The Fellowship (Christian organization)

The Fellowship Foundation traces its roots to Abraham Vereide, a Methodist clergyman and social innovator, who organized a month of prayer meetings in 1934 in San Francisco. The Fellowship was founded in 1935 in opposition to President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal. His work spread down the West Coast and eventually to Boston. The author Jeff Sharlet described the beginning of the Family as a reaction to union activities of Harry Bridges, "The Family really begins when the founder (Abraham Vereide) has this vision, which he thinks comes from God, that Harry Bridges, this Australian labour organiser who organised really the biggest strike in American history, a very successful strike, is a Satanic and Soviet agent." In April 1935, Vereide and Major J.F. Douglas invited 19 business and civic leaders for a prayer breakfast meeting. was incorporated as a separate organization in 1953. ICL and ICCL were governed by different boards of directors, joined by a coordinating committee: four members of ICCL's board and four from the ICL's executive committee. In 1953, President Dwight D. Eisenhower attended the Senate Prayer Breakfast Group. He was invited by fellow Kansan Frank Carlson. By that time, Vereide's congressional members also included senators Frank Carlson, Karl Mundt, Everett Dirksen and Strom Thurmond. By 1957, ICL had established 125 groups in 100 cities, with 16 groups in Washington, D.C. alone. It had set up another 125 groups in other countries. During 1958, a mentor from The Navigators, Douglas Coe, joined Vereide as assistant executive director of ICL in Washington, D.C. After over 35 years of leading the Fellowship Foundation, Vereide died in 1969 and was succeeded by Richard C. Halverson as executive director. Halverson and Coe worked side by side until Halverson's death in 1995. The organization was profiled in the 2019 Netflix documentary series The Family based on a book by Jeff Sharlet. ==Influence==

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." 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. 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." 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. (These last two are associated with the Family: Traditional Values Coalition uses their C Street Center ==Beliefs and theology==

The Fellowship Foundation's 501(c)(3) mission statement is: Newsweek reported that the Fellowship has often been criticized by conservative and fundamentalist Christian groups for being too inclusive and not putting enough emphasis on doctrine or church attendance. NPR has reported that the evangelical group's views on religion and politics are so singular that some other Christian right organizations consider them heretical. Investigative reporter Jeff Sharlet wrote a book, The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power, as well as an article in ''Harper's'' ==Leadership model==

Jeff Sharlet stated in an NBC Nightly News report that when he was an intern with the Fellowship "we were being taught the leadership lessons of Hitler, Lenin and Mao" and that Hitler's genocide "wasn't really an issue for them, it was the strength that he emulated." He opined that the Fellowship fetishizes power by comparing Jesus to "Lenin, Ho Chi Minh, Bin Laden" as examples of leaders who change the world through the strength of the covenants they had forged with their 'brothers'". In one videotaped lecture series in 1989, Coe said, In the same series, Coe also compared Jesus's teachings to the Red Guard during the Chinese Cultural Revolution: David Kuo said that Coe is using Hitler as a metaphor for commitment. The NBC report said "a close friend of Coe told NBC News that he invokes Hitler to show the power of small groups—for good and bad. And, the friend said, most of the time he talks about Jesus." ==Secrecy==

