Ordnung
This definition of Ordnung has been adapted and revised for our purposes by Michael Bunker from the definition found at Wikipedia:
Ordnung are the community rules of life and living, and the concept is derived from the Amish communities. It is the German word for order,
arrangement, organization, system. Every church is its own governing
authority and has its own set of rules; therefore, it followsits own Ordnung. Their lives are ordered by this code.
Because Christian-Agrarian communities have no central church
government, each community administers their own guidelines. Like in
the family, the rules that govern the community are largely unwritten
because the group desires to emphasize the "spirit" and not the
"letter" of the law. Everyone knows the rules and is expected to live
by them, not try to avoid them or play "lawyer ball" with them. The
'plain' folks, believe in an literal interpretation of the Bible and
the Ordnung is meant to make sure that members of the church live life
following the Word of God. The Ordnung also contains behavioral rules.
A person is expected to live a simple life devoted to God, family and
community according to God's laws. Once a rule has beenadopted, it is nearly impossible to have it rescinded or changed.
Some of the most common rules are: separation from the world, hard
work, a woman's submission to her husband, mode of dress, and many
more. Some of the rules may be very general, and others may be very
specific, to the point of directing the limits of color and size of the
man's hat band. Outsiders often think of restrictions, i.e. no
electrical power lines, no telephone in the home, or no grid
"utilities", however many of their guidelines are for guarding a
person's character. The attempt is to prevent pride, envy, vanity,
laziness, dishonesty, etc. Quite often the ordnung is misunderstood by
outsiders because they do not know the reasons behind the rule, or the
situation, conversations, discussions, or effects that eventuated in
the rule.
The foundations of the Christian Agrarian life are an unassuming
character, the love of friends and family, respect for the community,
and separation from the rest of the world. The ordnung defines who we
are. This code's purpose is to guide the behavior of the church's
membership into Christ-likeness. Disobedience of these integral
lifestyle regulations are punished by disciplinary actions initiated by
the church leaders. Shunning (Meidung) is one of the most severeactions that can be meted out.
An Amish minister says of the Ordnung:
"A respected Ordnung generates peace, love, contentment, equality,
and unity. It creates a desire for togetherness and fellowship. It
binds marriages, it strengthens family ties to live together, to work
together, to worship together and to commune secluded from the world."Donald B. Kraybill, The Riddle of Amish Culture, p.98
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