Quote:
Originally Posted by whoami
I think you have a point. I'm thinking more of the retention of children born into the religion, rather than the number of children born into the religion. It appears to me (from my location here in the shadow of the Mother Ship (lol Hazelwood) that the retention of children born and raised Apostolic is much lower than that of the Amish.
Something from my personal experience, I live right next to a horse and buggy Amish community and growing up Apostolic I always felt a bit slighted in that my parents and church seemed to get more excited about new converts than us kids that were being raised in the church. I realize that wasn't your point specifically, just a memory this brought up for me. I remember thinking that my Amish friends parents were more focused on teaching and interacting with their children and my parents were all about participating in outreach programs for "the lost". Since I was homeschooled (except for a few years at a private Apostolic school), I had more interaction with the Amish kids then with "worldly" kids or even the Apostolic kids, because most of them went to public schools.
Not saying that all Apostolic parents are like that or even that all Amish parents are like that..
Another thing that I think is VERY key in the Amish retention rate vs. Apostolic retention rate (of children raised in the faith) is the way some Amish communities allow their children to experiment and make their own decision. (Yes, I realize that not all Amish communities practice rumspringa, but the one I live near does. Although they don't do it in the way depicted by Devil's Playground. LOL) When my Amish friends turned 16, some bought cars, went out in "worldly" clothes, etc. Their parents worried about them and prayed for them but didn't push them towards a decision. Most decided mainstream life was too stressful and officially joined the Amish church. When I turned 16 and sat down with my parents and told them I wanted to wear modest pants and didn't agree with the standards, they said as long as you live under our roof you'll be Pentecostal - standards and all! I left a few months later and never went back.
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Well, it's hard to "retain" children we don't have though, eh?
You seem to have a pretty good grasp of Amish life, Whoami. I was Old Order Mennonite but very much like the Amish. You are correct, rumspringa as practiced by us and most Amish too, is not at all like the Devil's Playground portrayed it.
PS nice to meetcha! If you care to divulge who whoami is PM me!
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