As of 2000, the Nebraska Amish had 14 districts, 775 members, a total population of 1,744 mostly in northeastern Mifflin County, Pennsylvania.
Swartzentruber Amish
The Swartzentruber Amish are an Old Order Amish group that is about as conservative as the Nebraska Amish but much more numerous and therefore much better known. They formed as the result of a division that occurred among the Amish of Holmes County, Ohio, in 1917. The bishop who broke away was Sam E. Yoder. The Swartzentruber name was applied later, named after bishop Samuel Swartzentruber who succeeded him. There are nineteen districts of Swartzentruber in Holmes County and Wayne County, where the subgroup originated. Now there are groups of Swartzentruber Amish settled in 15 other states, with the largest group in the U.S. located in the Holmes/Wayne County settlement.
Swartzentruber Amish speak Pennsylvania German, and are considered a subgroup of the Old Order Amish, although they do not fellowship or intermarry with more liberal Old Order Amish. Like some other Old Order groups, they avoid the use of electricity and indoor plumbing. Many other common devices and technologies are also disallowed for being too worldly, including buttons, Velcro and bicycles. Swartzentruber farms and yards are often unkempt. The Swartzentrubers discourage interest in outward appearance, as such an interest could promote vanity and pride. Their farms can be identified by dirt drives and surrounding roads, while most roads of the Old Order contain either gravel or paving to keep out the mud. The roofs of the houses and outbuildings are often made of tin. The clothing differs from that of the other Old Order Amish in subtle ways: all colors are dark and somber rather than the bright blues and mauves; more common is navy, dark burgundy, and even gray. The dresses of the women, rather than reaching mid-calf, usually reach to the top of the shoes. The tack on the horses and buggies is often all black, rather than brown leather.