The United Society of Believers in Christ’s Second Appearing, known as the Shakers, is a religious sect originally thought to be a development of the Religious Society of Friends. Founded upon the teachings of Ann Lee, Shakers today are mostly known for their cultural contributions (especially style of music and furniture).

However, the Shakers' enduring legacy includes their model of equality of the sexes (or gender equality), which they institutionalized in their society in the 1780s.

The Shakers were one of a few religious groups that formed in eighteenth-century England. New communities of “charismatic” Christians also took shape during this time. One of the most important of these new movements was the United Society of Believers in Christ’s Second Appearing (USBCSA), or the Shakers. While their monastic, communitarian life has been studied extensively, little attention has been given to Shaker preaching, particularly in the early days of the order. The first members of the group were known as “Shaking Quakers” because of the ecstatic nature of their worship services. Begun in 1747, the members looked to women for leadership. Jane Wardley and Ann Lee were the most important. Jane Wardley was an articulate preacher who urged her followers to:

Thomas Grant Gustin (born January 14, 1990), better known as Grant Gustin, is an American theater and television actor from Norfolk, Virginia.

During his high school years, Grant attended the Governor's School for the Arts program in Norfolk, Virginia for Musical Theatre. In 2008, he graduated from Granby High School and went on to attend the BFA Music Theatre Program at Elon University in North Carolina for two years.

He left school to take the role of Baby John in the Broadway Revival Tour of West Side Story, and performed with the tour from its opening on September 30, 2010 through September 23, 2011.

On November 8, 2011, he debuted on the television series Glee as Sebastian Smythe, an openly gay member of the Dalton Academy Warblers. Gustin won the recurring role of Sebastian, a promiscuous and scheming character, after "an exhaustive, weeks-long casting search". He began filming the role early on Monday, September 26, 2011, after having finished his final West Side Story performance the Friday night before.