The Shakers (United Society of Believers in Christ's Second Appearing)

A celibate Christian community that holds all property in common and worships in song; begun in England in 1747, led by Ann Lee, and now one village in Maine with three members, by NPR's count of August 2025.

Sabbathday Lake Shaker Village, About the Shakers (Sunday Meeting, Our Beliefs, Daily Life, Vocations; page dated 2026-09-23)

Sabbathday Lake Shaker Village, home page (dated 2026-10-16)

Sabbathday Lake Shaker Village, Shaker Historical Background (modified 2026-03-03)

Sabbathday Lake Shaker Village, Shaker Music (2022)

Sabbathday Lake Shaker Village, shop listing for the booklet Life In the Christ Spirit, by Brother Theodore E. Johnson

Calvin Green and Seth Y. Wells, A Summary View of the Millennial Church, or United Society of Believers (commonly called Shakers), Albany: Packard & Van Benthuysen, 1823 (archive.org scan)

The Testimony of Christ's Second Appearing, third edition, corrected and improved, Union Village, Ohio: B. Fisher and A. Burnett, 1823 (published by order of the ministry, in union with the church; archive.org scan)

The Testimony of Christ's Second Appearing, second edition, Albany: E. and E. Hosford, 1810 (archive.org scan)

Madi Smith (Maine Public), "The number of Shakers in the U.S. rises to 3," NPR, 19 August 2025

Lawrence Foster, "Shakers," Encyclopedia of Religion (Gale), at Encyclopedia.com

Lewis Perry, "Shakers," Dictionary of American History (Gale), at Encyclopedia.com

"Shakers," Encyclopedia of World Cultures (Gale; no author named), at Encyclopedia.com

The Shakers began in 1747 near Manchester, England, among Quakers who had left the regular meetings for a more ecstatic worship. After Ann Lee took the lead and brought a handful of followers to New York in 1774, they were gathered after her death into communal villages under a ministry of men and women, and they grew through the first half of the nineteenth century. Reference works date the peak to the 1840s, and the decline since then has been long and steady. Their own accounts of Ann Lee and the second appearing of Christ changed in tone between the 1823 books and the community's wording today, and the fold below sets the two side by side.

The Wardleys and the Shaking Quakers

James and Jane Wardley led a society that separated from the Quakers. The Testimony of 1823 says of them: "From Bolton they removed to Manchester". The community's history dates the founding to 1747 in Manchester, and says the group was called "Shaking Quakers" "in derision".

Ann Lee joins

The 1823 Summary View says Ann Lee "united herself to the society in the month of September 1758, being then in the 23d year of her age". She was born in 1736 (the community's history).

A revelation in prison

The 1823 Summary View: "This revelation she received in the summer of 1770, in prison". The community says that after her imprisonment "Ann Lee was acknowledged as their leader and known as Mother Ann".

To America

Mother Ann and eight followers sailed from Liverpool on the ship Mariah, "sailed on the 19th of May, 1774". The community's history says "They landed in New York City on August 6".

Watervliet

The 1823 Summary View says the group "took up their residence in the woods of Watervliet, near Niskeyuna, about seven miles north-west of Albany".

The Dark Day brings the public

The community's history: "the events of May 19, 1780, the famous “Dark Day,” brought their testimony to the public". It says they were "harassed, beaten, stoned, driven out of towns and imprisoned all for religious reasons".

Sabbathday Lake founded; Ann Lee dies

The community's history: "The Sabbathday Lake Shaker Community was founded in 1783". The history gives Ann Lee's years as 1736 to 1784.

Gospel Order

After Ann Lee's death and the death of James Whittaker at Enfield, Connecticut, on 20 July 1787, American converts took the lead. The community says: "Under the able leadership of Father Joseph Meacham and Mother Lucy Wright, the Shakers began to gather into “Gospel Order.”" The 1823 Summary View says "Elders and deacons were appointed to lead and direct in matters of spiritual and temporal concern". Foster adds that Meacham and Wright set up "parallel and equal men's and women's orders".

The Testimony and the Summary View

The Testimony of Christ's Second Appearing was first printed at Lebanon, Ohio. Its third edition says of the first: "the first of which was printed at Lebanon, Ohio, in the year 1808". The title page of the second edition (Albany, 1810) says the book was "PUBLISHED BY ORDER OF THE MINISTRY, IN UNION WITH THE CHURCH", and the third edition (Union Village, Ohio, 1823) carries the same title. The shorter Summary View of the Millennial Church appeared at Albany in 1823.

The Era of Manifestations

Foster writes: "The high point of Shaker membership and the last major effort to revitalize the society came during the decade of spiritual manifestations that began in 1837." He says it was frequently called "Mother Ann's work" because many of its revelations "purportedly came from the spirit of Ann Lee".

The peak, then a long decline

Foster puts the peak at "some six thousand by the late 1840s", after which "the group entered into a long, slow decline". Perry says "After peaking at about 6,000 in the 1840s, membership declined steadily to about 855 in 1900, 40 in 1950, and 8 in 2000." The community's own history gives the peak as some five thousand in the decade before the Civil War.

A third Shaker

NPR reported on 19 August 2025 that Sister April Baxter, aged 59, had come to live at the village that spring: "Eighty-seven-year-old Sister June Carpenter and 68-year-old Brother Arnold Hadd were the last two Shakers before Baxter arrived." The report says she "still has time before she will be a full member of the Shaker community".

