Nuanced
Sunday worship; the Ordnung shapes rest practices without Sabbatarianism
The Amish worship on Sunday as the Lord's Day, with church services held every other week in rotating homes (not church buildings). Sunday is a day of rest, worship, and community fellowship. The Mosaic Sabbath commandment is not applied to Saturday, and Saturday Sabbatarianism is foreign to Amish tradition.
The Amish Ordnung shapes Sunday practices: secular work is avoided, and the day is devoted to worship and community. This creates a de facto Sabbath culture, though grounded in New Testament community practice and the Ordnung rather than in Mosaic law.
Key Distinctions
- Day observed:
- Sunday (first day of the week / Lord's Day)
- Observance theology:
- worship-focused gathering; not a strict legal rest
- Binding on christians:
- moral principle of rest honored; specific day fulfilled in Christ
Scripture References
Sources
- John A. Hostetler, Amish Society (4th ed., 1993)