Kauffman Amish Mennonite

The Kauffman Amish Mennonites, also called Sleeping

Preacher Churches or Tampico Amish Mennonite Churches,
are a plain, car-driving branch of the Amish Mennonites whose
tradition goes back to John D. Kauffman (1847–1913) and Noah
Troyer (1831–1886) who preached while being in a state of trance
and who were seen as "sleeping preachers".

In contrast to other Amish Mennonites they have retained their

identity over the last hundred years and also largely the
Pennsylvania German language and other Amish Mennonite Kauffman Amish Mennonite
traditions from the late 1800s. population per US state in 2010

In 2017 the Kauffman Amish Mennonites had some 2,000 baptized

members and lived mainly in Missouri and Arkansas.[1]

History

Early history

For the early history of the Amish Mennonites, see Amish: History.

The Amish division between 1862 and 1878

Mostly between 1862 and 1878 there were developments that divided the Amish into two major branches:
the Old Order Amish and the Amish Mennonites. The Old Order faction rejected change and wanted to
cling to the old teachings, whereas the Amish Mennonites embraced change.

During that time Dienerversammlungen (ministerial conferences) were held in Wayne County, Ohio, and
other places, concerning how the Amish should deal with the pressures of modern society. The meetings
themselves were a progressive idea, for bishops to assemble to discuss uniformity was an unprecedented
notion in the Amish church. By the first several meetings, the more traditionally minded bishops agreed to
boycott the conferences and then formed their congregations to become the Old Order Amish. The more
progressive branch, comprising approximately two-thirds of all Amish, drifted toward the Mennonite
mainstream over the next decades. They first retained the name Amish Mennonite but eventually dropped
the word Amish from their congregations and later united with the Mennonite Church and other Mennonite
denominations, especially in the early 20th century. The Tampico Amish Mennonites are the only Amish
Mennonites from the division between 1862 and 1878 who have retained their Amish Mennonite identity
until now.

The sleeping preacher

John D. Kauffman, who was member of an Amish Mennonite congregation, started to preach in June 1880,
but it took until 1907, when he and some of his followers moved from Elkhart County, Indiana, to Shelby
County, Illinois, to form their own congregation, Mt. Hermon Church. In the beginning they were without
bishop, but later bishop John R. Zook from Lawrence County, Pennsylvania, came and ordained Peter
Zimmerman as their bishop.[2] Against his will, but at the instruction of the Holy Spirit, Kauffman was also
ordained bishop in 1911.[3]

After the death of John D. Kauffman in 1913, Joseph Reber was ordained as the leader of the church in
1914 and in 1954 he was still in this position.[4]

Their first congregation, Mt. Hermon near Shelbyville, Illinois, assimilated into the Mennonite mainstream
over the years, but the Fairfield congregation in Tampico, Illinois, which broke away from the Mt. Hermon
church in 1933 and moved to Henry County, Illinois, in 1938 and to Tampico, Bureau County, Illinois, in
1944, preserved the old ways of the Kauffman Amish Mennonite, using German in its services and
emphasizing Kauffman's "Spirit preaching".[5][1]

The Kauffman Amish Mennonite later moved to other states, especially to Missouri where about half of
them live now and to Arkansas where about a quarter of them live now.[6]

Belief and practice

As descendants from the Amish, the Kauffman Amish Mennonites are an Anabaptist Christian group in the
tradition of the Radical Reformation of the early 16th century. In contrast to other Amish Mennonites they
have largely retained the Pennsylvania German language, which they also use for church service. The
Pennsylvania German language is seen as a "neat wall" against the evil influence of the "world".[7]

Sermons make frequent mention of Kauffman's teachings, referring to his statements as the preaching with
the words "The Spirit taught us . . ." According to Pius Hostetler, the followers of Kauffman saw his
preaching as "Spirit preaching", therefore regarded as an authoritative interpretation of the Bible and
binding upon his followers.[1]