Ann Lee (Mother Ann)

The founder. She joined the Wardley society in 1758, received a revelation in prison in 1770, and led the Shakers from then. The 1823 Summary View calls her "the distinguished personage to whom Christ revealed himself in his true character, in this day of his second appearing". The community today says: "Mother Ann was not Christ, nor did she claim to be."

James Whittaker (Father James)

He led after Ann Lee. The 1823 book says he "departed this life at Enfield, in Connecticut, July 20th", 1787.

Joseph Meacham (Father Joseph)

He took the lead after Whittaker and began the gathering at New Lebanon. Perry gives his years as lead elder: "Joseph Meacham (1787–1796)". The 1823 book says he "was a native of Enfield in Connecticut, born February 11th, 1740".

Lucy Wright (Mother Lucy)

The first woman in the ministry beside Meacham; Perry dates her years as lead elder "Lucy Wright (1796–1821)". The 1823 book: "Lucy Wright, a woman greatly distinguished for her faithfulness, wisdom and discretion, was also chosen and appointed as the first leading character in the female line."

Arnold Hadd (Brother Arnold)

NPR says "Hadd joined the community in 1978". In its report he sums up Shakerism in what he calls the three C's: confession of sin, community of goods and celibacy.

Ann Lee and the second appearing, in the 1823 books and today. This is the point where the Shakers are most often misdescribed, in both directions, so each wording is given exactly. The Testimony (third edition, 1823, Introduction; the same sentence stands in the second edition of 1810) says: "as his second appearing was to be manifested in that particular object, (namely, woman)", which it calls the Desire of all nations. The Summary View (1823) calls Ann Lee "the distinguished personage to whom Christ revealed himself in his true character, in this day of his second appearing". In its chapter "The Manifestation of Christ in the Female" it says "the image and likeness of the Eternal Mother was formed in her, as the firstborn Daughter, as really as the image and likeness of the Eternal Father was formed in the Lord Jesus, the first-born Son", and then limits the claim: "that tabernacle was but flesh and blood, like those of all other women", but a chosen vessel "occupied as an instrument" by the Spirit of Christ. The Summary View also says Christ's second coming is "not the appearance of the same personal Being, but a manifestation of the same Spirit". So the 1823 books do not say that Ann Lee was Jesus come again in a woman's body. They say the Spirit of Christ appeared a second time and was revealed in her, as the Mother beside the Father. The community's present statement is plainer: "Mother Ann was not Christ, nor did she claim to be." It adds her own saying, "The second appearing of Christ is in His Church." And it says of Shaker belief: "Unlike most of their contemporaries, they did not look for the return of Jesus Christ in the flesh. They sought his return in the spirit–the Christ Spirit–the anointing spirit of God, the spirit of love and truth." The community does not say that it has withdrawn the 1823 books, and no 2026 statement repeating or withdrawing the 1823 wording was found. The 1808 first edition of the Testimony was not read.

Who "Life In the Christ Spirit" is. The community's membership rules require agreement with "the principles of our faith as outlined in “Life In the Christ Spirit”". The community's shop lists that title as a booklet by Brother Theodore E. Johnson, "observations on Shaker theology from remarks delivered at the Shaker Conference in Hancock, Mass, Sept. 7, 1968". It is out of stock and was not read. The "Our Beliefs" section of the community's About page is the statement of present belief quoted in this chart; the page does not name its author.

What is open. The community's site gives no membership figure, and the latest count found is three, in August 2025. NPR counts a novice; the community's own rules say "After a year, the Community meets together reviewing and voting to accept or reject the Novice as a Member. After a residence of five years one becomes a full Member of the Church." So "three Shakers" and "three full members" are different statements. On the decline, NPR's reporter writes "Celibacy as a core tenet has limited the community's ability to grow." The Encyclopedia of World Cultures says outsiders often blame celibacy, while the Shakers argued that most who tried the life left "Because of difficulty in putting aside self-interest for the Community's interest". Perry's summary is "there were too few converts and too many defectors".

The Bible is read at every meeting, but the 1823 books argue that the church also needs leaders who hold the Spirit that gave it; the community asks members to agree with a written statement of faith.

The Shakers read the Bible in their meetings: three Bible readings stand in the Sunday order, and Psalms and Bible readings open the day. The 1823 books do not treat Scripture as the whole of their authority. The Summary View says that "the present testimony of salvation and eternal life was fully revealed to Ann Lee, and by her to the society". It takes up the objection that the Bible contains everything a Christian needs, and answers that those who explain it must themselves hold the Spirit that gave it, so a visible leadership is needed. Its chapter on obedience still sets a limit: no one owes obedience to anything against the gospel as Christ taught it. The Testimony of Christ's Second Appearing was published by order of the ministry and the church, and its preface says the first edition was well accepted as the sum of the church's faith and practice. The nineteenth-century Society also held that the Spirit gave new songs, visions and messages in the Era of Manifestations (see the distinctives). Today the community asks members to agree with its statement of faith. Its present pages quote the Bible and Mother Ann's sayings, and do not say how the two are ranked.

