Koinonia Family Development Center

Fellowship, sharing in common communion

Rev. Dr. Richard D. Shaw
St. Matthew C.M.E. Church, Milwaukee, WI
A Rich heritage of Service in the Milwaukee community since 1918

“What is Koi-no-nia?”

Koinonia is a Greek word that occurs 20 times in the Bible. Koinonia’s primary meaning is “fellowship, sharing in common, communion.” The first occurrence of koinonia is Acts 2:42, “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.” Christian fellowship is a key aspect of the Christian life. Believers in Christ are to come together in love, faith, and encouragement. That is the essence of koinonia.

Koinonia is being in agreement with one another, being united in purpose, and serving alongside each other. Our koinonia with each other is based on our common koinonia with Jesus Christ. “If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin.” First John 1:6-7

A powerful example of what koinonia should look like can be found in a study of the phrase “one another” in the Bible. Scripture commands us to be devoted to one another, honor one another, live in harmony with one another, accept one another, serve one another in love, be kind and compassionate to one another, admonish one another, encourage one another, and spur one another on toward love and good deeds. That is what true biblical koinonia should look like.

History

The Koinonia Family Development Center was a vision of Reverend Daniel L. Fitten. His vision was to develop different projects & programs that would assist his congregants with growing various ministries and empower them for personal growth while benefiting the local community. The 501(c) 3 project remained dormant for a period of time.

In 2015, under the leadership of Pastor Richard D. Shaw along with several members from the congregation selected by Pastor Shaw, Koinonia was revitalized and restructured to recruit and train new Board Members. The board is now positioned and focused on providing community resources in addition to engaging the community by working in collaboration and partnership.

During Koinonia’s inception, there were three specific ministries:

  • Bus Ministry: The church purchased several buses that could be leased to other churches or community organizations for outreach ministries to various activities both locally and nationally.
  • After School Tutoring Program: Current and retired educators and others tutored congregants in computer literacy. Computers were stored in the parsonage located next to the church encouraging members to assist in, computer literacy and skills development. Ultimately it would enable them to be better prepared for personal growth.
  • Feed My Sheep: A Sunday morning breakfast program for families in the community. Its purpose was to provide both a healthy breakfast and spirituality through the Board of Evangelism.

Purpose and Mission

The purpose and mission of the corporation known as The Koinonia Family Development Center (KFDC) is to serve the community in-need that includes: feeding individuals and families, supporting youth development, mentoring programs, connecting individuals and families to community resources, and engaging the community by working in collaboration and partnership.

News Media:

Fighting Covid-19 Black community has new option for health care: The Church

Covid Vaccinations at St. Matthew CME Church

Testimonial: At a recent vaccination clinic in Milwaukee at St. Matthew, a Christian Methodist Episcopal church, Melanie Paige overcame her fears to get vaccinated. Paige, who has lupus and rheumatoid arthritis, said the church clinic helped motivate her, along with encouragement from her son. “I was more comfortable because I belong to the church and I know I’ve been here all my life. So that made it easier.”

Health Ministries:

Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW) CENTER FOR ADVANCING POPULATION SCIENCE

  • COME ALIVE MILWAUKEE: Community Empowerment and Lifestyle Intervention for Ethnic Minorities Principal Investigator: Leonard Egede, MD, Chief Division of Internal Medicine, and Director for the Center for Advancing Population Science.
  • Purpose Reduce the burden of chronic disease and eliminate health disparities in high-risk minority communities through direct patient intervention and grow the next generation of researchers. We also sponsored Covid 19 testing & Diabetes screening for African Americans over 65 years of age.

Partner with Health Connections – Glendale, WI Health Care center (healthconnectmke.org) to distribute the Covid-19 vaccines to our neighbors in and around the 53206. Also sponsor primary care, behavioral health, and health-related social services care coordination…

Member of All of Us RP-MKE MCW Community Advisory Board
Established 4/12/2021

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) All of Us Research Program (AoURP) seeks to advance precision medicine through the inclusion of all people living in the United States, with a particular focus on individuals who have historically been under-represented in biomedical research. Towards this purpose, a Community Advisory Board (CAB) has been established to provide guidance and support to the AoURP in Milwaukee at the Medical College of Wisconsin (AoURP-MKE MCW).