Editing Shakers (section)

===20th century to the present===
By the early 20th century, the once numerous Shaker communities were failing and closing. By mid-century, new federal laws were passed denying control of adoption to religious groups.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.shakerdigital.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=23&Itemid=40|title=Shaker Pedia|website=www.shakerdigital.com|access-date=December 24, 2017}}</ref> Today, in the 21st century, the Shaker community that still exists—The Sabbathday Lake Shaker Community—denies that Shakerism was a failed utopian experiment.<ref name="NPS" />

Their message, surviving over two centuries in the United States, reads in part as follows:
<blockquote>Shakerism is not, as many would claim, an anachronism; nor can it be dismissed as the final sad flowering of 19th century liberal utopian fervor. Shakerism has a message for this present age–a message as valid today as when it was first expressed. It teaches above all else that God is Love and that our most solemn duty is to show forth that God who is love in the World.<ref name="NPS" /></blockquote>

In 1992, [[Canterbury Shaker Village]] closed, leaving only Sabbathday Lake open. Eldress Bertha of the Canterbury Village closed their official membership book in 1957, not recognizing the younger people living in other Shaker Communities as members.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1917&dat=19881217&id=JnghAAAAIBAJ&pg=877,4794790&hl=en|title=Schenectady Gazette – Google News Archive Search|website=news.google.com|access-date=October 28, 2017|date=17 December 1988}}</ref>

On January 2, 2017, Sister Frances Carr died aged 89 at the Sabbathday community, leaving only two remaining Shakers: Brother Arnold Hadd, age 58, and Sister June Carpenter, 77.<ref name="lasttwo">{{Cite news |url=https://apnews.com/749eec6f79634be687653f0aba5773dc/1-of-the-last-remaining-Shakers-dies-at-89,-leaving-just-2 |title=1 of the Last Remaining Shakers Dies at 89, Leaving Just 2 |last=Sharp |first=David |publisher=[[Associated Press]] |date=January 4, 2017}}</ref> A profile of the Shaker community at Sabbathday Lake, published in ''The New York Times'' in September 2024, described Brother Arnold, aged 67 and Sister June, aged 86, preparing to celebrate the 250th anniversary of Ann Lee's arrival in New York. Brother Arnold said: “We’ve survived 250 years. We are looking forward as much as our ancestors did to the next — whatever that involves. All we have to do is be ready.”<ref name="NYT2024"/>

The Shakers at Sabbathday Lake "stressed the autonomy of each local community" and therefore do accept new converts to Shakerism into their community.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://theconversation.com/why-the-legacy-of-shakers-will-endure-71063|title=Why the legacy of Shakers will endure|last=Pierce|first=Joanne M.|date=18 January 2017|publisher=[[The Conversation (website)|The Conversation]]|language=en|access-date=28 August 2018|quote=However, the members at Sabbathday Lake stressed the autonomy of each local community. Quietly, a few younger people became associated with the Maine community in the 1960s through the 1980s. The two remaining members of this community, Arnold Hadd and June Carpenter, are listed as members today.}}</ref> This Sabbathday Lake Shaker Community receives around two enquiries every week.<ref name="Chiorazzi2017">{{cite web|last=Chiorazzi|first=Anthony|date=13 April 2010|title=The Last of the Shakers|url=https://bustedhalo.com/features/the-last-of-the-shakers|access-date=28 August 2018|publisher=Busted Halo|language=en|quote=Hadd and the other Shakers are not giving up. They are open to converts and average two inquiries a week.}}</ref>