Plain Women: Gender and Ritual in the Old Order River Brethren

Despite the great interest in "plain" groups in recent years, comparatively little has been written about women and the particular role they play in preserving traditional religious and cultural values in the modern world. In Plain Women, Margaret C. Reynolds portrays the women of the Old Order River Brethren, a significant branch of the Brethren in Christ located mainly in Pennsylvania.

The members of this conservative offshoot of the Brethren are often confused with the Amish because of their plain attire, but, unlike the Amish, they have made some notable concessions to the modern world―including the use of automobiles, computers, and home appliances. Noting these accommodations to modern American life, Reynolds examines the ceremonies and traditions that allow the Old Order River Brethren to remain "separate" from other plain groups and from contemporary mass culture. She describes, for example, the love feast communion, a service that involves footwashing and a breadmaking ritual (one unique to the Old Order River Brethren and solely performed by women). Reynolds focuses in particular on the gendered customs of dress, hair, and domesticity that shape women’s lives and, in so doing, preserve the minority faith itself.

Plain Women is the first volume in the new Pennsylvania German History and Culture Series, published in cooperation with the Pennsylvania German Society. This series is a continuation of the Society’s annual volumes on Pennsylvania German scholarship in disciplines such as history, religion, folklore, literature, and arts.

Margaret C. Reynolds published articles in Pennsylvanio Mennonite Heritage. Pennsylvania Folklife, and Der Reggeboge: Journal of the Pennsylvania German Society before her death in 1997.