Please Make Me a Chair Before You Go
January 4, 2017 11:26 AM   Subscribe

There are now only two living members of the Shaker faith. In 2016, there were three.
Their community at Sabbathday Lake was settled in 1783 and was one of more than a dozen such communities created in the New World by the Shakers, formally known as the United Society of Believers in Christ's Second Appearance.

The group fled persecution in England. It practiced equality of the sexes, pacifism, communal ownership of property and celibacy.

Sabbathday Lake is now the only such active community remaining.

The Shakers' numbers declined because members are celibate and the group stopped taking orphans like Carr, who arrived as a 10-year-old after her father died and her mother was unable to care for her.
The remaining members say they are hopeful that others will come to Sabbathday Lake to join. "It's a calling from God."
posted by notyou (48 comments total) 17 users marked this as a favorite
 
I guess when you 'shake shake shake out all that is carnal' your birth rate plummets.
posted by fixedgear at 11:32 AM on January 4, 2017 [3 favorites]


Well, not everything lasts. How many Anabaptists are there, I wonder?
posted by thelonius at 11:35 AM on January 4, 2017


According to Wikipedia, there are about 2.1 million Anabaptists worldwide as of 2015.
posted by epj at 11:39 AM on January 4, 2017 [12 favorites]


There is a solution to this. The Shakers always embraced technology and innovation. Their religion requires celibacy because they shun procreation.

But that was back in the 1750s with Mother Lee and all. Now, we have contraception that allows one not to procreate but does not require celibacy. Technology, in other words.

Shaker villages are a great idea. People living communally, working on various projects, coming together for meals, taking in people who need food and shelter, educating children without proselytizing. But the celibacy thing is going to stop most people from signing up. So ditch that requirement, but in the Shaker way of adopting technology, and keep the non-procreation tenet because there are currently plenty of sane, well-adjusted adults who do not want children.
posted by grounded at 11:40 AM on January 4, 2017 [30 favorites]


It's hard when it's an entire community that's celibate. You have to recruit from the outside.

But, you know, there were Christian communist groups that practiced free love. The Oneida Community, most famously. Somehow the Shakers managed to outlive them.
posted by maxsparber at 11:40 AM on January 4, 2017 [5 favorites]


How many Anabaptists are there, I wonder?

Anabaptists include Mennonites, Amish and Hutterites all with sizable populations.
posted by Ashwagandha at 11:40 AM on January 4, 2017 [3 favorites]


How many Anabaptists are there, I wonder?

A few, depending on how pure the purity test is: Mennonites, Amish and Hutterites are in a direct and unbroken line back to the Anabapists of the early 16th century.

As far as the Shakers though -- as long as they aren't burying their innovations with them, I can't really lament the loss of a faith, especially when the members of that faith seem ok with that.
posted by sparklemotion at 11:42 AM on January 4, 2017


I wonder why they stopped taking in orphans- was it a principled choice, or did they just run out of resources/energy/time?
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 11:48 AM on January 4, 2017 [1 favorite]


The point is, we aren't running short on religious sects.
posted by thelonius at 11:48 AM on January 4, 2017 [2 favorites]


I've always wondered how many LBGT people found a home in the Shakers. And how 'celibate' they were in a same sex sense. I've read about them a bit and visited a few of their farms but I've never seen anything on it.
posted by Bee'sWing at 11:51 AM on January 4, 2017 [1 favorite]


Yeah, I too was wondering about the stopping taking in orphans. There's a lot of kids out there in need of help, seems like a perfect fit.
posted by corb at 11:51 AM on January 4, 2017 [1 favorite]


The Oneida Community, most famously. Somehow the Shakers managed to outlive them.

But the Shakers didn't outlive that sweet Oneida flatware.
posted by fixedgear at 11:51 AM on January 4, 2017 [11 favorites]


I swear I remember reading this exact same story 20 years ago when I went to one of the villages in New Hampshire. I think their definition of what constitutes a Shaker (who signed what covenant and when, etc.) varies over time, and it makes for a good newspaper headline on a slow news day (and having one obscure elderly person at the site keeps the tourists coming).

