Fellowship For Intentional Community - Organizational History

Organizational History

The history of FIC began in 1937 in Ann Arbor, Michigan, which still has one of the largest concentration of intentional communities per capita. The group/network of 19 student-run houses in Ann Arbor had formed The International Cooperative Council (ICC), a forerunner of FIC.

The Fellowship for Intentional Communities was founded as Inter-Community Exchange in 1940 by Arthur E. Morgan (1878–1976) for communication and exchange of goods between intentional communities. During World War II, some of these communities served as refuge for pacifists.

Among the members of the "Inter-Community Exchange" were Hidden Springs in New Jersey; Tangy Homesteads in Philadelphia; Tuolumne Co-operative Farms near Modesto, California; Skyview Acres at Pomona, New York; Parisfield near Brighton, Michigan; Kingwood in New Jersey; Quest near Royal Ark, Michigan; Canterbury outside Concord, New Hampshire; May Valley near Seattle; The Valley near Yellow Springs, Ohio; St. Francis Acres/Glen Gardener in New Jersey; Koinonia Farm near Americus, Georgia; and the Bruderhof (Society of Brothers).

In 1952, FIC created the Homer Morris Loan Fund — which has subsequently provided over $200,000 in small loans to intentional community businesses and associated enterprises. When the FIC's activities decreased in the 1960s, the loan fund continued separately as the non-profit Community Educational Service Council, Inc. (CESCI), and the FIC held annual gatherings of communitarians in conjunction with CESCI's board meetings.

In 1954, FIC began holding annual conferences at Yellow Springs, Ohio and Pendle Hill, Pennsylvania.

Then "Inter-Community Exchange" gradually weakened and was dissolved in 1961; a major reason for this was withdrawal of the Bruderhof (largest and most prosperous member).

It was revived under the its current name "Fellowship for Intentional Community" and incorporated as non-profit organization in 1986.

In the mid 1980s, inspired by the earlier FIC and other regional community networks, a number of community activists sensed that the time was ripe to organize a continental communities network. The FIC is a nonprofit, tax-exempt charitable educational organization (meaning that all donations are fully tax-deductible). Participation has been expanded to include most of North America — the Fellowship now includes a wide range of individuals, well over a hundred intentional communities, and various support organizations.