The dress of the Kauffman Amish Mennonites is similar to the Beachy Amish in many respects although
the men normally wear longer beards, and lapel coats are with buttons instead of hooks and eyes.[8] In the
mid-1980s men still wore Amish-like beards, hats and suspenders while women wore head coverings,
bonnets, capes, aprons and black stockings.[9]

The practice of avoidance (German: Bann und Meidung) was supported by the spirit preaching of John
Kauffman. It is still practiced today but should be done in a spirit of love and according to Matthew 18:15-
17.[10]

Members and congregations

The vast majority of members are descending from followers of John Kauffman, thus of old Amish stock
with typical Amish names like Hostetler, Schwartzentruber, Kauffman, Blosser, Kropf and Schrock. The
percentage of members from a non-Mennonite background is relatively small but larger than in Old Order
Amish affiliations.[11]

Anabaptists make a distinction between baptized members and the total population that consists also of their
children and young people who live in the group without being baptized. The number of adherents or souls
also includes children and young people.
In 1938 the Tampico Amish Mennonites had one church, 17 households and
130 souls[12] and in 1957 the "Sleeping Preacher Churches" had six Kauffman Amish Mennonite
members by year
congregations with a total membership of 540,[1] but only the Fairfield
congregation, four miles south of Tampico, Illinois, which had 143 members Year Congre- Members
gations
in 1953, did not assimilate into the Mennonite mainstream.[13] In the mid
1990s the Tampico Amish Mennonites had eleven congregations with about 1953 1 143
900 church members. [14]
~1995 11 ~900

In 2008 they had 1,450 baptized members.[15] In 2010 the "Tampico Amish 2001 ? 1,222
Mennonite Churches" had 3,342 adherents, including children and young 2008 16 1,450
adults who are not yet baptized.[16] In 2017 there were 18 congregations
2017 18 2,011
with 2011 baptized members[17] and in 2014 they had 18 churches, 714
households and more than 3,500 souls, mainly living in Missouri and
Arkansas.[18]

Literature
John D. Kauffman and his followers inspired Julia Kauffman Amish Mennonite adherents by state and
Kasdorf to write her poetry book "Sleeping Preacher", year
which was published in 1992 and for which she won the
Souls Souls Souls
Agnes Lynch Starrett Poetry Prize.[22] State
in 2000[19] in 2010[20] in 2020[21]
Arkansas 433 883 1,034
Further reading Colorado 57 70 105

Pius Hostetler: The Life, Preaching, and Labors Kentucky - 109 ?

of John D. Kauffman, Shelbyville, Illinois, 1915. Illinois 504 378 388
(http://www.beachyam.org/librarybooks/Kauffm
an_Life.pdf) Iowa - 103 247
Jacob Christner: Kauffman's Sermons, Missouri 1,159 1,701 2,056
Tampico, Illinois: Tornado Print, no date, 24
Wisconsin 169 207 260
pages. (First edition, 1915; second edition,
1948). All states 2,322 3,342 4,090
Aarni Voipio: Sleeping Preachers: a Study in
Ecstatic Religiosity, Helsinki, 1951.
Harry H. Hiller: The Sleeping Preacher: An Historical Study of the Role of Charisma in
Amish Society (http://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1034&context
=pafolklifemag) in Pennsylvania Folklife 18 (Winter 1968/69), pages 19-31.
Don Yoder: Trance-Preaching in the United States (http://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/cgi/vie
wcontent.cgi?article=1034&context=pafolklifemag) in Pennsylvania Folklife 18 (Winter
1968/69), pages 12-18.
Phoebe A. Brubaker: Possession Trance and Plain Coats : The Lives, Times, and Trances
of Amish Mennonite "Sleeping" Preachers Noah Troyer and John D. Kauffman, 1878-1920,
manuscript at Goshen College, History Senior Seminar, 2003.
 Gary Eugene Blosser: 2016 Church Directory of the "Tampico" Amish-Mennonite Churches,
2016, 568 pages.

