faith

Gotta Have Faith

Billy Rankin

Billy Rankin, Vice President of Public Programming and Marketing

Excitement and Worry

Each time a new exhibit installation takes place in the Village, I’m filled with equal parts excitement and worry. This is especially true when the exhibit will be “permanent,” and is being installed in one of the most significant buildings at Pleasant Hill!

The built environment at Pleasant Hill is the physical embodiment of Shaker heritage in central Kentucky. Each building speaks to multiple aspects of Shaker life. The iconic architecture of these historic spaces has long inspired visitors to the Village. As historians and preservationists, our goal is to craft experiences that add depth to this inspiration by interpreting the story of the Pleasant Hill Shakers.

In July, we shared plans for The Believers. This new exhibition will explore the faith and theology of the Shakers, and is currently being installed on the second floor of the 1820 Meeting House.

Bringing Spirit to the Space

When we began planning The Believers, our team quickly realized the opportunity at hand.

Every visitor to Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill comes with their own set of individual beliefs. They may be religious beliefs, but can also be embodied by a personal philosophy, or set of values. Although our interpretive staff do a wonderful job leading guided tours and conducting Shaker music programs in the Meeting House, many visitors to the building come outside those program times. For them, it is an empty space, and they must “fill in the blanks.”

The Pleasant Hill Shakers were renowned for the fervor of their worship, and the depth of their faith. They endeavored to live their lives without sin. They sought to create Heaven on Earth. This was the reason for their society, and their mission.

The goal of The Believers is to encourage our visitors to learn more about why the Shakers lived, not just how. By doing this, we hope that in some small way guests to Pleasant Hill consider their own purpose, and how their personal beliefs impact every decision they make, building their world around them.

Join Us

On Friday, September 22 at 6:00 p.m. Shaker Village will host the grand opening of The Believers. This is a free event, with online registration still available. Funding for the Believers and our grand opening has been provided by a generous contribution from the Eli Lilly Endowment.

Until then, I hope you enjoy these preview photos from our ongoing installation!

Follow Our Progress

Expect to hear more about the progress of our Long-Range Plan projects on social media, through emails and on the Shaker Village blog. We hope you follow along!

If you have questions about master site planning at Shaker Village, or if you would like to support our efforts, please reach out to our Vice President of Public Programming & Marketing, Billy Rankin at brankin@shakervillageky.org or 859.734.1574.

This is the thirteenth article in an ongoing series outlining long-range planning at Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill. New to the series? You can visit our previous articles here:

Sister Charlotte Tann: Strengthened by Faith

Shaker Village

Holly Wood, Music Program Specialist

“And I am thankful I was called into the gospel when I was a child, and I am also thankful I can say, that I never turned my back on the way of God although I have had some very trying scenes of trouble and distress to pass through . . .” {1} – Sister Charlotte Tann at Pleasant Hill, Kentucky, 1841.

Based off census records, the far right figure is probably Charlotte Tann. c. 1870s

Here are a few examples of those “trying scenes”:

  • Living in the chaos of the 1811 New Madrid earthquake on the Western frontier, where aftershocks disrupted the isolated community for months.
  • The War of 1812 caused thirteen year old Charlotte Tann to flee from West Union Shaker Village with hundreds of pacifist Shakers on a 431 mile journey to safety.
  • Returning home after two years of war to discover her entire village destroyed.
  • Orphaned at age fifteen.
  • The closing of her childhood Shaker community and removal to Pleasant Hill, Kentucky.

When the Indiana community formally closed, Charlotte Tann was assigned by the Shaker ministry to live as a free person of color in Kentucky, a slave owning state.

How did this woman of faith, this unsung pioneer, face the difficulties of her life?

Tann’s testimony reflects the perseverance of a woman who’s trying life did not break her. She survived loss, disease, war and grappled with societal inequities while staying devoted and strengthened by the faith.

“And now I will give myself up to Mother and her good work, and labor to gather in a substance and treasure up the gospel into my own soul, for it is my unshaken faith and resolution to abide and endure to the end, let what will come.” {2}

Her faith compelled her to heal and to flourish. As believers in gender equality, the Shakers recognized the spiritual gifts of both women and men. Pleasant Hill had a wealth of women who wrote beautiful Shaker hymns and, unlike so many women in the world, the Shaker women were recognized as the composers.

Image of “Give Ear O My Children” from Benjamin Dunlavy’s Song Book, 1844-45.

Sister Charlotte was referred to as an “inspired instrument,” or, led by God to compose. She wrote many songs, including “Give Ear O My Children,” which admonishes all bondage and hails freedom, love and kindness as the tools to gain entry to Mother’s heaven above.

Upon the passing of this resilient woman in 1875, the Pleasant Hill Shakers reflected on her as a tower of faith:

  “And thus has fallen another Veteran that has stood since childhood through many trying scenes . . . She is worthy of much honor, for She has been a faithful and zealous Surporter of the cause.” {3}

Learn more about Sister Charlotte Tann, and the stories of other Shakers from Pleasant Hill, on tours conducted daily at Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill.

{1} Testimony of Charlotte Tann, “Testimonies of the Pleasant Hill Shakers,” WR-VI-B49 pp. 38-40
{2} Ibid
{3} Filson Club:  Bohon Shaker Collection.  Volume 16 of 40 volumes. 
A Ministerial Journal.  October 24, 1868 – September 30, 1880.  March 15, 1875. Page 140.