Fellowship. I grew up in the Bible Belt where that word gets used a lot. It can be used as a noun: "Come to the Ladies Fellowship!", "After our quarterly business meeting, we'll have a finger food fellowship." (in Baptist churches, "Thou shalt always alliterate" might as well be the 11th commandment), or as a verb: "It was great fellowshipping with you!"

The word is widely used, but what does it really mean? Is it just some Christianese for getting people together and talking...about anything...even if it's just the weather?

The Dictionary of Americanisms (Bartlett, 1848) says that

To fellowship with, is to hold communion with; to unite with in doctrine and discipline.

So to fellowship is to hold communion (to commune), and to unite around doctrine. Interesting.

The greek word koinonia (κοινωνία) has a similar meaning:

Christian fellowship...literally "communion, fellowship," from koinos "common, ordinary"

This also points out the necessity of communing and uniting around something common to all participants.

People naturally gather around common interests:

  • hobbies (fishing, hiking, sports, quilting)
  • occupations
  • tastes (in art, music, movies, food)
  • religious distinctives (e.g. one "holy catholic church", but many local bodies)
  • etc.

When people gather for any of these, they have a particular telos (ultimate aim, end) in mind: to catch some fish, to discuss their career with peers, to share admiration for a particular type of art, to discuss a theological point and its implication in their lives.

Fellowship happens around a commonality, within a community, and towards a shared, ultimate goal (telos, τέλος). Without a unifying subject, what are we to commune (to communicate intimately) around? At best we will be amiable acquaintances discussing the day's weather.