KOINONIA FARMYears ago, I ran across this website for mail order pecans from Koinonia Farm. In exploring the website, I realized that this grower’s co-op has a much richer history than I was aware of. I have bought and sent pecans, chocolate, and coffee from the farm for years now whenever I needed a gift idea with a richer story. I even found a frisbee-like, woven disc made by the Maya of Guatemala on their store website. Not only is this toy creatively beautiful, I use it in my Franklin Method body work to lend visual aid on the function of the hip bone rhythms while walking. A participant can see the pattern rotating and connect to something familiar in how our femur moves within the hip socket while walking, etc.  Check out their website and products. They have a fascinating and inspiring story.
Excerpt from the website: “Koinonia Farm was founded in 1942 by Clarence and Florence Jordan and Martin and Mabel England in 1942 as a “demonstration plot for the Kingdom of God.” For them, this meant an intentional community of believers sharing their lives and resources, following the example of the first Christian communities as described in the Acts of the Apostles. Other families soon joined, and visitors to the farm were invited to “serve a period of apprenticeship in developing community life on the teachings and principles of Jesus.” Koinonians shared not only faith and resources, but also work. We farmed the land for our livelihood and sought ways to work in partnership with the land, “to conserve the soil, God’s holy earth” (Clarence Jordan). We preached, taught, and were members of local churches. From the beginning, Koinonians emphasized the brotherhood and sisterhood of all people. When we could afford to hire seasonal help, Black and White workers were paid a fair, equal wage. When the community and its guests and workers prayed or ate a meal, we all sat together at the table, regardless of color. Our commitment to racial equality, pacifism, and economic sharing brought bullets, bomb and a boycott in the 1950s as the KKK and others attempted to force us out. We responded with prayer, nonviolent resistance, and a renewed commitment to live the Gospel. We created a mail-order business, which continues to sustain our community today.”
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photo by Jeanne S. Mam-Luft
AuthorI'm a Christ-follower, passionate about moving in truth/love and intellectual rigor through all things faith + art. A professional Dance Artist and fancying myself an amateur Christian Apologist, I’m committed to moving in the liminal space between catastrophic reverence of God and a quaking humility that intentionally keeps the tremors of Grace close at hand. There are good reasons to believe. Archives
August 2024
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