In order to be able expositors of the scriptures, they ought to possess a goodly portion of that Spirit

containing the sum and substance of all that pertained to the faith and practice of the Church

You must agree with the principles of our faith as outlined in “Life In the Christ Spirit”

The objection the 1823 book sets out to answer. The chapter states it this way: "the scriptures of the Old and New Testament contain all the necessary instructions for the christian's conduct through life". Its reply is that teachers who rely on reason alone disagree, so they lack the Spirit. The limit it sets. "no one is required to yield obedience to any thing contrary to the established principles of the gospel, as revealed by the precepts and example of Jesus Christ". What is in the present community's pages. Its music page says "Shaker music, received mostly by spiritual inspiration rather than deliberate composition". The booklet Life In the Christ Spirit is listed in the community's shop as a 1968 address by Brother Theodore E. Johnson. It is out of stock and was not read, so this chart does not say what it binds.

Salvation comes by confessing sin to the Believers' witnesses and by obedience; the baptism of Christ is the baptism of the Spirit, and no water baptism is described.

The 1823 Summary View teaches that people are under the power of a fallen nature passed on by generation, and that the way out is repentance shown in an open confession of sin, followed by a life of obedience that follows Christ's own. Brother Arnold Hadd gave NPR his summary of Shakerism today: confession of sin, community of goods and celibacy. The Summary View says the principle of baptism is essential to salvation, then says Christ never directed his disciples to baptize with water, and that his baptism is of the Holy Spirit. It treats water baptism as John's figure. The community's present pages do not describe any baptism rite.

There's the confession of sin, which is the opening of the mind and the gateway to the church.

The baptism of Christ is not the baptism of water, but of the Holy Spirit.

in order to be made righteous, we must be obedient, even as he was

The same chapter grants that baptism matters: "That the true principle of baptism is a divine institution, and essentially necessary to salvation". It argues that a person can be baptized in water and still lack the gospel: "he has not received the true baptism of Christ". On confession, the Summary View says it is the door into the church: "The open confession of sin to the witnesses of Christ, was practiced in the primitive church, and was considered as the first necessary step for the admission of the sinner to the privileges of the gospel".

The 1823 book finds no outward Lord's Supper in the apostolic church, only a daily common meal; the bread and cup are figures of a future day.

The Summary View treats the Lord's Supper as the apostolic church's common table. It says the church kept no outward sacrament of the Supper in any other way than by eating and drinking together, daily. It then calls baptism and the Supper figures that pointed to something still to come. The community's present pages describe Sunday Meeting as psalms, hymns, Bible readings, testimony and song, and do not describe a bread-and-cup rite. The community's main meal, Dinner, is at noon each day.

we have no account that they ever kept any external sacrament, as the Lord's supper, in any other manner than by eating and drinking together, daily, as Jesus Christ set them the example while he was with them.

Hence they must be considered as figures or symbols of spiritual substances, which were to take place in a future day.

In the nineteenth-century villages each society was led by elders and eldresses in pairs under a central ministry of men and women, and the 1823 books ask obedience to them; the present community's governance is not described.

The Shakers have no single pastor. A reference work describes the nineteenth-century order: each society was "governed by two elders and two elderesses assisted by deacons", who managed daily affairs, and trustees dealt with outsiders. Over all the societies stood the ministry at New Lebanon, New York, and the 1823 Summary View says the leading power of the visible church is vested in the ministry. Men and women held parallel offices: Joseph Meacham and Lucy Wright led together. The 1823 book teaches obedience to these leaders as part of following Christ. The community's pages do not describe how it is governed today; NPR's report quotes Brother Arnold Hadd as its voice.

As the leading power of the visible church is vested in the Ministry, as the visible head

Supreme authority was vested in the ministry at New Lebanon, New York, usually two men and two women, one of whom headed the entire society.

Elders and deacons were appointed to lead and direct in matters of spiritual and temporal concern

The 1823 chapter on obedience says "Obedience is therefore always safe as well as necessary", and that while a family's leaders conduct themselves worthily, "it is necessary that they should be obeyed by all the members of the family". A reference work adds that "Elders appointed their successors." The same work cautions that "authoritarian rule was the exception; social cohesion was mostly the result of a shared commitment to Shaker values and beliefs". Parts of this order, such as the ministry over all the societies and the daily obedience, belong to the nineteenth-century villages; the pages of the present community read for this chart do not describe them.

Psalms, hymns, Bible readings and open testimony at Meeting; the 1823 book defends dancing as an act of divine worship, and the community's pages do not say whether it is practiced today.

Sabbathday Lake's Meeting is a reading, hymns, three Bible readings, and then open time for testimonies and songs. Songs are central: the community says "There were at one time in excess of 25,000 Shaker songs and, today, as many as 1,000 remain a part of the active repertoire of the Sabbathday Lake Shakers." The 1823 Summary View devotes a chapter to dancing as an act of worship, and says it was brought in by the Spirit and became "an established exercise in the worship of God". The community's present pages do not mention dancing. Instruments: no source read says whether an instrument is used at Sabbathday Lake or was used in the villages; the Testimony (third edition, 1823) counts "bells, and instruments of musick" among the ornaments of what it calls the steeple houses of other churches. Prayer: the community's prayers are read, said and silent. Father James Whittaker's words in the 1823 book are "even my breath is continual prayer to God", and the Summary View describes the early church worshiping "in prayer, vocal or silent". The pages read do not say whether prayer is offered to the Father alone.

