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Summary
- Mennonites celebrate Christmas as the birth of Jesus, and their customs vary from one group to another.
- Modern Mennonite churches often keep Advent and hold an evening Christmas program, and many families decorate and give gifts as their neighbors do.
- Old Order and other conservative Mennonites have no Christmas trees or house decorations, give simple family gifts and generally do not observe Advent.
- Amish and Mennonite families in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, keep December 26 as Second Christmas for visiting, and many Midwestern Amish keep January 6 as Old Christmas.
- The Amish keep Christmas more plainly than most Mennonites, with cards, poinsettias and a school Christmas program but, as a rule, no tree.
- No Mennonite group ever dropped Christmas or Easter, and traditionalist groups still keep Pentecost, Ascension Day, Easter Monday and Pentecost Monday.
Bibliography (Click to show)
- Scripture quotations from the King James Version (Luke 2:11; Romans 14:5).
- Third Way, “Christmas.” https://thirdwaycafe.com/glossary/christmas/
- Third Way, “Advent.” https://thirdwaycafe.com/glossary/advent/
- Third Way, “Lent.” https://thirdwaycafe.com/glossary/lent/
- Jonathan M. Pitts, “For Mennonites, Christmas still a matter of simple gifts,” Baltimore Sun, December 24, 2015. https://www.baltimoresun.com/2015/12/24/for-mennonites-christmas-still-a-matter-of-simple-gifts/
- “A simple Amish Christmas,” Baltimore Sun, December 24, 2003. https://www.baltimoresun.com/2003/12/24/a-simple-amish-christmas/
- Shereen Siewert, “Amish Christmas traditions offer a peaceful, faith-centered alternative to holiday excess,” interview with Mark Louden, Wisconsin Public Radio, December 3, 2024. https://www.wpr.org/culture/amish-christmas-traditions-faith-holiday-excess
- Art Petrosemolo, “Holiday Traditions and the Plain Communities,” Garden Spot Village, December 21, 2017. https://www.gardenspotvillage.org/blog/holiday-traditions-and-the-plain-communities/
- Amish America, “How Do The Amish Celebrate Christmas? (Customs & Traditions).” https://amishamerica.com/do-amish-celebrate-christmas/
- “Christian Calendar,” Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Christian_Calendar
- “Menno Simons (1496-1561),” Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Menno_Simons_(1496-1561)
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