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- A Seeker is a person likely to join an Old Order Anabaptist community, like the Amish, the Old Order Mennonites, the Hutterites, the Old Order Schwarzenau Brethren or the Old Order River Brethren. Among the 500,000 members of such communities in the United States there are only an estimated 1,200 to 1,300 outsiders who have joined them. A major obstacle for seekers is the language, because most Old Order communities speak German dialects like Pennsylvania German or Hutterite German in every day life and in general will not give it up for seekers. Exceptions are the Old Order Mennonites of Virginia, the Old Order Schwarzenau Brethren and the Old Order River Brethren who speak English only. On the other hand, Conservative Anabaptism (inclusive of the Dunkard Brethren Church and Conservative Mennonite denominations, including those of the Beachy Amish tradition) regularly receive seekers into their churches as visitors, and eventually, as members. Conservative Anabaptist fellowships are highly engaged in evangelism and missionary work, in addition to many congregations having an attached parochial school; a 1993 report showed that Conservative Anabaptist denominations grew overall by fifty percent within the previous fifteen years. The majority of seekers are young adults who are attracted to "having a strong community, being serious about following the Bible and leading a Christian life and a commitment to modesty". (en)
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| rdfs:comment
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- A Seeker is a person likely to join an Old Order Anabaptist community, like the Amish, the Old Order Mennonites, the Hutterites, the Old Order Schwarzenau Brethren or the Old Order River Brethren. Among the 500,000 members of such communities in the United States there are only an estimated 1,200 to 1,300 outsiders who have joined them. The majority of seekers are young adults who are attracted to "having a strong community, being serious about following the Bible and leading a Christian life and a commitment to modesty". (en)
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