Status Updates From Ann the Word: The Story of ...

I’m trying to picture the charismatic church I went to for a while deciding to tone things down, go formal, choreograph the shaking and dancing and falling out. It sounds kind of sad. But again ritual and structure are important for a religion to keep its shape and continue on.

It’s interesting too that the early group was so big on converting people, seeing that the church is almost dead due to their no marriage and lack of proselytizing

Explanation that’s Ann’s death changed the shaker religion is interesting. Described as charismatic, again I picture what I’ve seen at Assembly of God churches, a wild letting go, giving up to the Holy Spirit. They explain Ann thought the world was ending soon any time. I’ve loved with that, but in a different way. So maybe the choreographed dances I’ve seen are more accurate to the later shakers

I watched some shaker worship" to understand. it's choreographed and staid...I don't think that was it. I think it's much more free and unhindered, like Pentecostals which I'm familiar with. I feel like this is the precursor to those small churches with doctrine base on what the preacher wants to say. Which can be great but also dark. I feel the fight for religious freedom in young America was important for us now

I've changed my opinion about more informal religion through the years. As an agnostic I've come to see that informal religion left to disorganized interpretation can be awful, deadly. This wild story of a dead man claiming to be immortal left in his chair until the heat made it indisputable is fascinating, but also who knows how many times things happened like this in the wilds of America with no one to record

Started reading the Debra McClung. Very interesting.