Meeting is a combination of individual testimonies and songs.

they were involuntarily led, by the mighty power of God, to go forth and worship in the dance

The faculty of dancing, as well as that of singing, was undoubtedly created for the honor and glory of the Creator

The 1823 books hold that the Spirit still gives visions, songs and gifts, and that the apostolic gifts were renewed in the first Believers; the Era of Manifestations followed. Today the Meeting is open to the moving of the Spirit.

The 1823 Summary View teaches that the Spirit of Christ still gives visions and gifts. It asks who has ever assured man that those who walk in the Spirit of Christ will not see heavenly visions in this day, and says the gifts of the apostles came back in the first Believers. From 1837 came the Era of Manifestations, which Foster says produced "extreme trance and visionary phenomena". Today Mother Ann is quoted at Sabbathday Lake: "A strange gift never came from God." The Sunday Meeting is, in the community's words, "open to the moving of the Spirit". The community's present pages read for this chart do not say whether it holds that the apostolic gifts continue.

shall not be able to see heavenly visions

The apostolic gifts were also renewed in their full power

As our founder Mother Ann said, “A strange gift never came from God.”

Christ's second coming is a manifestation of his Spirit, not a return of his person; the resurrection is of the spiritual part of man; judgment is a work already begun.

The Shakers teach that Christ's second appearing is the coming of his Spirit and not of his person; the community today says they "did not look for the return of Jesus Christ in the flesh." The 1823 books place it in Ann Lee and the Society: the Testimony says it was "manifested in that particular object, (namely, woman)". The community today says "Mother Ann was not Christ, nor did she claim to be." and holds that "The second appearing of Christ is in His Church." On the resurrection, the Summary View says it is not the natural body that rises but the spiritual. On judgment, it says the day has begun: the Judgment is a work in progress, and the everlasting state of every soul will be decided "not by the stroke of death, but by the unerring judgment of God", with the wicked sent to "everlasting punishment". The community's present statement of belief does not take up the resurrection or the judgment, though its daily readings reprint early Shaker sayings that warn of the judgment of God. See the history fold for the exact 1823 and 2026 wording side by side.

second coming of Christ not the appearance of the same personal Being, but a manifestation of the same Spirit

Hence it is not the natural, but the spiritual body which is the subject of the resurrection.

We view it as a work which has already commenced

Celibacy

Members live single and celibate; the 1823 book reads the fall as the sexual act.

Celibacy is a condition of membership and one of the Shakers' three summary words. The community's rules for joining list "You must be currently single" and "You must be willing to live a celibate life." Brother Arnold Hadd told NPR: "And celibacy, as Christ was celibate." The 1823 Summary View calls celibacy and continence "among the principle articles of our faith", and reads the fall as sexual: "this lust was, in reality, the forbidden fruit of which they partook". A reference work notes that the Shakers do not hold that married outsiders are sinners.

You must be willing to live a celibate life.

this lust was, in reality, the forbidden fruit of which they partook

And celibacy, as Christ was celibate.

Yet I would that all men were even as I myself. Howbeit each man hath his own gift from God, one after this manner, and another after that. But I say to the unmarried and to widows, It is good for them if they abide even as I. But if they have not continency, let them marry: for it is better to marry than to burn.

But the Spirit saith expressly, that in later times some shall fall away from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of demons, through the hypocrisy of men that speak lies, branded in their own conscience as with a hot iron; forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God created to be received with thanksgiving by them that believe and know the truth.

Let marriage be had in honor among all, and let the bed be undefiled: for fornicators and adulterers God will judge.

And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat; and she gave also unto her husband with her, and he did eat.

Scripture honors singleness as a gift and does not make it a rule. Paul wishes that all were as he is, and adds that "each man hath his own gift from God" (1 Corinthians 7:7). Christ speaks of those who have "made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven’s sake" (Matthew 19:12) and says "He that is able to receive it, let him receive it" (Matthew 19:12). So the Shakers are right that a life given wholly to the Lord can be a good one. They go past the text when they make it a condition of belonging to the church, and the 1823 book goes further when it grounds it in the teaching that sex was the forbidden fruit. The Spirit warned of those "forbidding to marry" (1 Timothy 4:3), and Scripture says "Let marriage be had in honor among all" (Hebrews 13:4). Genesis names the fruit of a tree (Genesis 3:6), and the command to "Be fruitful, and multiply" (Genesis 1:28) was given before the fall.

The Shakers do not hold that married outsiders are sinners (Encyclopedia of World Cultures), and that restraint is to their credit. The weight of the verdict falls on the Society's own doctrine of the fall and on celibacy as the road to salvation.

Community of goods

Full members give all they own to the community and share a common table and common property.

The community says "The desire to die to self leads the Shaker quite naturally to the pooling of goods." Under its rules a person who has lived there five years and becomes a full member "consecrates all of their worldly possessions to the Community". Foster says the Shakers' communal ownership was "inspired by the Christian communism of Acts 2:44–45".

The desire to die to self leads the Shaker quite naturally to the pooling of goods.

It is at this time that an individual consecrates all of their worldly possessions to the Community

And all that believed were together, and had all things common; and they sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all, according as any man had need.

And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and soul: and not one of them said that aught of the things which he possessed was his own; but they had all things common.

While it remained, did it not remain thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thy power? How is it that thou hast conceived this thing in thy heart? thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God.

Let each man do according as he hath purposed in his heart: not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.

