How Amish Subgroups Differ — Swartzentruber, Beachy, Old Order, and Mennonite Funerals

"Amish" Is Not One Thing

Outsiders often talk about "the Amish" as if they're a single group with uniform practices. In reality, the Amish and closely related Mennonite communities span a wide spectrum of conservatism, and funeral customs vary accordingly. The subgroup your family belongs to determines nearly every detail — what the body wears, who prepares it, whether the casket has already been built, and how the notification reaches distant relatives.

Getting the subgroup wrong during funeral planning doesn't just create awkwardness. It can cause genuine distress to grieving elders who see their most sacred customs mishandled.

Swartzentruber Amish — The Most Conservative

The Swartzentruber Amish are the most traditional Amish subgroup. Their funeral customs reflect this:

Notification: Face-to-face horse-and-buggy messengers only. No phone shacks, no voicemail, no "English" drivers sent to notify distant relatives. The notification process is slower and more deliberate than in other Amish groups.

Casket: Swartzentruber communities practice a unique custom — married couples purchase their handmade pine caskets, each sold with a matching rocking chair, when they reach approximately age 60. The matching rocking chair is used daily. The caskets are stored on the farm as an active, visible reminder of mortality, ready for immediate use upon death.

Body preparation: The home is scrubbed — walls, floors, and windows — before the body is returned from the funeral home. The domestic cleaning standards are among the strictest of any subgroup.

Technology: Rules are especially conservative, but the local district should specify what devices or equipment are permitted. Do not assume that phones, powered tools, or other technology are acceptable.

Burial garments: Simple white shroud or clothing. No ornamentation of any kind.

Old Order Amish — The Mainstream Standard

When people picture an "Amish funeral," they're usually imagining Old Order customs:

Notification: Phone shacks at farm boundaries, plus "English" drivers hired to personally notify relatives in distant settlements. The combination of limited technology and community networks gets the word out efficiently.

Body preparation: A local funeral director performs embalming, returns the body in a plain pine casket built by a local carpenter after the death. Same-sex family members wash and dress the deceased in white burial garments. For women: the white wedding dress, cape, and apron. For men: white shirt, trousers, and vest.

Service: Two main sermons (20 minutes + one hour), High German scripture, silent kneeling prayer, no eulogy, no instrumental music. Hymns are read aloud or chanted in slow unison.

Food: The massive communal meal — egg noodles, 600+ sandwiches, potato salad, pies — served cafeteria-style for crowds that can reach 1,000 people.

Cemetery: Small, generally uniform headstones in chronological rows, with district and children's-grave variations. Hand-dug graves. No flowers, no landscaping.

Beachy Amish — More Progressive, Still Plain

Beachy Amish (named after Bishop Moses Beachy, who split from the Old Order in 1927) sit between Old Order Amish and conservative Mennonites:

Key differences from Old Order:

• Beachy congregations worship in meetinghouses, not private homes
• They permit automobile ownership (a major distinction)
• Some allow limited electricity and technology
• English is more commonly used in services alongside German

Funeral implications:

• Services may happen in a meetinghouse rather than the home
• Automotive hearses may replace horse-drawn processions
• Body preparation and clothing rules are district-specific; do not assume the Old Order white-garment or no-cosmetics practice

What must be confirmed locally: Casket, mutual-aid arrangements, timeline, eulogy, seating, flowers, and other funeral details may follow Beachy or local church custom rather than Old Order practice.

Old Order Mennonite — Similar Spirit, Different Setting

Old Order Mennonites (like the Groffdale Conference in Pennsylvania) maintain many customs that parallel Old Order Amish practices, but with significant differences:

Venue: Spartan meetinghouses rather than private homes. These buildings have separate entrance doors for men and women, a low dividing wall down the center, no electric lights, no microphones, and no modern heating beyond a basement furnace.

Music: This is the biggest difference. Old Order Mennonite funerals feature rich, four-part a cappella congregational singing from standard hymnals. Members view hymn-singing as lifelong preparation for funerals. The music is unaccompanied but full and communal — a stark contrast to the Amish practice of read or chanted hymns.

Burial dress: Conservative, dark-colored Sunday church clothing rather than the white burial garments used by the Amish.

Casket: Plain, unvarnished hardwood with minimal hardware — similar to the Amish standard.

Post-funeral meal: The Faspa — zwieback, raisin bread, cold cuts, funeral cheese, and platz — rather than the Amish cafeteria-line noodle-and-sandwich meal.

Nebraska Amish — An Often-Overlooked Group

The Nebraska Amish (despite the name, concentrated in Pennsylvania's Kishacoquillas Valley, not Nebraska) are among the most conservative Amish communities:

• White-topped buggies with open fronts and manually rolled side curtains
• During the viewing, they maintain the traditional custom of serving sweet bread, wine, and cheese to mourners
• Their funeral customs are among the most traditional of any Amish settlement

Why This Matters for Planning

If you're coordinating a funeral from outside the community — as a diaspora family member, an interfaith spouse, or a funeral director — your first job is identifying the specific subgroup. The questions to ask the family or church deacon:

1. Does the church worship in homes or a meetinghouse?
2. Are automobiles permitted?
3. What language are services conducted in?
4. Does the family already have a casket, or does one need to be built?
5. Are there specific burial garment requirements?

The answers determine your entire planning approach. The Amish & Mennonite Funeral Guide walks through each subgroup's customs with diagnostic questions and checklists, so you can match your preparation to the actual community you're working with.