Editing Shakers (section)

===Origins===
The Shakers were one of a few religious groups which were formed during the 18th century in the [[North West England|northwest of England]];<ref name="Stein">{{cite book |last1=Stein |first1=Stephen J. |title=The Shaker Experience in America: A History of the United Society of Believers |date=1992 |publisher=[[Yale University Press]] |isbn=978-0-300-05933-5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UHUP_-cBln0C |access-date=7 May 2021 |language=en}}</ref>{{rp|1–8}} originating out of the [[Wardley Society]]. James and [[Jane Wardley]] and others broke off from the [[Quakers]] in 1747<ref name="Evans">{{cite book |last1=Evans |first1=F. W. (Frederick William) |author1-link=Frederick William Evans |title=Compendium of the Origin, History, Principles, Rules and Regulations, Government, and Doctrines of the United Society of Believers in Christ's Second Appearing. With Biographies of Ann Lee, William Lee, Jas. Whittaker, J. Hocknell, J. Meacham, and Lucy Wright |date=1859 |publisher=[[D. Appleton & Company]] |location=New York |url=https://archive.org/details/shakerscompendi00conggoog/page/n6/mode/2up |access-date=8 May 2021}}</ref>{{rp|20}}<ref name="Stortz">{{cite book |last1=Stortz |first1=Martha Ellen |editor1-last=Aune |editor1-first=Michael Bjerknes |editor2-last=DeMarinis |editor2-first=Valerie M. |title=Religious and Social Ritual: Interdisciplinary Explorations |date=1996 |publisher=[[SUNY Press]] |isbn=978-0-7914-2825-2 |pages=105–135 |language=en |chapter=Ritual Power, Ritual Authority: Configurations and Reconfigurations in the Era of Manifestations|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bxn6Thqm9KsC&pg=PA105}}</ref>{{rp|105}} at a time when the Quakers were weaning themselves away from frenetic spiritual expression.<ref name="Ruether">{{cite book |last1=Ruether |first1=Rosemary Radford |author1-link=Rosemary Radford Ruether |title=Women and Redemption: A Theological History |date=2011 |publisher=[[Fortress Press]] |isbn=978-1-4514-1778-4 |page=122 |access-date=8 May 2021 |language=en |chapter=Shakers and Feminist Abolitionists in Nineteenth-Century North America|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pEJzuC8VVdEC&pg=PA121}}</ref> The Wardleys formed the Wardley Society, which was also known as the "Shaking Quakers".<ref name="Clark">{{cite book |last1=Clark |first1=Bob |title=Enfield, Connecticut: Stories Carved in Stone |date=2006 |publisher=[[Dog Pond Press]] |isbn=978-0-9755362-5-4 |pages=189–196 |access-date=8 May 2021 |language=en |chapter=The Shaking Quakers|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZKAm2Eu8mJYC&pg=PA189}}</ref>

Future leader [[Ann Lee]] and her parents were early members of the sect. This group of [[Charismatic Christianity|"charismatic" Christians]] became the United Society of Believers in Christ's Second Appearing (USBCSA). Their beliefs were based upon [[Spiritualism (beliefs)|spiritualism]] and included the notion that they received messages from the [[Holy Spirit in Christianity|Holy Spirit]] which were expressed during religious revivals. They also experienced what they interpreted as messages from God during silent meditations and became known as "Shaking Quakers" because of the ecstatic nature of their worship services. They believed in the renunciation of sinful acts and that the end of the world was near.<ref name="Stortz"/><ref name="Evans"/>

Meetings were first held in [[Bolton, England]],<ref name="Evans"/> where the articulate preacher, Jane Wardley, urged her followers to:

{{Blockquote|Repent. For the [[kingdom of God]] is at hand. The new heaven and new earth prophesied of old is about to come. The marriage of the Lamb, the first resurrection, the [[new Jerusalem]] descended from above, these are even now at the door. And when Christ appears again, and the true church rises in full and transcendent glory, then all anti-Christian denominations—the priests, the Church, the pope—will be swept away.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Thompson |first1=Edward Palmer |author1-link=E. P. Thompson |title=[[The Making of the English Working Class]] |date=1980|orig-date=1963 |publisher=IICA |page=48 |language=en |chapter=Christian and Apollyon|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=l2aLyk-kacIC&pg=PA48}}</ref>}}

Other meetings were then held in [[Manchester, England|Manchester]], Meretown (also spelled Mayortown), [[Chester, England|Chester]] and other places near Manchester. As their numbers grew, members began to be persecuted,<ref name="Evans"/> mobbed, and stoned; Lee was imprisoned in Manchester.<ref name="Evans"/>{{rp|127–128, 132–137}} The members looked to women for leadership, believing that the second coming of Christ would be through a woman. In 1770, Ann Lee was revealed in "manifestation of Divine light" to be the second coming of Christ and was called Mother Ann.<ref name="Evans"/>{{rp|17–22}}