Here the Shakers stand near the first church, which "had all things common" (Acts 2:44) and where "not one of them said that aught of the things which he possessed was his own" (Acts 4:32). That is to their credit. The 1823 book also says that the gathering of property in 1787 was "a matter of free choice to every individual". But the Jerusalem sharing was free in the same way. Peter told Ananias, "did it not remain thine own" (Acts 5:4), and Paul teaches that "God loveth a cheerful giver" (2 Corinthians 9:7). The other churches kept their property and gave as each "may prosper" (1 Corinthians 16:2). The Shakers are free to join in one household, as the Jerusalem believers did. Where they go past the text is in making consecration of all goods a condition of full membership in their church, not a free gift.

Father and Mother in the Godhead, and equal leadership

God is described as having both male and female attributes; Ann Lee is the Mother beside Christ the Father in the 1823 books; women and men lead in pairs.

The community writes: "Having no body, God has no sex in our human understanding of the term; yet being pure spirit He may best be thought of by man with his limited power of comprehension as having the attributes of both maleness and femaleness." The 1823 Summary View speaks of "the manifestation of Father and Mother in the Deity". It says the likeness of the Eternal Mother was formed in Ann Lee as the likeness of the Eternal Father was formed in Jesus (see the history fold for her exact wording). The community today calls its view of Christ adoptionist, meaning Jesus became the Christ at his baptism: "mainstream Shaker Christological thought is adoptionist". A reference work adds that the Shakers reject the Trinity (Encyclopedia of World Cultures). In practice, men and women hold parallel offices; Foster says Meacham and Wright "oversaw the establishment of parallel and equal men's and women's orders".

Having no body, God has no sex in our human understanding of the term; yet being pure spirit He may best be thought of by man with his limited power of comprehension as having the attributes of both maleness and femaleness.

the manifestation of Father and Mother in the Deity

Meacham and Wright oversaw the establishment of parallel and equal men's and women's orders.

And God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

yet to us there is one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we unto him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and we through him.

For there is one God, one mediator also between God and men, himself man, Christ Jesus,

There can be neither Jew nor Greek, there can be neither bond nor free, there can be no male and female; for ye all are one man in Christ Jesus.

The Shakers rightly cite Genesis, which says God made man "male and female created he them" (Genesis 1:27). That text says man was made in God's image, not that God has two sexes. Scripture reveals God as Father, and it says "to us there is one God, the Father" (1 Corinthians 8:6). It names one Lord and one mediator: "one mediator also between God and men, himself man, Christ Jesus" (1 Timothy 2:5). The 1823 book's Mother in the Deity, paired with Christ and revealed in Ann Lee, is not in the text. The community today speaks more softly, of God as having "the attributes of both maleness and femaleness". The Shakers stand nearer the New Testament in how they treat women as people: the daughters of Philip "prophesied" (Acts 21:9), and in Christ "there can be no male and female" (Galatians 3:28). That equal standing does not make a woman the head of the church. Paul says "I permit not a woman to teach, nor to have dominion over a man" (1 Timothy 2:12), and an overseer is "the husband of one wife" (1 Timothy 3:2).

Worship in dance

The 1823 book defends dancing as an act of divine worship, brought in by the Spirit and made a settled part of the assembly.

The Summary View gives a whole chapter to the origin, practice and reasonableness of dancing as an act of divine worship. It says the Believers were led to it by the Spirit and it then became established by revelation. It argues from the Psalms and the dances of Israel. A reference work describes the nineteenth-century services as ecstatic, involving hand clapping, dancing, singing, shaking and shouting (Encyclopedia of World Cultures). The community's present account of its Meeting mentions song and testimony and does not mention dancing.

Let them praise his name in the dance: Let them sing praises unto him with timbrel and harp.

speaking one to another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord;

What is it then, brethren? When ye come together, each one hath a psalm, hath a teaching, hath a revelation, hath a tongue, hath an interpretation. Let all things be done unto edifying.

But let all things be done decently and in order.

The Shakers rest on a real text: "Let them praise his name in the dance" (Psalm 149:3). The Psalms do praise God with the dance. But the assembly the apostles describe sings and teaches: "speaking one to another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord" (Ephesians 5:19), and "each one hath a psalm, hath a teaching" (1 Corinthians 14:26). No New Testament passage commands the church to dance in its assembly. The Summary View's claim that it was fixed by revelation, as the Spirit's own appointment, rests on the added revelation charged under authority. Paul's rule for the assembly is "let all things be done decently and in order" (1 Corinthians 14:40). The Shakers are right that worship is a matter of the whole person.

The Era of Manifestations

From 1837 the villages received visions, songs and messages, many of them said to come from the spirit of Mother Ann.

Foster dates the Era of Manifestations to 1837 and says it was frequently called Mother Ann's work. He says many of its revelations "purportedly came from the spirit of Ann Lee". The community says its songs came largely by inspiration: "Shaker music, received mostly by spiritual inspiration rather than deliberate composition". The community's own pages read for this chart do not describe the Era itself.

Shaker music, received mostly by spiritual inspiration rather than deliberate composition

A strange gift never came from God.

Beloved, believe not every spirit, but prove the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets are gone out into the world.

And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits and unto the wizards, that chirp and that mutter: should not a people seek unto their God? on behalf of the living should they seek unto the dead? To the law and to the testimony! if they speak not according to this word, surely there is no morning for them.

