| Nickname | The Family |
|---|---|
| Formation | April 1935 |
| Founder | Abraham Vereide |
| Founded at | Seattle, Washington |
| Type | nonprofit |
| 53-0204604 | |
| Legal status | 501(c)(3)[1] |
| Headquarters |
|
President | Katherine Crane |
Associate Director | Douglas Coe |
Key people |
|
| Affiliations | Christians in Congress |
Revenue (2020) | $9,687,514[2] |
| Expenses (2020) | $10,392,191[2] |
| Website | fellowshipfoundation |
| This article is part of a series on |
| Conservatism in the United States |
|---|
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The Fellowship (incorporated as Fellowship Foundation and doing business as the International Foundation), also known as The Family,[3][4] 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.
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.[5]
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.[6][7]
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.[8] The current president of the organization (starting in 2017) is Katherine Crane.[9]
In 2009,Lisa Miller wrote in Newsweek 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.[10][clarification needed]
- ^ "About us". Fellowship Foundation. 12 October 2017. Retrieved 3 January 2022.
- ^ a b Crane, Katherine; RSM US LLP (19 October 2021). Return of organization exempt from income tax 2020: Fellowship Foundation Inc (Form 990). EIN 530204604. Retrieved 7 June 2024 – via ProPublica.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
AllInFamilywas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Cite error: The named reference
Sharlet Familywas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Getter, Lisa (27 September 2002). "Showing Faith in Discretion". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 2 December 2013. Retrieved 28 December 2009 – via toobeautiful.org.
- ^ Gillman, Todd J. (9 February 2013). "Tyler's Louie Gohmert puts Obama criticism on pause at National Prayer Breakfast". The Dallas Morning News. Retrieved 10 February 2013.
- ^ Winston, Diane (1 February 2017). "National Prayer Breakfast: What does its history reveal?". The Conversation. Retrieved 27 November 2019.
- ^ "Faith, politics and the Fellowship: Steve Duin column". 13 August 2022. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
- ^ Crane, Katherine; Kosnett, Deborah G. (15 November 2018). Return of organization exempt from income tax 2017: Fellowship Foundation Inc (PDF) (Form 990). EIN 530204604. Retrieved 2 May 2023 – via Internal Revenue Service.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
LisaMillerwas invoked but never defined (see the help page).