What Is Fellowship?
A friend of mine who is a minister in one of the mainstream denominations got himself severely roasted by his church elders two or three years ago for appearing on a radio programme and making the following statement;
‘If I had my way,’ he said, ‘I would abolish the traditional Sunday morning service. I would drag out the neat rows of pews and arrange chairs in a circle instead. Then I’d walk around in the middle. I would quote a couple of verses of Scripture perhaps, or make an observation about some relevant or current topic and then I’d say, “What do you think about that?”
'And we would debate, people would be free to ask questions one of another, they would engage, they would learn and discuss. In other words, we would have fellowship, and the chances are we’d leave the place feeling encouraged.
‘As it is,’ he added, ‘they trot into church, sit in their usual seat, stare at the back of somebody’s head for half an hour and trot back home again. That’s not fellowship!’