Fellowship and relational fellowship are close in meaning, but are at different levels of a relationship. When people get together with a common purpose it is called fellowship. Relational fellowship is when two people or a group of people within the fellowship have a relationship deeper and more relational with other, rather than just being part of the group.
In the Christian faith (I speak solely from a Christian point of view and I do not intentionally demean or call out any other person, religion or group. I am most familiar with being a Christian.) fellowship is with believers who want fellowship with one another, but also with our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
The one thing we have in common, is we are fellowshipping with each other in Christ. That is our fellowship.
1 John 1:7
But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.
Hopefully that helps explain fellowship. Now let’s take a look at relational fellowship.
Relational fellowship goes deeper and beyond a normal once a week or once a month fellowship. Relational fellowship is someone cares more about someone, or someone within the group cares more about you and your wellbeing, than they feel about the purpose for which they came together in fellowship.
These are the people within the believers who fellowship together with Christ and they find things in common that bring them together (their spirits connect) allowing the fellowship to become more personal and more one on one; therefore it is a relational fellowship.
This article is meant to help explain the difference between fellowship and relational fellowship that I talked about in my last article on this site. Most of what I just shared with you comes from years of trying to figure out what’s what in a church setting. This article is not meant to demean, hurt or otherwise cause any negativity to any person, religion or group. Information contained herein is the sole responsibility of the author.