Finding Fellowship
A film about belonging and building community in a divided world.
April 4, 1968. Three racially segregated churches, born out of the Civil War, each had fallen on hard financial times. The Black church gathered one evening to discuss its uncertain future. As members debated the consequences of merging with the two local white congregations, the minister interrupted to announce that Martin Luther King, Jr. had just been murdered. Finding Fellowship captures a meaningful story of how the seeds for reconciliation were planted in the same fields where slave masters once terrorized.
Despite King’s assassination, though others argue because of it, the three churches voted to merge their congregations into one. In September 1968, each had its last racially segregated service.
The reality is… not every member stayed. Each church lost members. And the hardest decision wasn't to come together… but to stay together. Yet, because of their efforts, Fairhaven United Methodist Church has celebrated over 50 years of purposeful integration.
Buildings didn't merge. People did. The descendants of former slaves and former slave owners. Together in fellowship.
Finding Fellowship is a story of what is possible. It reminds us that diverse people purposefully coming together - hand in hand and heart to heart - is one of the most powerful forces the world has ever known. Even more important, the capacity to come together has always been, and will always be, ours.
As the country again explores our depths of division, the film offers an important examination of how one community came together in the wake of historic civil unrest. and offers an example of how communities can lean on their shared heritage to progress.
Finding Fellowship reminds us that we each have the ability and responsibility to shape our communities.
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