Led by Rev. Susan Manning
Barbara Atkinson with Gary and Jennifer Culp (on Zoom) present this Sunday’s program about Koinonia Farm in Georgia. Koinonia, a Greek word that means “community or fellowship.” has been a living example of this principle. It was founded in 1942 by white Baptist minister Clarence Jordan and his wife Florence, who envisioned black and white people working together in harmony and treated as equals. As the Civil Rights movement began to grow a few years later, Koinonia Farm became the target of racist fear among white folks in south-west Georgia. They were attacked with dangerous violence, threats, investigations and raids by the KKK. Boycotts of their farm products, destruction of their local farm stand and retribution for townspeople who supplied the farm forced Koinonia to shift to mail-order sales, shipping to more supportive buyers.
The Culps lived and volunteered at Koinonia Farm in 1981/2 for a year. Gary and Jen will tell the story of their sojourn. This included acquaintance with local residents Jimmy and Roslynn Carter, and an invitation that led to a seminal connection between Koinonia and the newly-founded Habitat for Humanity. They will join us online from Sayulita in Mexico and Vashon Island WA.
Aaron and Jason Culp with President Jimmy Carter and First Lady Rosalynn Carter
Barbara and her sister Sue Atkinson visited Koinonia Farm this past January and were warmly welcomed. She will speak about their visit, show photos, and describe life and service in Koinonia today. Her talk will also touch on connections with other communities such as Bryn Gweled Homesteads, where Barbara resides in Lower Bucks County. BG was founded in 1940 with a similar vision of racial equity and living in harmony during that era of change and resistance to African Americans moving into the Philadelphia suburbs. BGers have been supporting Koinonia by ordering their products for 8 decades and Pebble Hill people have been doing so more recently. Come in person to sample Koinonia’s organic pecans if you can!
For more information click here: https://koinoniafarm.org/
Sue and Barbara Atkinson
