Abstract
Religious practices among the Canterbury Shakers underwent a dramatic shift during the first three decades of the twentieth century. Canterbury’s leaders prioritized the community’s industries and economic pursuits, which often resulted in the cancellation of communal worship in favor of work, even on the Sabbath. Some new modes of religious expression filled this void, such as the staging of elaborate theatricals, the composition and performance of new music by groups of sisters, and individual Believers’ independent religious practices, but these all failed to exert the same unifying force as Canterbury’s earlier communal worship. Influenced by a generation of progressive leaders and inspired by members’ experiences out in the World, the Canterbury Shakers also embraced mainstream Protestant Christianity and dismissed or downplayed aspects of Shakerism that were out of sync with other denominational beliefs. Perhaps the most troubling change at Canterbury was the leadership’s ambivalence towards their children’s religious education. Many sisters remained deeply committed to their faith on a very personal level, but Canterbury’s evolving approach to religious praxis had serious repercussions for the future of the community as a whole.
Date
4-1-2025
Volume
19
Number
2
First Page
125
Last Page
154
Journal Title
American Communal Societies Quarterly
ISSN
1939-473X
