The Fellowship (Christian organization)
The Fellowship (incorporated as Fellowship Foundation and doing business as the International Foundation), also known as The Family,[2][3] is a U.S.-based nonprofit religious and political organization founded in April 1935 by Abraham Vereide. The stated purpose of The Fellowship is to provide a fellowship forum where decision makers can attend Bible studies, attend prayer meetings, worship God, experience spiritual affirmation and receive support.
For other groups of similar name, see Fellowship (disambiguation) § Religion.Nickname
The Family
April 1935
53-0204604
- 2145 N 24th St
- Arlington, Virginia 22207-4960
- United States
Katherine Crane
- Richard Christian Halverson
former Executive Director - Senator Harold Everett Hughes
former President - Doug Burleigh
Christians in Congress
$9,687,514[a]
$10,392,191[a]
The Fellowship has been described as one of the most politically well-connected and one of the most secretly funded ministries in the United States. It shuns publicity and its members share a vow of secrecy. The Fellowship's former leader, the late Douglas Coe, and others have justified the organization's desire for secrecy by citing biblical admonitions against public displays of good works, insisting that they would not be able to tackle diplomatically sensitive missions if they drew public attention.[4]
The Fellowship holds one regular public event each year, the National Prayer Breakfast, which is in Washington, D.C. Each sitting United States president since Dwight D. Eisenhower has participated in at least one National Prayer Breakfast during his term in office.[5][6]
The group's known participants include ranking United States government officials, corporate executives, heads of religious and humanitarian aid organizations, and ambassadors and high-ranking politicians from across the world. Many United States senators and congressmen have publicly acknowledged working with the Fellowship or are documented as having worked together to pass or influence legislation.
Doug Burleigh is a key figure in the organization and has taken over organizing the National Prayer Breakfast since the death of his father-in-law, Doug Coe.[7] The current president of the organization (starting in 2017) is Katherine Crane.[8]
In Newsweek, Lisa Miller wrote that rather than calling themselves "Christians", as they describe themselves, they are brought together by common love for the teachings of Jesus and that all approaches to "loving Jesus" are acceptable.[9] In 2022, Netflix released a documentary called The Family which depicts the organization's influence on American politics throughout history.
Influence[edit]
D. Michael Lindsay, a former Rice University sociologist who studies the evangelical movement, said "there is no other organization like the Fellowship, especially among religious groups, in terms of its access or clout among the country's leadership."[17] He also reported that lawmakers mentioned the Fellowship more than any other organization when asked to name a ministry with the most influence on their faith.[2] Lindsay interviewed 360 evangelical elites, among whom "One in three mentioned [Doug] Coe or the Fellowship as an important influence."[17] Lindsay reported that it "has relationships with pretty much every world leader—good and bad—and there are not many organizations in the world that can claim that."[2]
In 1977, four years after he became an evangelical Christian and later Fellowship member, Watergate conspirator Charles Colson described the group as a "veritable underground of Christ's men all through the U.S. government."[18]
Former Kansas Governor Sam Brownback, also a former member of the Senate Prayer Group, has described Fellowship members' method of operation: "Typically, one person grows desirous of pursuing an action"—a piece of legislation, a diplomatic strategy—"and the others pull in behind."[19]
Rob Schenck, founder of the Washington, D.C. ministry Faith and Action in the Nation's Capital, described the Family's influence as "off the charts" in comparison with other fundamentalist groups, specifically compared to Focus on the Family, Pat Robertson, Gary Bauer, Traditional Values Coalition, and Prison Fellowship.[20] (These last two are associated with the Family: Traditional Values Coalition uses their C Street Center[20] and Prison Fellowship was founded by Colson.) Schenck also says that "the mystique of the Fellowship" has helped it "gain entree into almost impossible places in the capital."[4]
"The Fellowship's reach into governments around the world is almost impossible to overstate or even grasp," says David Kuo, a former special assistant in George W. Bush's Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives.[21]
The Fellowship Foundation is linked to numerous other organizations:
The Fellowship runs a three-story brick mansion in Washington D.C. known as "C Street" (133 C St SE).[67] It is the former convent for nearby St. Peter's Church. It is located a short distance from the United States Capitol. The structure has 12 bedrooms, nine bathrooms, five living rooms, four dining rooms, three offices, a kitchen, and a small "chapel".[4]
The facility houses mostly Republican members of Congress.[68] The house is also the locale for:
C Street has been the subject of controversy over its claimed tax status as a church, the ownership of the property and its connection to the Fellowship, and the reportedly subsidized benefits the facility provides to members of Congress.
Property holdings[edit]
Arlington[edit]
Fellowship Foundation purchased a large old house in 1978 in the Woodmont neighborhood of Arlington Virginia called The Doubleday Mansion (located at 2145 24th St N).[2] Now called The Cedars, the 70-acre property, located less than 3 miles from the White House and which also has quarters for volunteers, a detached two-story garage and a gardener's cottage, is zoned as a worship and teaching center. This property currently (and has for many years) serves as the headquarters for the organization.[71]
The home is also used as a center for Bible studies, counseling, hymn sings, life mentoring, prayer groups, prayer breakfasts, luncheons, dinners, and hospitality receptions for international reconciliation and conflict resolution initiatives. The home was once surrounded by cedar trees and so was renamed The Cedars (or simply Cedars). It is a historic landmark house.
Coe has described Cedars as a place "committed to the care of the underprivileged, even though it looks very wealthy." He noted that people might say, "Why don't you sell a chandelier and help poor people?" Answering his own question, Coe said, "The people who come here have tremendous influence over kids." Private documents indicate that Cedars was purchased so that "people throughout the world who carry heavy responsibilities could meet in Washington to think together, plan together and pray together about personal and public problems and opportunities."[4] Cedars hosts prayer breakfasts, luncheons and dinners for ambassadors, congressional representatives, foreign religious leaders and many others.
