The Shakers...and love!

I believe they were briefly brought up in class a few days ago, so I thought I might post something about this article.  But first, let's do a bit of background information on the Shakers themselves.  The Shakers were a new religious movement founded in the 19th century by Mother Ann Lee and are more formally known as the United Society of Believers in Christ's Second Appearing.  In a nutshell, their core principles are: restorationism, celibacy, communitarianism, pacifism, simplicity, and God as a father-mother.  Although at their height there were nearly 5,000 members, today there are apparently only three Shakers left, all of whom reside in Sabbathday Lake, Maine.  Due to the celibacy rule, it's hard for them to get new members.  However, there used to be four Shakers until very recently.  This article below describes the love story between a Boston Globe journalist, Stacey Chase, and the youngest of the remaining Shakers, Brother Wayne.  Apparently, Chase was sent to the Sabbathday Lake community to write a story on the Shakers when she met Wayne Smith.  This started what sounds like a romance straight out of some random movie.  You know, the whole star-crossed lovers, secret phone calls, "forbidden love" type thing.  Anyway, what eventually happened was that Wayne renounced his vow of celibacy after 26 years and married Stacey at a Methodist Church in Vermont.

http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/magazine/articles/2010/02/28/he_left_the_shakers_for_love/