God, having of old time spoken unto the fathers in the prophets by divers portions and in divers manners, hath at the end of these days spoken unto us in his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom also he made the worlds;

how shall we escape, if we neglect so great a salvation? which having at the first been spoken through the Lord, was confirmed unto us by them that heard; God also bearing witness with them, both by signs and wonders, and by manifold powers, and by gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to his own will.

The Spirit's word to every believer is "prove the spirits, whether they are of God" (1 John 4:1). The Old Testament forbids seeking guidance from the dead: "on behalf of the living should they seek unto the dead?" (Isaiah 8:19). Messages said to come from the spirit of Ann Lee fall under that command. God "hath at the end of these days spoken unto us in his Son" (Hebrews 1:2), and the word was confirmed by those who heard him, "God also bearing witness with them, both by signs and wonders, and by manifold powers, and by gifts of the Holy Spirit" (Hebrews 2:4). Those gifts accompanied the apostles. The songs of the Shakers can be beautiful, and a hymn needs no claim of a gift. A message, vision or song put forward as received from heaven and from the departed has no warrant in what the apostles left.

Confession of sin

Confession of sin is the gateway into the church, made before the Believers as God's witnesses.

Brother Arnold Hadd called confession "the opening of the mind and the gateway to the church". The 1823 Summary View gives a chapter to it and says the confession is to God in the presence of his witnesses.

They did not feel as tho they were confessing their sins to man, but to God, in the presence of his witnesses

The open confession of sin to the witnesses of Christ, was practiced in the primitive church, and was considered as the first necessary step for the admission of the sinner to the privileges of the gospel

Confess therefore your sins one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The supplication of a righteous man availeth much in its working.

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Many also of them that had believed came, confessing, and declaring their deeds.

And Peter said unto them, Repent ye, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ unto the remission of your sins; and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Here the Shakers stand nearer the New Testament than most churches. The text says "Confess therefore your sins one to another" (James 5:16), and Ephesus believers came "confessing, and declaring their deeds" (Acts 19:18). The Summary View is also careful: the confession is to God, and the witnesses are only witnesses. But it makes confession, in its own words, "the only door of entrance into the church of Christ", in place of the door the apostles opened. Peter told the crowd to repent and "be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ unto the remission of your sins" (Acts 2:38), and the promise to the confessing is "he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins" (1 John 1:9), through Christ.

The plumb line is the New Testament: what the apostles commanded, and what the churches practiced with their approval. Each position above is set against it, and the wall below shows how far each one stands from it. The Shakers are not a body on this site's lineage chart; they stand there as an event, because their books locate Christ's second appearing in Ann Lee and the church. The 1823 Summary View says that coming is "not the appearance of the same personal Being, but a manifestation of the same Spirit", and that Ann Lee was the vessel "in which the second appearance of that Divine Spirit was ushered into the world". The community today says "Mother Ann was not Christ, nor did she claim to be." and quotes her: "The second appearing of Christ is in His Church." So each of the five placements here rests on the rubric's rungs, and the reason is given with it. The Shakers stand nearest the pattern in how they confess sin, share their goods and sing and testify in their Meeting. They stand furthest where their books add to what the apostles left and deny what the apostles taught about the return of Christ and the resurrection of the body. Where the community's present pages are silent, a verdict rests on the 1823 books and says so; it does not describe the three members of today.

Every scripture inspired of God is also profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for instruction which is in righteousness: that the man of God may be complete, furnished completely unto every good work.

Beloved, while I was giving all diligence to write unto you of our common salvation, I was constrained to write unto you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered unto the saints.

But though we, or an angel from heaven, should preach unto you any gospel other than that which we preached unto you, let him be anathema.

I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto them, God shall add unto him the plagues which are written in this book: and if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the tree of life, and out of the holy city, which are written in this book.

The Shakers read the Bible aloud at every Meeting, and that is to their credit. But the 1823 Summary View says "the present testimony of salvation and eternal life was fully revealed to Ann Lee, and by her to the society", and that the dance entered worship "by Divine Revelation". It answers the claim that Scripture is the only rule by saying its expositors need the Spirit that gave it, and it sets a ministry over the church to be obeyed. Scripture is complete: it makes the man of God "furnished completely unto every good work" (2 Timothy 3:17), the faith was "once for all delivered unto the saints" (Jude 1:3), and any other gospel, even from "an angel from heaven" (Galatians 1:8), is under a curse. A testimony of salvation revealed after the apostles, and worship fixed by later revelation, take the last rung for the rule of faith and for what the institution supplies.

What this verdict does not claim. The Testimony of Christ's Second Appearing is the Society's published statement of its faith, and no text read for this chart calls it scripture or sets it beside the Bible as a second rule; it is weighed here as a confession. The charge rests on the revelation said to be given through Ann Lee and on the gifts of the Era of Manifestations. Where the community stands now. The community today says "Mother Ann was not Christ, nor did she claim to be." That softens the claim about the person of Ann Lee. The sources read do not show the community withdrawing the 1823 books or their argument for a ministry that interprets, and its membership rule still asks agreement with a written statement of faith that was not read. Credit. The 1823 chapter itself refuses obedience to anything contrary to the gospel as Christ taught it, and the community's Meeting is built on the Psalms and the Bible readings.

Go ye therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit: teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I commanded you: and lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.

Can any man forbid the water, that these should not be baptized, who have received the Holy Spirit as well as we? And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then prayed they him to tarry certain days.

