I think I may have misunderstood what people here meant when they said “fellowship.”
I think people here are using it to describe social events and interaction…
I had always taken it that way it is used in religon (like the fellowship of the saints)–meaning that there are others like you or that you are “part of the club.”. So I felt more fellowship from the literature than meetings.
Did I have this wrong?
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friendly association, especially with people who share one’s interests
I think it of it as community, like here. People sharing an experience.
That is how I took it, but I think people here use it to mean social time with people from the rooms.
So for you it is not about having social relationships with people in the program?
I think a lot of people here use it to mean chat time with group members.
I am not in any program or rooms… So for me it just means community.
The group of people who attend your 12 step meetings. They are all fellows, and your 12 step group is the fellowship.
Also, lord of the rings and the fellowship of the ring. But I think the first example is more relevant
To rule them all!!
Edited to add…drats, must move self to derailment…
I consider fellowship to be between the people that attend meetings, at the meetings. I also consider this online community to be a source of fellowship. A group of people who show up for each other to share experiences, struggles and successes.
Do you know them personally? Do you talk to them outside of the rooms?
Do you have social relationships with people in these groups? Or do you keep it anonymous and impersonal?
I have been out for a group meal that was organised, everyone was invited and a few of us went after a meeting.
They’re a really nice group of people and I wouldn’t say my involvement is impersonal, given the nature of the stuff shared in the meeting, but I also wouldn’t say I’ve exactly got social relationships with them at this stage. Maybe the occasional WhatsApp chat or phone call, but not catching up over a coffee or anything like that. Partly it’s geography as I live a bit further away than most of them, but also we’re all different people with our own lives and interests etc. And it’s a pretty small group.
I have definitely formed connections with people on the forum, despite not meeting in real life, as I have spent quite a lot of time hanging out here over the last few years!
if you didn’t do it I would have 
Fellowship is a community with a common interest/goal. In our situation it is a groups of people together with a goal of sobriety.
So for you it, it is not about a social thing?
Some people here and elsewhere have said that they think fellowship means a group of people you have personal relationships with. I am uncomfortable with the idea of getting close to people from the rooms.
Growth occurs outside of your comfort zone
I know people are loser about anonymity today, but when I started in the program, it was understood that this was separate from anything social.
They used to say, you know your friends last names—meaning that people in the program were a different category. That is the whole point of sharing “in a general way” rather than with the details you give people close to you.
Then just do it at your pace … No one says you have to overwhem urself in it… Im an introvert… i get it … I also need interaction i cant sit home alone for days… Your groups can be one on one or small group of people. Socializing can be good but also exhausting. usually my anxiety is high in large groups or people that dont stop talking. I trust what webster says the meaning is…
You always talk about the way it used to be and don’t like it. But then when people talk about it now you just argue with them. You admit you don’t understand the program but then act like everyone here is getting it wrong