See also
Subgroups of Amish

References
1. Sleeping Preacher Churches (http://gameo.org/index.php?title=Sleeping_Preacher_Church
es) at Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online.
2. Pius Hostetler: The Life, Preaching, and Labors of John D. Kauffman, Shelbyville, Ill, 1915,
pages 7, 29-30. (http://www.beachyam.org/librarybooks/Kauffman_Life.pdf)
3. Harry H. Hiller: The Sleeping Preacher: An Historical Study of the Role of Charisma in
Amish Society (http://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1034&context
=pafolklifemag) in Pennsylvania Folklife 18 (Winter 1968/69), page 24.
4. Kauffman, John D. (1847-1913) at Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. (http://
gameo.org/index.php?title=Kauffman,_John_D._(1847-1913))
5. Fairfield Amish Mennonite Church (Tampico, Illinois, USA) (http://gameo.org/index.php?title
=Fairfield_Amish_Mennonite_Church_(Tampico,_Illinois,_USA)) at Global Anabaptist
Mennonite Encyclopedia Online.
6. Steven M. Nolt: A History of the Amish, Intercourse, Pennsylvania, 1992.
7. Edwin Blosser: History of Tampico Amish & Modern Technology – Part 1 at the Anabaptist
Identity Conference, February 15, 2014, minute 17:00-20. (http://www.anabaptistslive.org/?p
=549)
8. Dress (http://gameo.org/index.php?title=Dress) at Global Anabaptist Mennonite
Encyclopedia Online.
9. Stephen Scott: Why Do They Dress That Way? Intercourse, PA, 1986.
10. Edwin Blosser: History of Tampico Amish & Modern Technology – Part 1 at the Anabaptist
Identity Conference, February 15, 2014, minute 17:30-50. (http://www.anabaptistslive.org/?p
=549)
11. Edwin Blosser: History of Tampico Amish & Modern Technology – Part 1 at the Anabaptist
Identity Conference, February 15, 2014, minute 37:10-25. (http://www.anabaptistslive.org/?p
=549)
12. Edwin Blosser: History of Tampico Amish & Modern Technology – Part 1 at the Anabaptist
Identity Conference, February 15, 2014, minute 13:30-45. (http://www.anabaptistslive.org/?p
=549)
13. Harry H. Hiller: The Sleeping Preacher: An Historical Study of the Role of Charisma in
Amish Society (http://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1034&context
=pafolklifemag) in Pennsylvania Folklife 18 (Winter 1968/69), page 26.
14. Stephen Scott: An Introduction to Old Order: and Conservative Mennonite Groups,
Intercourse, PA 1996, page 196.
15. Donald B. Kraybill: Concise Encyclopedia of Amish, Brethren, Hutterites and Mennonites,
Baltimore, 2010, page 239.
16. Tampico Amish Mennonite States (2010) (http://www.thearda.com/ql2010/QL_S_2010_2_11
72c.asp) at the Association of Religion Data Archives.
17. Membership: Tampico Amish Mennonite Churches (https://www.mwc-cmm.org/mwc_map/co
untry/1228#) at Mennonite World Conference
18. Edwin Blosser: History of Tampico Amish & Modern Technology – Part 1 at the Anabaptist
Identity Conference, February 15, 2014, minute 13:30-45. (http://www.anabaptistslive.org/?p
=549)
19. Donald B. Kraybill and Nelson Hostetter: Anabaptist World USA, 2001, Scottdale, PA, and
Waterloo, ON, pages 147, 178, 180, 184, 192 and 207.
20. Tampico Amish Mennonite States (2010) (http://www.thearda.com/ql2010/QL_S_2010_2_11
72c.asp) at the Association of Religion Data Archives.
21. Tampico Amish Mennonite States (2020 (https://www.thearda.com/us-religion/group-profiles/
groups?D=797) at the Association of Religion Data Archives.
22. Penn State: The Department of English: Julia Spicher Kasdorf has published her third
collection of poems (http://english.la.psu.edu/faculty-spotlight/julia-spicher-kasdorf-has-publi
shed-her-third-collection-of-poems), retrieved 22 May, 2017.

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