How the Amish Celebrate Christmas: Simplicity, Faith, and Tradition

🎄 How the Amish Celebrate Christmas: Simplicity, Faith, and Tradition

Christmas in Amish communities is a quiet, meaningful celebration centered on faith, family, and fellowship. While many modern holiday traditions focus on lights, shopping, and digital displays, Amish Christmas customs reflect their values of simplicity, humility, and intentional living. Yet within those traditions are unique observances that many people outside Amish life have never heard of—such as Second Christmas and Old Christmas.

Let’s take a closer look at how the Amish experience the holiday season.

🕯️ A Simple and Sacred Christmas Day

For the Amish, Christmas is first and foremost a religious holiday marking the birth of Jesus Christ. Their celebrations tend to be modest, quiet, and family-centered.

Church and Devotion

Not all Amish districts hold church services on December 25 itself, because their church schedule rotates every other Sunday. When Christmas does fall on a church Sunday, the service is treated with great reverence, featuring Scripture readings, singing, and reflections on Christ’s birth.

Family Gatherings

Regardless of whether church is held, Christmas Day is spent visiting family, sharing meals, and enjoying relaxed time together. The Amish place great importance on relationships, so Christmas gatherings often include multiple generations around the same table.

Gifts—Simple and Thoughtful

Amish families do exchange gifts, but they tend to be:

• Handmade
• Useful
• Modest in cost
  Children might receive items like books, puzzles, clothing, or simple toys, rather than electronic gadgets or trendy items.

🎁 The Tradition of Second Christmas

One unique Amish custom you might not find elsewhere is Second Christmas, observed on December 26. This tradition has roots in European culture, where the day after Christmas was historically a time for rest and visitation.

Among the Amish, Second Christmas is treated as:

• Another day off from work or school
• A time to visit extended family and friends
• A day for relaxed meals, games, and fellowship

It’s not a religious observance but rather a social extension of the holiday—an opportunity to slow down even further and enjoy time with loved ones without the busyness of Christmas Day.

⭐ Old Christmas: A Quiet January Tradition

The Amish also acknowledge Old Christmas, observed on January 6. This date aligns with the old Julian calendar’s Christmas date and is traditionally recognized as Epiphany—the day marking the visit of the Wise Men to the Christ child.

While customs vary slightly by community, Old Christmas is usually:

• A quiet day of rest
• A time for reflection and prayer
• Often free from work or travel
  Some Amish families use the day to visit or enjoy a simple meal together, but it lacks the gift-giving and festivity of December 25.

Old Christmas carries a sense of reverence—an echo of older Christian traditions that have faded in many other cultures but remain preserved among the Amish.

🧵 A Season Woven With Meaning

For the Amish, Christmas isn’t about decorations, commercialism, or digital displays. Instead, it’s a season anchored in faith, expressed through community, and enriched by traditions that stretch back generations.

Whether it’s the joyful togetherness of Christmas Day, the relaxed fellowship of Second Christmas, or the contemplative peace of Old Christmas, each observance adds a unique thread to the Amish holiday season—creating a tapestry of simplicity, gratitude, and timeless meaning.