Amish Aid Plans
The Old Order Amish in almost all of their communities have formulated agreements covering the sharing of losses resulting from fire and lightning. In most areas damage by storm or tornado is also covered.
The Amish Aid Plan in effect in Indiana, according to a statement from the 1950s, "is used in lieu of insuring our property with the old line or mutual insurance companies, and to avoid the unequal yoke spoken of by Paul in 2 Corinthians 6:14 and of paying of losses on property, which we, as a God-fearing people, claim to be inconsistent with our established faith and belief in the doctrines of Christ." In the Indiana Plan, disinterested brethren chosen from various church districts estimate the extent of the loss and award the loser a sum equal to three-fourths of the estimated loss or damage, this sum being obtained by a property assessment of all of the members.
The exact date of the formation of the original Indiana Plan is not known, although there was a brief outline of the system, written in German, before 1915. During the depression years of the 1930s the Federal Land Bank at Louisville, Kentucky, requested that the plan be placed in print in order to make possible federal loans to Amish farmers. This was done in December 1934, at which time the Indiana Plan was officially entitled "The Amish Aid Plan."
In the 1950s, the Amish community around Arthur, Illinois had a similar plan, while the settlements in Iowa and Wisconsin were combined for assessments. The Kansas, Oklahoma and Oregon Amish were united in one aid plan. The Old Order Amish aid plan area in Ohio covering the Holmes-Tuscarawas-Wayne settlement, Stark County, Coshocton, Geauga County, Madison County, and Defiance County in 1949 covered property worth more than $6,800,000.
See also Amish Aid Society of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, which includes Lancaster and adjoining counties as well as St. Marys County, Maryland.
| Author(s) | Melvin Gingerich |
|---|---|
| Date Published | 1953 |
Cite This Article
MLA style
Gingerich, Melvin. "Amish Aid Plans." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. 1953. Web. 23 Nov 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Amish_Aid_Plans&oldid=133103.
APA style
Gingerich, Melvin. (1953). Amish Aid Plans. Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 23 November 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Amish_Aid_Plans&oldid=133103.
Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 1, p. 89. All rights reserved.
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