Having said that, yeah, celibacy is a problem, but I wonder if it was more don't ask don't tell?
posted by Melismata at 11:52 AM on January 4, 2017


theolonius: Well, not everything lasts. How many Anabaptists are there, I wonder?

My Anabaptist great-grandparents had 20 kids. (Or maybe it was 22; I always forget.) Celibacy was one problem they didn't have.
posted by clawsoon at 11:53 AM on January 4, 2017 [5 favorites]


Having said that, yeah, celibacy is a problem, but I wonder if it was more don't ask don't tell?

According to the National Catholic Reporter, no more than 50 percent of priests are actually celibate, so I'm going to guess the Shakers shook in all sorts of ways on the downlow.
posted by maxsparber at 11:56 AM on January 4, 2017 [1 favorite]


The point is, we aren't running short on religious sects.

We will be when we run short on the religious's sex.

The Shaker faith is pretty attractive to me. At this point I'd be fairly ok with the celibacy thing too, but you wouldn't have gotten 20 year old me to join up and follow that rule. It is a bit surprising to me that the numbers are so low. Some of their ideals are slightly radical but not in a crazy or dangerous way and there is a lot to like about their faith and practices.
posted by Clinging to the Wreckage at 11:58 AM on January 4, 2017 [3 favorites]


Re: orphans, another article I read said that there were new laws passed that prohibited orphans being adopted by religious groups.
posted by imnotasquirrel at 11:58 AM on January 4, 2017 [1 favorite]


Mother Ann's original prophecy, I believe, said that it would come down to one and then regenerate. This could still occur.
posted by texorama at 11:59 AM on January 4, 2017 [5 favorites]


That's also the basic storyline of Highlander.
posted by maxsparber at 12:03 PM on January 4, 2017 [27 favorites]


The Shakers' numbers declined because members are celibate

I think there were two main factors in the demise of Shakerism. The first one was that their economic model broke down. From their inception to the late nineteenth century, their communal way of life and means of production made it possible for the Shakers to produce high quality goods (not only chairs and boxes and other furnishings but also textile goods, food, seeds, etc.) very efficiently and at a competitive price. But with the rise of industrialization and factory economics, they lost that edge. Their products could not be made as cheaply as factory goods, and very few people were willing to buy handmade goods at a premium price anymore, even if they were better quality.

The second factor was that societal changes meant the methods they had used to repopulate their group were no longer possible. After all, Shaker communities did last for several hundred years. The Shakers had always taken in a lot of orphans. And a mid-Victorian orphan would have been better off in a Shaker community than in so many other places they were likely to wind up (i.e., in some starveling orphanage, or as a drudge in someone's home or business). The Shaker communities were prosperous and comfortable places to live. Shaker children were well fed, well housed, and sensibly if not beautifully or fashionably dressed. They were cared for by an entire community of adults, many of whom lavished love and attention on them because they had no children of their own, and they also had the daily companionship of lots of other children. They were kept in school until they were 15, and after that taught a trade, which would been a better preparation for life and financial independence than many children of the time got. At the age of 21 they were free to leave or stay as they pleased, and if they left they could always come back, either temporarily or permanently. Nine out of ten Shaker children did leave the community, but it was still a source of some new community members.

The Shakers also took in adults on a temporary or permanent basis. There was a phenomenon called "Winter Shakers", which meant that homeless men would often show up in the fall when the weather started getting cold and it wasn't possible to sleep out of doors, remain with the community all winter, and take to the road again in the spring. These temporary Shakers benefited from receiving food, clothing and housing for the winter, and the community benefited from their labour -- everyone was expected to work. Shakers still might be able to take in the adult homeless, but thanks to contraception and improved parental mortality, there are far fewer orphaned children needing homes these days, and social services rightly want to place most of the children in their charge in a nuclear family, not in a religious commune.