Or are ye ignorant that all we who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him through baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we also might walk in newness of life.

The Shakers call for repentance, open confession and a life of obedience. The 1823 Summary View says Christ never told his disciples to baptize with water, and that his baptism is only of the Spirit; the community's present pages describe no baptism. The Lord's commission says otherwise: "baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit" (Matthew 28:19). Peter told the crowd to "be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ unto the remission of your sins" (Acts 2:38). At Cornelius' house the Spirit had already fallen, and Peter still asked, "Can any man forbid the water" (Acts 10:47), and "commanded them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ" (Acts 10:48), so the Spirit's baptism and the water are two things and neither replaces the other. A body with no water baptism takes the last rung for what baptism is for. The mode and the subject have no answer where no rite is kept.

Credit. The Shakers rightly say that water without a changed life saves no one, and they keep confession and repentance at the center of entering the church. But where Paul says we were "buried therefore with him through baptism into death" (Romans 6:4), the Shakers put an open confession before witnesses as the door. A note on salvation by obedience. The 1823 book says "in order to be made righteous, we must be obedient, even as he was". Scripture does call believers to obey Christ. It does not make obedience the thing that makes a person righteous before God; forgiveness is "unto the remission of your sins" (Acts 2:38) in his name. The same book says of Jesus that "he was born into a fallen nature, with all its propensities" and "necessarily had a progressive travel out of it". Scripture says he was tempted in all points "yet without sin" (Hebrews 4:15), and that he "did no sin" (1 Peter 2:22).

For I received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which he was betrayed took bread; and when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, This is my body, which is for you: this do in remembrance of me. In like manner also the cup, after supper, saying, This cup is the new covenant in my blood: this do, as often as ye drink it, in remembrance of me. For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink the cup, ye proclaim the Lord’s death till he come.

And upon the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul discoursed with them, intending to depart on the morrow; and prolonged his speech until midnight.

And they continued stedfastly in the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread and the prayers.

And day by day, continuing stedfastly with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread at home, they took their food with gladness and singleness of heart,

Paul wrote that he "received of the Lord" (1 Corinthians 11:23) the bread and the cup, and the Lord said, "this do in remembrance of me" (1 Corinthians 11:24). He adds that "ye proclaim the Lord’s death till he come" (1 Corinthians 11:26), so the Supper belongs to the whole time before the Lord returns and cannot be a figure of a day still to come. At Troas the disciples met "upon the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread" (Acts 20:7). The 1823 Summary View finds only a daily common meal in the apostolic church and calls the bread and cup figures of a future day, so how often the Supper is kept and who may take it have no answer. The placement scores what the book says the Supper is: a common table in the place of the memorial Paul delivered, beyond any rung that keeps the bread and the cup. A shared table is good, and the first church had one (Acts 2:46), but it does not stand in the place of the bread and the cup.

What is open. The community's pages read for this chart describe the Sunday Meeting as psalms, hymns, Bible readings and testimony, and do not describe a bread-and-cup rite or say that none is kept. The placement rests on the 1823 book's teaching, which is the Society's published statement on the point. Why not the last rung. The last rung is a propitiatory sacrifice offered by a priest, which the Shakers never taught. Leaving out the bread and the cup is a departure of its own, named in the closing, and it is not counted twice here.

And when they had appointed for them elders in every church, and had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord, on whom they had believed.

For this cause left I thee in Crete, that thou shouldest set in order the things that were wanting, and appoint elders in every city, as I gave thee charge;

Tend the flock of God which is among you, exercising the oversight, not of constraint, but willingly, according to the will of God; nor yet for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind; neither as lording it over the charge allotted to you, but making yourselves ensamples to the flock.

The bishop therefore must be without reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate, sober-minded, orderly, given to hospitality, apt to teach;

The nineteenth-century villages kept more than one leader in each society, a pair of elders and a pair of eldresses with deacons, and that is nearer the apostles' pattern than a single pastor. The apostles "appointed for them elders in every church" (Acts 14:23), and Titus was to "appoint elders in every city" (Titus 1:5). But over all the societies stood a ministry at New Lebanon, "one of whom headed the entire society" in Foster's words, with authority to be obeyed, and elders appointed their own successors. Scripture shows elders over each church and no ministry above them, and it tells them not to be "lording it over the charge allotted to you" (1 Peter 5:3). Women held parallel offices to men, which goes past the rule that an overseer is "the husband of one wife" (1 Timothy 3:2) and that "I permit not a woman to teach, nor to have dominion over a man" (1 Timothy 2:12).

Then and now. This order is the nineteenth-century one. The community's pages read for this chart do not describe how its three members are governed today, and the verdict does not describe them. Why not further out. The central ministry, headed by one person, stands far from the pattern, but plural elders in each society stand near it, and the ministry was not a priesthood. The 1823 book's claim that obedience is part of following Christ, and the doctrine revealed through Ann Lee, are weighed under authority, not counted again here. Credit. Joseph Meacham and Lucy Wright led together, and one reference work says of the villages that "authoritarian rule was the exception".

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; in all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts unto God.

God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship in spirit and truth.