In a report on the Fellowship, the Los Angeles Times found: [Fellowship members] share a vow of silence about Fellowship activities. Oddly, it is categorized under US law as a church rather than a political lobbying organization, so financial sources and budget expenditures remain unknown. Coe and others cite biblical admonitions against public displays of good works, insisting they would not be able to tackle their diplomatically sensitive missions if they drew public attention. Members, including congressmen, invoke this secrecy rule when refusing to discuss just about every aspect of the Fellowship and their involvement in it. Rob Schenck wrote that "all ministries in Washington need to protect the confidence of those we minister to, and I'm sure that's a primary motive for C Street's low profile." But he added, "I think The Fellowship has been just a tad bit too clandestine." Prominent political figures have insisted that confidentiality and privacy are essential to the Fellowship's operation. In 1985, President Ronald Reagan said about the Fellowship, "I wish I could say more about it, but it's working precisely because it is private." At the 1990 National Prayer Breakfast, President George H. W. Bush praised Douglas Coe for what he described as "quiet diplomacy, I wouldn't say secret diplomacy." In 1974, after several Watergate conspirators had joined the Fellowship, a Los Angeles Times columnist discouraged further inquiries into Washington's "underground prayer movement", i.e. the Fellowship: "They genuinely avoid publicity... they shun it." In 1975, a member of the Fellowship's inner circle wrote to the group's chief South African operative, that their political initiatives ... have always been misunderstood by 'outsiders.' As a result of very bitter experiences, therefore, we have learned never to commit to paper any discussions or negotiations that are taking place. There is no such thing as a 'confidential' memorandum, and leakage always seems to occur. Thus, I would urge you not to put on paper anything relating to any of the work that you are doing... [unless] you know the recipient well enough to put at the top of the page 'PLEASE DESTROY AFTER READING.' In 2002, Coe denied that the Fellowship Foundation owns the National Prayer Breakfast. Jennifer Thornett, a Fellowship employee, said that "there is no such thing as the Fellowship". On January 5, 2010, Fellowship member Bob Hunter gave an interview on national television in which he stated: But I do agree with you, that The Fellowship is too secret. We don't have a Web site. We don't have – we have a lot of good ministers, 200 ministers doing good works that nobody knows about. I think that's wrong, and there's a debate going on among a lot of people about whether and how we should change that. ==Activities==

National Prayer Breakfast Fellowship Foundation is best known for the National Prayer Breakfast, held each year on the first Thursday of February in Washington, D.C. G. Philip Hughes, the executive secretary for the National Security Council in the George H.W. Bush administration, said, "Doug Coe or someone who worked with him would call and say, 'So and so would like to have a word with the president. Do you think you could arrange something?'" However, Coe said that the Fellowship does not help foreign dignitaries gain access to U.S. officials. "We never make any commitment, ever, to arrange special meetings with the president, vice president or secretary of State," Coe said. "We would never do it." at the same time. Attendees of this new event still watched President Joe Biden's remarks from the National Prayer Breakfast through a livestream according to A. Larry Ross who is a media representative for The International Foundation. Prayer Breakfast movement A primary activity of the Fellowship is to develop small support groups for politicians, including senators and members of Congress, Executive Branch officials, military officers, foreign leaders and dignitaries, businesspersons, and other influential individuals. Prayer groups have met in the White House, Pentagon, and at the Department of Defense. Russia Doug Burleigh is a key figure in the organization and has spoken at the Russian prayer breakfast beside Alexander Torshin. Burleigh stated in 2017 that "a breakthrough in relations between Russia and the US is about to occur". Maria Butina, who has admitted to working as an undeclared Kremlin agent, helped arrange for five Russians chosen by a top official to attend the 2017 National Prayer Breakfast which she also attended before she was indicted and imprisoned. Butina's main contact in Russia was Torshin. Over 50 Russians attended the 2018 National Prayer Breakfast, including leading members of Putin's government. Doug Burleigh was interviewed by the FBI because of his relationship with Maria Butina. Role in international conflicts The Fellowship was a behind-the-scenes player at the Camp David Accords in 1978, working with President Jimmy Carter to issue a worldwide call to prayer with Israeli prime minister Menachem Begin and Egyptian president Anwar Sadat. Regarding his relationships with foreign dictators, Coe said in 2007, "I never invite them. They come to me. And I do what Jesus did: I don't turn my back to any one. You know, the Bible is full of mass murderers." Private diplomacy The Los Angeles Times examined the Fellowship Foundation's ministry records and archives (before they were sealed), as well as documents obtained from several presidential libraries and found that the Fellowship Foundation had extraordinary access and significant influence over U.S. foreign affairs for the last 75 years. In 2002, Frank Wolf, Tony P. Hall and Joe Pitts traveled to Afghanistan and Pakistan on a fact-finding congressional trip, meeting with the leaders of both Muslim countries. According to Pitts, "The first thing we did when we met with [Afghan] President Karzai and [then Pakistan] President Musharraf was to say, 'We're here officially representing the Congress; we'll report back to the speaker, our leaders, our committees, our government. But we're here also because we're best friends... We're members of the same prayer group'". Coe was quoted in a rare interview regarding the Fellowship's associations with despots as explaining, "The people that are involved in this association of people around the world are the worst and the best, some are total despots. Some are totally religious. You can find what you want to find." According to Jeff Sharlet, Senator Sam Brownback is a Fellowship member who leads a secret "cell" of leading U.S. Senators and representatives to influence U.S. foreign policy. Sharlet reports that the group has stamped much of U.S. foreign policy through a group of senators and affiliated religious organizations forming the "Values Action Team" or "VAT". One victory for the group was Brownback's North Korea Human Rights Act, which establishes a confrontational stance toward North Korea and shifts funds for humanitarian aid from the UN to Christian organizations. The Fellowship is behind an international project called Youth Corps, a network of Christian youth groups that Sharlet alleged attract teenagers, and only later steer them to Jesus. Fellowship funds have gone to an orphanage in India, a program in Uganda that provides schooling, and a development group in Peru. Sharlet claimed that Bahati reportedly first floated the idea of executing gays during The Family's Uganda National Prayer Breakfast in 2008. Sharlet described Bahati as a "rising star" in the Fellowship who has attended the National Prayer Breakfast in the United States and, until the news over the gay execution law broke, was scheduled to attend the 2010 U.S. National Prayer Breakfast. Fellowship member Bob Hunter gave an interview to NPR in December 2009 in which he acknowledged Bahati's connection but argued that no American associates support the bill. President Barack Obama, in his address to the Fellowship at their National Prayer Breakfast in early 2010, directly criticized the Uganda legislation targeting gay people for execution. In 2023, Fellowship paid for Tim Walberg's keynote at the Ugandan National Prayer Breakfast, attended by president Yoweri Museveni. Walberg urged the country's leadership to "stand firm" on the Anti-Homosexuality Act, 2023, and resist opposition from the United States, United Nations, or other international entities. ==Relationships with other organizations==