I agree with maxsparber that if there's ever to be a resurgent Shakerism, it should be revamped in order to ditch the celibacy thing, because VERY few people are going to be willing to commit to that. Contraception would take the place of chastity as it has in secular life.
posted by orange swan at 12:06 PM on January 4, 2017 [33 favorites]


Shakers were never historically as big a group as some other Anabaptists, celibacy likely keeping them in check. But I wonder if part of the issues with longevity & size are due to a lack of strong internal cultural connections. Belief is all well and good but it is the other stuff that helps provide more of the community glue... My experience with Anabaptists is mostly with Mennonites (I married into the family) and I've noticed that even when there is less religiosity in the descendants the identity of being a Mennonite is pretty strong even if it is just about eating vareneki & schmaunt fat. I'm also often impressed with their strong tradition of keeping alive personal narratives of their forefathers - I've met many younger relatives who may not know their plumi moos from their paska but know the stories of their ancestors better than their own.
posted by Ashwagandha at 12:09 PM on January 4, 2017 [2 favorites]


There is much to admire about the Shaker way of life. Tis a Gift to Be Simple indeed. I have visited Pleasant Hill in KY which is a beautifully preserved (no longer active) Shaker village. It's gorgeous and they say that in addition to orphans, that particular community took in runaway slaves and deserters from the Civil War. They make a mean lemon pie there.

Also... If I was starting my own religious community and I had been forced into an unwanted marriage and then had 4 children die at birth or early infancy, I would probably list celibacy as a main tenet of my religion too.
posted by pjsky at 12:14 PM on January 4, 2017 [13 favorites]


Shameless self-link here, but if you're interested in reading about Shaker craftsmanship and design, I'd recommend this post from my knitting blog. A Shaker museum's FB page asked me to post it to their page awhile back, so I think it's fairly solid on facts and insight.
posted by orange swan at 12:18 PM on January 4, 2017 [8 favorites]


I think that, in an era when there was no reliable contraception (people have always tried to limit births, but the methods were chancy, dangerous, and/or relied on the man being willing to pull out or wear a condom), childbirth was risky, infant mortality was high, and women had few individual rights in marriage, celibacy - at least for women - was much more attractive. Hell, I'd have joined the Shakers in a hot New York minute. There was a lot to recommend the lifestyle back then. What made the beguinages attractive probably made the Shakers a draw, too. And hey, nice furniture and good food!

I think such communities could be revamped and tailored to better fit in to modern society.
posted by Rosie M. Banks at 12:22 PM on January 4, 2017 [2 favorites]


Ashwagandha, a minor nit: Shakers weren't Anabaptists, though they came to some of the same conclusions as Anabaptists did.

Yes, there are plenty of Anabaptists around, especially in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. (I'm a North American Mennonite myself).
posted by willF at 12:38 PM on January 4, 2017 [5 favorites]


You're right of course, my apologies. My Menno inlaws tend to lump them in together with themselves and I've picked up that habit.
posted by Ashwagandha at 12:44 PM on January 4, 2017


If you feel the need to join a group that is pacifist, loving, religious, communal:


Welcome to the Bruderhof

We are an intentional Christian community of more than 2,700 people living in twenty-three settlements on four continents. We are a fellowship of families and singles, practicing radical discipleship in the spirit of the first church in Jerusalem. We gladly renounce private property and share everything in common. Our vocation is a life of service to God, each other, and you.
posted by Postroad at 12:44 PM on January 4, 2017 [1 favorite]


celibacy is a problem, but I wonder if it was more don't ask don't tell?

Well, presumably not for hetero folks, because getting knocked up is a pretty sure tell. But if you're not running that particular risk..? I'd imagine things went on.

But then again, maybe I'm prone to think that because I find the idea of a bunch of people voluntarily choosing celibacy for religious reasons and sticking to it intrinsically a bit suspect. (The numbers, e.g. of allegedly-celibate priests, do seem to bear out my cynicism to some extent, though.)

grounded's idea seems like a reasonable solution if they were interested in recruiting more members, although it seems like part of their belief system involves their numbers dwindling to near-zero before rebounding, so perhaps that's never been a strong motivator for them.

