Fellowship of Hope (Elkhart, Indiana, USA)

Walter Hochstetler, a prime organizer of the early Fellowship of Hope, speaking to the group in September 1975 at the Fellowship's garden near Middlebury, Indiana. Source: Verlin Miller. Used with permission.

Fellowship of Hope, 2023. Photo by Verlin Miller. Used with permission.

The Fellowship of Hope began in 1970 from a small group formed at Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminaries (now Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary) in Elkhart, Indiana. The group felt called to live together as closely as possible, to simple living, and to learn together what following Jesus could mean in life. The participants formed an intentional Christian community in which they lived in extended households and shared their lives and property in south central Elkhart, in a transitional neighborhood. Their central meetingplace was on Compton Avenue in Elkhart.

Keith Harder, a leader of the group, explained how the common treasury worked:

The common treasury of Fellowship of Hope functions in a simple way. All income and assets are pooled in one bank account. Money is disbursed in three ways: 1. Certain expenses are paid directly out of the group account. These include medical expenses, housing, and transportation. 2. Money for food and other household expenses is distributed on a prorated basis to the household, depending on its size and composition. 3. Personal allowances are distributed monthly on an equalized basis for clothing, minor education-recreational expenses, personal hygiene, personal gifts. Adjustments in allowances and other special expenditures for special needs or interests are often made. Requests for extra expenditures are tested with others and honored when possible. In principle, there is no private property, for all is available to others.

In about 1976, the Fellowship of Hope joined the Indiana-Michigan Mennonite Conference of the Mennonite Church (MC). The separately identified Fellowship of Hope Church began in 1978 as another way to participate in the community. In 1982, the group purchased the nearby meetinghouse on South Sixth Street as the location of its church.

The group operated a neighborhood preschool and routinely organized summer activities for neighborhood children. At its peak, a congregation of 160 people (including children) supported a staff of four full-time elders with pastoral responsibilities, one secretary, a bookkeeper, preschool teachers, and a car mechanic. Members shared a common meal on Sunday evenings and met in small groups. They met for business on Wednesday nights, common meals on Thursday nights, and worked together on projects on Saturdays. Members lived in households ranging in size from four to 11.

The intentional community proved to be stressful as egalitarian ideals did not match leadership imperatives, and reactions to hierarchical leadership emerged. In 1980, the Fellowship of Hope dropped the requirement of a common treasury for membership. The reasons for doing so included a desire to better serve persons putting their lives back together or who were in a transition period in their lives. Another issue was dealing with children, who, growing up, might not have the same commitment to a community of goods. The Fellowship of Hope disbanded the common treasury completely in 1985.

In the early 1990s, the Fellowship of Hope began a monthly men's breakfast group. Before long, they invited participants from nearby African American churches. In 2013, when a murder took place across the street from the Fellowship of Hope, the group's focus turned to issues of racism and community violence in an inter-racial context.

Bibliography

Denlinger, Rachel A. "Elkhart Men's Breakfast Group." Gospel Evangel 95, no. 3 (May/June 2014): 1, 4-5.

Groff, Anna. "Mennonite young adults show renewed interest in intentional communities." TheMennonite 12, no. 5 (3 March 2009): 20-21. https://anabaptistworld.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/03-03-2009-A-fair-balance.pdf.

Harder, Keith. "A common treasury: one way." Gospel Herald 68, no. 47 (9 December 1975): 874-876.

Janzen, David. "Fellowship of Hope." Gospel Evangel 87, no. 7 (November 2006): 5-6.

"Our history." Fellowship of Hope. 2023. Web. 16 May 2024. http://fellowshipofhope.org/history.

Preheim, Rich. In Pursuit of Faithfulness: Conviction, Conflict, and Compromise in Indiana-Michigan Mennonite Conference. Harrisonburg, Va.: Herald Press, 2016: 232, 308.

Price, Tom. "God's work continues on a sure foundation." Gospel Herald 87, no. 9 (1 March 1994): 6-7.

Yoder, John D. "Discipleship in different forms." Gospel Herald 77, no. 35 (28 August 1984): 597-599.

Additional Information

Address: 1618 South Sixth Street Elkhart, Indiana 46516

Phone: 574-294-1416

Website: http://fellowshipofhope.org/

Denominational Affiliations: Indiana-Michigan Mennonite Conference

Mennonite Church USA

Pastoral Leaders at Fellowship of Hope Church

Name	Years of Service
Keith Harder (Elder/Pastor)	1970-1984
Keith Kingsley (Elder/Pastor)	1970-1993
Nina B. Bartelt Lanctot	1991?-1998
Sanford Boshart (Interim)	1993-1994
Phil Waite (Summer)	1995
James M. Isaacs	1995-1999
Linda Nofsinger	Spring 1999
Mark Hurst (Interim)	Fall 1999
Robert Weidman	1999-2005?
Joshua Yoder	2000-2005
Rhoda Schrag	2005-2007
Elyzabeth Ann "Liz" Weaver	2007-2009
Suella Lehman Gerber	2009-2022
Sharon Norton (Transitional)	2023-

Fellowship of Hope Church Membership

Year	Members
1974	25
1980	48
1990	70
2000	57
2009	48
2020	30

Author(s)	Samuel J Steiner
Date Published	May 2024

Cite This Article

MLA style

Steiner, Samuel J. "Fellowship of Hope (Elkhart, Indiana, USA)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. May 2024. Web. 21 Nov 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Fellowship_of_Hope_(Elkhart,_Indiana,_USA)&oldid=178934.

APA style

Steiner, Samuel J. (May 2024). Fellowship of Hope (Elkhart, Indiana, USA). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 21 November 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Fellowship_of_Hope_(Elkhart,_Indiana,_USA)&oldid=178934.

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