The Fellowship Foundation is linked to numerous other organizations: • Wilberforce Foundation • Traditional Values Coalition • Young Life International • World Vision ==Handling of politicians' extramarital affairs==

In 2009, the Fellowship received media attention in connection with three Republican politicians who reportedly engaged in extra-marital affairs. Two of them, Senator John Ensign, chairman of the Republican Policy Committee in the Senate and the fourth-ranking member in his party's Senate leadership, and South Carolina governor Mark Sanford, immediate past chair of the Republican Governors Association and U.S. representative from 1995 to 2001, were considering running for president in 2012. The affairs of Ensign and then-Congressman Chip Pickering, R-Miss., took place while they were living at the C Street Center. Ensign affair Ensign, a Fellowship member and longtime resident of the C Street Center, admitted in June 2009 to an extra-marital affair with Cindy Hampton. Hampton was Ensign's campaign treasurer and the wife of his co-chief of staff, longtime friend and fellow worshipper Doug Hampton. The Washington Post reported that the C Street House "pulsed with backstage intrigue, in the days and months before the Sanford and Ensign scandals" and that residents tried to talk each politician into ending his philandering. An emotional meeting was reportedly held to discuss "forgiveness" between Hampton, the husband of Ensign's mistress, and Senator Tom Coburn. Coburn, with Timothy and David Coe, leaders of the Fellowship, attempted to intervene to end Ensign's affair in February 2008. Role in affair of Mark Sanford South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford, who served as a congressman from 1995 to 2001, admitted in June 2009 to having an extramarital affair and said he had sought counseling at the C Street Center during the months before the news broke. Sanford "was a frequent visitor to the home for prayer meetings and meals during his time in Congress". Pickering case Chip Pickering was a U.S. Representative from Mississippi from 1997 to 2008. In 2009, his wife filed suit against Elizabeth Creekmore Byrd, his former college sweetheart and alleged mistress. Mrs. Pickering alleged that her husband restarted his relationship with Byrd while he was "a United States congressman prior to and while living in the well-known C Street Complex in Washington, D.C." ==C Street Center==

The Fellowship runs a three-story brick mansion in Washington D.C. known as "C Street" (133 C St SE). 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". The house is also the locale for: • An annual Ambassador Luncheon • Receptions for foreign dignitaries, including the prime minister of Australia Kevin Rudd 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==

Arlington 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). 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." Cedars hosts prayer breakfasts, luncheons and dinners for ambassadors, congressional representatives, foreign religious leaders and many others. Other Fellowship properties • "19th Street House," a two-story, brick apartment building located in Washington DC at 859 19th Street NE, used for afterschool activities. ==Finances==

In 2007, The Fellowship Foundation received nearly $16.8 million to support 400 ministries. ==See also==