Editing Antoinism (section)

===Membership===
There are four categories of Antoinists: ''desservants'' who perform worship, people who wear the religious clothing, regular faithful who attend the service every week, and occasional members or visitors.<ref name="Deric132">[[#Dericquebourg|Dericquebourg, 1993]], p. 132.</ref> As its aim is to heal and comfort through faith, Antoinism does not seek to convert new people.<ref>{{cite book |title=La France aux cent sectes |first=Jean-Pierre |last=Van Geirt |publisher=Vauvenargues |place=Manchecourt |year=1997 |page=45 |language=fr |isbn=2-7443-0049-7}}</ref> The number of followers is difficult to assess as there are no statistics established by the religion.<ref>{{cite journal |journal=Mouvements Religieux |first=Regis |last=Dericquebourg |author-link=Régis Dericquebourg |title=Les groupes religieux minoritaires&nbsp;— Aspects et problématiques |publisher=Association d'Étude et d'Information sur les Mouvements Religieux |place=Sarreguemines |page=38 |language=fr |issn=0242-7931}}</ref> After a period of rapid growth in Belgium, the number of followers is currently on the decline in the country and some temples were forced to close due to lack of money or faithful; for example, in 2003, Human Rights Without Frontiers counted less than 150 worshipers in the country.<ref>{{cite web|title=Religious Freedom Intolerance Discrimination in the European Union — Belgium 2002–2003 |publisher=Human Rights Without Frontiers |url=http://www.hrwf.net/religiousfreedom/publications/ext/Belgium.pdf |location=Bruxelles |page=3 |access-date=1 April 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070722084938/http://www.hrwf.net/religiousfreedom/publications/ext/Belgium.pdf |archive-date=22 July 2007 }}</ref> In France, however, the religion remains active and counts about 2,500 regular members.<ref name="Soir"/> Estimates of the worldwide membership vary from few thousand to 200,000.<ref name="AN">{{Cite web |title=Rapport fait au nom de la Commission d'enquête sur les sectes&nbsp;— "Les sectes en France" |url=https://www.assemblee-nationale.fr/rap-enq/r2468.asp |publisher =Assemblée Nationale |language=fr |year=1995 |access-date=10 September 2010}}</ref> The future growth of the number of followers, however, can be affected by certain rules of the group. As it does not practice proselytism, Antoinism suffers from a lack of social visibility and many people are unaware even of Antoinist temples in their neighborhood.<ref>[[#Dericquebourg|Dericquebourg, 1993]], p. 8.</ref> Moreover, because of the availability required for worship and the absence of income in the religion, dressed members and ''desservants'' are often old-age retired people.<ref name="B0812"/>

Mainly composed of 40- to 50-year-old people and a majority of women,<ref name="Deric132"/> the membership is almost the same as that which was attracted by Spiritism in Belgium in the 19th century. The followers have mostly modest social status, such as [[miners]] and [[artisans]],<ref>[[#Dericquebourg|Dericquebourg, 1993]], p. 119.</ref> and are generally people interested in spirituality, but who are at odds with the Catholic Church or display a skeptical attitude towards traditional medicine.<ref>[[#Dericquebourg|Dericquebourg, 1993]], p. 124.</ref> Antoinists are also sometimes Jews,<ref>[[#Dericquebourg|Dericquebourg, 1993]], p. 130.</ref> Muslims,<ref>Dericquebourg, Régis (12 November 2009) (in French), "De la Belgique à Caudry: l'Antoinisme, une religion de guérison" [conference], Cambrai</ref> Buddhists,<ref>[[#Begot2|Bégot, 2000]], § 31.</ref> adepts of [[reiki]], [[yoga]], or [[tai chi]],<ref>[[#Begot3|Bégot, 2008]], p. 13.</ref> or former Catholics.<ref name="R136"/> An accurate depiction of Antoinists of Northern France was made by writer [[:fr:André Thérive|André Thérive]] in his 1928 novel ''Without Soul'' (''Sans âme'').<ref>[[#Vivier|Vivier, 1989]], p. 374.</ref> In 1945, Debouxhtay described followers as "very kind, very charitable and very obliging people".<ref>[[#Debouxhtay|Debouxhtay, 1945]], p. 29.</ref>