Fellowship

Andrew Jones redeems the word ‘fellowship’ here: TallSkinnyKiwi: Fellowship Reimagined. It’s a refreshing and challenging read in the light of the ways in which I often encounter the word in church life. Fellowship is about what we have ‘in common’ (koinonia in the Greek). Fundamentally we have Christ in common as Christians, so we share him and share in him. But then as a result we have life together in common, which means the sharing of physical and material things, too. It’s far removed from the easy way in which the word is downgraded in church circles: ‘We had a good time of fellowship’ just tries to spiritualise ‘We had a good time’. Yes, but what did we share? What did we have in common? Apart from a warm fuzzy feeling, that is?

I’m tired of clichés masquerading as spirituality. My deepest experiences of fellowship are centred around two groups. The first was my time studying at Trinity College, Bristol, and I found fellowship on at least two levels there. One was among the group of guys in the hall of residence. We were the ‘D Corridor Gang’. Although we got up to silly stuff (especially on April Fool’s Day) we prayed together every week, using our ‘Book of Corridor Prayers’. They supported me when I had lung surgery. We supported another when he suffered from depression. When I was in hospital one of my friends was at Bristol Temple Meads train station with his car to meet my mother. And so on.

On a wider level in the college the generosity among a group of people surviving on the limited income of students was remarkable. Perhaps the most moving was when a student from Singapore lost her mother back home. She couldn’t afford to fly home for the funeral. The student body made sure she did.

My second deep experience of fellowship came during my first appointment in the ministry. I was single in those days and when I arrived in the town the local URC minister (herself also single) knew I would need support and graciously encouraged me to join one of the home groups in her church. She never felt threatened. Those people – and some associated ones from other churches who came together to form an ecumenical youth ministry – became among my dearest friends ever. When I had a broken engagement two of them were on the doorstep: ‘We’ve come to take you out to lunch.’ We helped one couple move house. On the day when I was looking at which appointment to move on to, one couple turned up with lunch to share with me. We worshipped together, and yes we had pizza and wine together while watching videos in those pre-DVD days. Many of us have dispersed to different parts of the country since then and the links are much weaker. I don’t think I’ve ever had a better bunch of friends.

When I left I probably thought I would easily encounter the same in other Christian circles. I rarely have. That’s crazy, isn’t it?

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