It does seem a bit surprising, viewed in the abstract, that more community-centered religious (or even secular) groups haven't adopted rigorous use of contraception as an alternative to either celibacy—whether complete or just hetero—or the complexities of group child-rearing with uncertain paternity. (Or even just the stresses placed on communal resource-sharing and -ownership once children get added into the mix, even if you aren't doing the whole Oneida free-love / complex marriage thing.) Though I guess, viewed on the scale of human civilization generally, reliable contraception is new enough that maybe we just haven't given it enough time yet.
posted by Kadin2048 at 12:49 PM on January 4, 2017


I went to the Sabbathday Lake community when I originally moved to Maine in 2011 (and I want to go back again.)

It's a lovely place, but it's also fascinating that it's the one last active Shaker community. It was for a very long time the poorest and considered the least likely to survive of them. They have an amazing meeting house painted with paint that only they have the precise recipe for (it's a gorgeous blue) that's been that color since they built the Meeting House in 1794 (their best guess based on records is that Satan hates the color blue), there are songs sung at their services that have never been written down.

And Brother Arnold Hadd is apparently a sucker for stray sheep - they have a very mixed flock because he keeps taking in random sheep that no one else wants, which is delightful.
posted by modernhypatia at 12:51 PM on January 4, 2017 [12 favorites]


When I was a late-blooming 15 year old being sexually harassed by male "friends" on the daily, I dreamed of running away to live with the Shakers.
posted by soren_lorensen at 1:47 PM on January 4, 2017 [1 favorite]


The Shakers also took in adults on a temporary or permanent basis. There was a phenomenon called "Winter Shakers", which meant that homeless men would often show up in the fall when the weather started getting cold and it wasn't possible to sleep out of doors, remain with the community all winter, and take to the road again in the spring. These temporary Shakers benefited from receiving food, clothing and housing for the winter, and the community benefited from their labour -- everyone was expected to work. Shakers still might be able to take in the adult homeless,

Why isn't that a thing? Homeless people need places to stay all year 'round, and especially in winter. There's room. Wouldn't work for all, because many homeless wouldn't want it. I'll bet there are homeless women that would jump at the chance....
posted by BlueHorse at 2:46 PM on January 4, 2017


The Shakers have been women only for something like 50 years. And they have a lot of assets, so they have to protect themselves from opportunists. I don't think it is something that can be turned around.
posted by Bee'sWing at 2:53 PM on January 4, 2017


Hell, I'd have joined the Shakers in a hot New York minute. There was a lot to recommend the lifestyle back then. What made the beguinages attractive probably made the Shakers a draw, too. And hey, nice furniture and good food!

Not to mention that it sounds really awesome to live in a community where labour is so organized that you have your own specific job to do and everything else is done for you. Still doesn't make up for the celibacy thing, but the simplicity and focus and security of that life must have been such a relief to so many of those who joined.

Bronson Alcott (father of Louisa May Alcott) famously wanted to join the Shakers at one point in Louisa's childhood, but his wife put her foot down (and ground her heel) on that idea. The Shakers had much to offer single people or orphaned children, but it was a completely different matter for a family to join. The men, women, and the children all slept in separate dormitories. Families that joined would have seen little of each other.
posted by orange swan at 3:44 PM on January 4, 2017 [1 favorite]


Why isn't that a thing? Homeless people need places to stay all year 'round, and especially in winter. There's room. Wouldn't work for all, because many homeless wouldn't want it.