The Meeting at Sabbathday Lake, as the community describes it today, is built from what the New Testament names: Psalms, hymns, Scripture readings and the testimony of members. It is open to anyone to speak or sing, as at Corinth, where "each one hath a psalm, hath a teaching" (1 Corinthians 14:26), and the command to sing is plain: "speaking one to another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord" (Ephesians 5:19). Taken alone, that Meeting stands near the line. But the Society's published rule goes past the apostles: the 1823 book says the dance became "an established exercise in the worship of God" by revelation, an act the New Testament never gives the assembly. That rule has not been withdrawn in the pages read, so the placement stands between the two, further out than the Meeting as described.

Then and now. The dance is the 1823 rule and the nineteenth-century practice; the community's present account of its Meeting does not mention it, and this chart does not say whether it is practiced today. What is open. No source read says whether instruments are used. The community's music page has a photograph captioned "Hymnals stacked in the Shakers’ Music Room for use during Sunday Service." It also says the songs were preserved by oral tradition. This chart does not give a verdict on instruments. To whom prayer is offered. The sources read speak of prayer to God and do not say whether it is addressed to the Father alone.

Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he shall guide you into all the truth: for he shall not speak from himself; but what things soever he shall hear, these shall he speak: and he shall declare unto you the things that are to come.

Love never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall be done away; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall be done away.

The 1823 books teach that the Spirit still gives visions, songs and messages, and that the apostolic gifts were renewed in the first Believers. The promise of being guided "into all the truth" (John 16:13) was spoken to the apostles, and what they were guided into is written. The gifts that confirmed their word, "signs and wonders, and by manifold powers, and by gifts of the Holy Spirit" (Hebrews 2:4), went with the apostles who heard the Lord. The rule for every inward voice is "prove the spirits, whether they are of God" (1 John 4:1). The Era of Manifestations claimed messages from the spirit of Ann Lee, and the 1823 book claims gifts renewed in full power. These claims, in the Society's own books and its nineteenth-century practice, put the Shakers at the far end on this course.

Credit. The Shakers rightly say that the Spirit dwells in believers and that a church can be moved by him in song and testimony, and Mother Ann's saying that "A strange gift never came from God." is a call to welcome the Spirit's work. The weighing is not against the Spirit's presence. It is against the claim that he adds new revelation after the apostles.

And when he had said these things, as they were looking, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight. And while they were looking stedfastly into heaven as he went, behold two men stood by them in white apparel; who also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye looking into heaven? this Jesus, who was received up from you into heaven shall so come in like manner as ye beheld him going into heaven.

Marvel not at this: for the hour cometh, in which all that are in the tombs shall hear his voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of judgment.

See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye behold me having.

And inasmuch as it is appointed unto men once to die, and after this cometh judgment; so Christ also, having been once offered to bear the sins of many, shall appear a second time, apart from sin, to them that wait for him, unto salvation.

The angels at the ascension said that "this Jesus, who was received up from you into heaven shall so come in like manner as ye beheld him going into heaven" (Acts 1:11), and Christ will "appear a second time, apart from sin" (Hebrews 9:28). The 1823 Summary View makes that coming "not the appearance of the same personal Being, but a manifestation of the same Spirit", and the community today, though it says Mother Ann was not Christ, still places the second appearing "in His Church". The same book rests its resurrection on Paul's "it is raised a spiritual body" (1 Corinthians 15:44), reading the sowing as natural birth. But Paul's seed "is not quickened except it die" (1 Corinthians 15:36), "all that are in the tombs shall hear his voice, and shall come forth" (John 5:28-29), and the risen Lord said "a spirit hath not flesh and bones" (Luke 24:39). The book also has the judgment already begun and the soul's state decided "not by the stroke of death", where Scripture says "it is appointed unto men once to die, and after this cometh judgment" (Hebrews 9:27).

Credit. The 1823 book teaches a real judgment with a final state for every soul, and it does not teach that all are saved. The two wordings. Beside the 1823 wording that the second appearing was "manifested in that particular object, (namely, woman)", the community today says "Mother Ann was not Christ, nor did she claim to be." The two can be read together: the 1823 books never say Ann Lee was Jesus returned in person. But Scripture speaks of a second appearing that all eyes will see: "every eye shall see him" (Revelation 1:7).

The Shakers hold much that Scripture holds. They confess sin to one another, as James commands. They share goods in a household as the first church did in Jerusalem. They honor the Psalms and read the Bible in every Meeting. They value women's gifts and give women a share in leadership. They teach peace; the community says it requires "never to feel any desire for revenge", and the apostle says "Avenge not yourselves" (Romans 12:19). Mother Ann is quoted as calling Christ her Lord and Savior, and the 1823 book teaches a judgment that ends in a final state for every soul. The community's statement of belief says the divine nature of Jesus "was freely recognized by Believers", that Shaker thought makes no attempt to challenge the virgin birth, and that his life, teaching and sacrificial death became their "holy rule".

The Shakers wanted a church that lived the life of the first believers, and a good part of what they kept is near what the apostles taught: confession, shared goods, open testimony, a peaceable life. They also believed that Christ had appeared a second time in their Society, and that belief carried them past the apostles on authority, baptism, the Supper, the Spirit, the body and the return of the Lord.

The line is not that the Spirit is absent. The line is that the faith was "once for all delivered unto the saints" (Jude 1:3). Those who wish to follow the Shakers' best instincts should take them to the book the Shakers read in every Meeting, and take up the water, the bread and the cup that the book commands, and the return of the Lord that it promises.

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