It would also be correct to say that the Amish do not have one centralized church or one single church authority and decisions as to how to conduct themselves, how much or how little use of technology and what traditional customs should be followed or what customs can be adjusted and adapted given changing times, is up to the individual communities to decide for themselves although they may belong to a larger community and may defer to a larger group of church elders, even from a bit beyond their close knit community and locality.
Contrary to what the name would imply however, the New Order Amish are closer to the Old Order Amish and in some ways, in some communities, they are even more conservative than the “Old Order” Amish where it comes to using modern technologies like telephones or electricity or gas powered tools in their barns and workshops.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subgroups_of_Amish#New_Order_Amish
And the Lancaster Amish while “Old Order” they are more “liberal” as to use of some mechanization, is conservative when it comes to other matter such as “shunning”.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subgroups_of_Amish#Use_of_technology_by_different_Amish_affiliations
While there are some Mennonites, the traditional or “horse-and-buggy” driving Mennonites who are often mistaken for being Amish, especially among the women with their starched white bonnets and long skirts and dresses, there are differences. There are also some Mennonite churches that are very “liberal” including views on gay marriage and other issues and they do not dress “plain”.
And even among the more traditional Mennonites whose women dress conservatively, most of the men do not - they dress in typical work type clothing, blue jeans, etc. And many Mennonites use electricity in their homes and many own and drive vehicles, even the women and they use modern farming equipment, although some may not allow TV’s or computers in their homes, so do to varying degrees. Some of the Mennonite women earn a living by running transportation services for the Amish and some also work outside the home - in factories or retail stores or even in offices where they are often employed as bookkeepers and use computers.
I worked at a “We Be Toy’s” store on the “We Be Baby” side of the store here in York County PA and sometimes the store in Lancaster for nearly a year and I often worked the Baby Registry.
And I registered quite a few Mennonite couples, couples where the wife dressed “plain” and wore a bonnet and when the time came during the baby registration to ask for an email address, I never had any that didn’t have one and it was usually the wife who gave me her email address. FWIW I never had a single Amish couple come in to register for the Baby register.
Over the years I've met many Amish from around the country, but never one who confessed to being "New Order".
Even the few with cell phones and pickup trucks (which they own but can't drive) insist they are Old Order, and New Order is something different entirely.
So what would New Order Amish be?
It would be the same as New Order Mennonites, which means, pretty much, just like "English".
They would have electricity and phones in their homes, drive cars & trucks and dress like "English".
And, I'm told, there are some New Order Amish, but very, very few.
And the reason, as I posted above, is: once a community starts down that road towards "New Order" the almost inevitable result is that some will leave to become non-Amish while others return to their Old Order settlements.
So, amongst all 300,000 or so Amish fewer than 1% are "New Order".
At least, that's my experience.
It's possible there's plenty I don't know.
MD Expat in PA: "While there are some Mennonites, the traditional or “horse-and-buggy”... there are differences.
There are also some Mennonite churches that are very “liberal” including views on gay marriage..."
While virtually no Amish will admit to being "New Order" that is not the case amongst the more general category of Mennonites, who range the full gamut from very Old Order to entirely New Order, meaning virtually "English".
MD Expat in PA: "And even among the more traditional Mennonites whose women dress conservatively, most of the men do not - they dress in typical work type clothing, blue jeans, etc..."
The key fact to remember here is that the dress amongst all such groups is, in effect, a uniform which they must wear, depending on the occasion.
Whether that uniform comes straight out of the 1880s, as with Amish, or from the 1910s as with many Mennonites is a matter of custom, tradition and local rules.
And no settlement which applies dress codes to its members can be classified as "New Order".
MD Expat in PA: "FWIW I never had a single Amish couple come in to register for the Baby register."
Right.
That's because, almost by definition, there's no such thing as "New Order Amish", which is what would be required for them to have computers, internet, electricity, cars, etc., etc.