It might have been different in Victorian times when there was less of a social safety net, but these days most homeless people have substance abuse and/or mental health problems, and small or tiny Shaker communities wouldn't have the resources to deal with those issues.
posted by orange swan at 3:55 PM on January 4, 2017 [2 favorites]


Winter Shakers were often poor farmers who moved in with the Shakers after the harvest and then would leave again in spring.
posted by grounded at 4:24 PM on January 4, 2017 [1 favorite]


re Anabaptists: all Christians who practice adult baptism are following their tradition. And I believe the anglophone Baptists are also directly in their line.
posted by jb at 4:24 PM on January 4, 2017


Baptists don't trace back to Anabaptist groups, and it's controversial whether there was any influence at all there.
posted by vibratory manner of working at 4:30 PM on January 4, 2017 [2 favorites]


really? all I know is that there were Baptists running around England in the 1650s, and I thought they were linked to baptist / Anabaptist movements on the continent. Anabaptist just means "re-baptized". But maybe experts distinguish more finely.
posted by jb at 4:33 PM on January 4, 2017


I wonder how much individual freedom is permitted for personal and political views (eg whether some sexualities are more sinful than others). Also, what their vacation policy is like.
posted by notquitemaryann at 5:20 PM on January 4, 2017


There is a solution to this. The Shakers always embraced technology and innovation. Their religion requires celibacy because they shun procreation.

Damn. Thought you were going to go with cloning there.
posted by Halloween Jack at 8:56 PM on January 4, 2017 [1 favorite]


I'm surprised that Mefites would be pretty OK with the idea of orphans being taken and indoctrinated by a cult with what seems to me a false and crushingly restricted conception of a good human life. It seems a scandal to me.
posted by Segundus at 1:58 AM on January 5, 2017


I am an orphan and was adopted into a religious group.

Judaism. I would wager a majority of adoptees wind up in families with some sort of religion.

I don't think religious groups as a whole should be allowed to communally adopt children, but I sure don't think that individually people should be denied the opportunity to adopt because a stranger on the internet disapproves of their religion.
posted by maxsparber at 4:33 AM on January 5, 2017 [3 favorites]


I'm surprised that Mefites would be pretty OK with the idea of orphans being taken and indoctrinated by a cult with what seems to me a false and crushingly restricted conception of a good human life. It seems a scandal to me.

You have to remember, this was in the 18th and 19th centuries. Adoption, as we know it today, didn't exist. If poor orphans had many opportunities to be adopted into loving, stable families, Charles Dickens wouldn't have had a career. People were not lining up to adopt these children, believe me.

Most orphans from poor families led hardscrabble, unloved lives. Especially for girls, adoption into a culture that believed in gender equality, and offered a prosperous and dignified life, would be a good deal in comparison to what they could otherwise expect.
posted by Rosie M. Banks at 5:33 AM on January 5, 2017 [1 favorite]


I'm surprised that Mefites would be pretty OK with the idea of orphans being taken and indoctrinated by a cult

What evidence is there of indoctrination?

Written above: "At the age of 21 they were free to leave or stay as they pleased, and if they left they could always come back, either temporarily or permanently. Nine out of ten Shaker children did leave the community, but it was still a source of some new community members."

Barring evidence that those Shaker children that left had huge emotional issues akin to what people in various other religious "cults" suffer when they leave, then the suggestion seems to be that orphans grew up happily in Shakerville, and when they came of age buggered off wherever they so desired because they were independent men and women with their own desires and wills and the Shaker communities were perfectly okay with this.
posted by Dalby at 5:38 AM on January 5, 2017 [2 favorites]


@theolnius: There are even Anabaptists on MetaFilter. (For some reason, Brethren are often overlooked.)
posted by koavf at 9:56 AM on January 5, 2017 [1 favorite]


I keep thinking that the story of a Shaker-raised young adult who leaves the community to make their own place in the world would make an excellent premise for a novel.
posted by orange swan at 10:01 AM on January 5, 2017


ask and ye shall receive, orange swan:

the story of a Shaker-raised young adult who leaves the community to make their own place in the world

It kind of really goes off the rails after that initial description, honestly, but the Shakery bits are fun.
posted by ivan ivanych samovar at 10:11 AM on January 5, 2017


That wasn't quite the novel I had in mind, ivan, but I suppose if I'm going to be so choosy I should write it myself.
posted by orange swan at 12:41 PM on January 5, 2017


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