Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Shakers & Mormons

Part of the same religious experience that shook the 19th century, Mormons continue to have a fascination with Shakers. The reverse might be true, but since I recently heard there are only three shakers left (in Sabbathday Lake, Maine) I'm not sure they think about us at all.
D&C 49 describes a missionary call to the Shakers. I won't fill up the space here with details you can read on your own. But I will say I spent the 15th of September at a South Union KY, a former Shaker community now turned into a museum. Though not exactly Mormon History, the events surrounding the various Shaker communities strike a familiar chord. Aspects of early Mormonism that I find interesting are present in the Shaker faith. Other posts elsewhere recently have touched on this too. I found an historic one here and a modern connection here. Even separated by over a century, Mormons find the attraction compelling.

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