Amana Society Spiritual Practice

[Doug Hamilton]

History of the Amana society, or Community of true inspiration

 By William Rufus Perkins, Barthinius Larson Wick

p-73

The service opens with silent prayer when each one communes with the Creator according to his own needs. It is a solemn silence, during which no one seems to breathe. This is interrupted by one of the elders, who announces a hymn which is sung by the congregation without any instrumental accompaniment. The entire audience sings, full of enthusiasm, the clear voices of the women on the one side harmonizing well with the round full tones of the men. After singing, a chapter is read from the Bible upon which any one who chooses may comment. Afterwards follows the reading of some extract from an Inspired exhortation preserved from the time of the founding of the Society. Another hymn is sung and the meeting is closed. The worship is dignified, solemn and deeply impressive; the hymns, many of them composed by their own members, breathe a pure and Christian spirit, and the manner in which they are sung captivates the ear by reason of its simplicity.

The meeting-houses are long and narrow; within, everything is simple,— no pictures, no golden candle-sticks, no cushioned pews. The long benches are white and seem almost to have been worn out by frequent scrubbing.

Page 61:

In 1867, Christian Metz, the pioneer and main-stay of the Society since 1817 was laid to rest, and in 1883 Barbara Heinemann Landmann died, in her eighty-eighth year. These two were the only members who have been inspired during the existence of the Society in America. No one since then has been inspired, but the writings which they left behind are read in their meetings, for edification and solace.

Inspiration can take place now as well as formerly. Inspiration, according to their ideas, "is a supernatural influence of the spirit of God on the human mind, by which persons are qualified to set forth divine truth," The one who becomes subject to Inspiration must have a "pure heart, a free soul without prior judgment, meek and obedient to divine will."

They believe that there is false as well as true Inspiration, and that prophesying did not cease with the Apostles.

They think the ministry of the gospel depends on Inspiration, and is not limited by class or sex. Therefore all members have an equal right to teach and exhort in public meetings; they think that if one is not led by the right spirit, no system of theological training can fit one to explain Scriptures. With them, "the Holy Ghost is sought from within, not from without."

[Doug Hamilton]

An ashram-like spiritual practice group, the Amana Colonies..

In as much as some might want to see the Amanas as Christian religious in community for a digging and unearthing at written doctrine for creed, evidently this does not necessarily capture what they were doing at Amana as a spiritual practice ashram-like community. These excerpts begin to give insight to their practice..

Quoting:

“The history of the Amana Church Society is well documented going back to the late 17th Century pietism movement in Europe.  Much has been written regarding the church. The reader who is interested in a more detailed history  is urged to search out the bibliography available through Amana Heritage Society and Amana Church Society archives.  For simplicity’s sake, let it suffice to say that in 1714 an ordained minister of the Lutheran faith named Eberhard Ludwig Gruber founded the Aman Church, technically named The Church of the True Inspiration. Gruber became disenchanted with the ritual of the Lutheran church and adopted the philosophy that a believer needs no intermediary (priest or minister) between himself and God.  He further espoused that the word of God could be heard spoken through certain persons who maintain a very close relationship with the Lord, just as it was in biblical times. People possessing such a relationship were described as Werkzeuge (instruments) of the Lord. According to the belief of this new church, these Werkzeuge were able to communicate the Word of God either orally or in writing.

Throughout its history, the Community of True Inspiration had several Werkzeuge, or instruments.

...Christian Metz, the Werkzeug responsible for the move to America in the mid-19th century, and a lady named Barbara Heinemann Landmann carried on the work of inspiration here in the Amana community until Landmann’s death, around the turn of the century. Since then the church has had no recognized Werkzeug.

The death of Landemann left the church in a state of limbo.  The voices of the Werkzeuge no longer echoed in the chambers of the church meeting houses. Instead, the previously spoken testimonies, filling volume upon volume, were read aloud by the presiding elder. This practice still remains as a part of the services of the present day Amana Church.

In the year 1931 members voted to separate the church from the economic affairs of the organization. And so it was in 1932 that “The Great Change” was initiated, and the commune (ashram) was ended."

Excerpting from:

The Commune’s Last Child

By Glen H. Wendler    

A fair contemporary example of the ‘Werkzeuge’ can be found at:

 https://batgap.com/connie-huebner/