Koinonia is a winning spelling word with Georgia connections

Koinonia is a winning spelling word with Georgia connections

Koinonia, a noun, refers to a Christian fellowship or body of believers.

Pronounced “koy-nuh-NEE-uh,” the word based in theology is used only in plural and transliterated from the Greek κοινωνία, which also refers to the participation, unity and fellowship of the spiritual community in the Christian church.

The term is most often used in the New Testament of the Bible and is also the name of a religious summer camp in upstate New York. 

"Koinonia" may now be known to 14-year-old Karthik Nemmani of McKinney, Texas, as a rallying cry, after he was declared the champion of the 2018 Scripps National Spelling Bee.

Karthik, who beat out more than 500 fellow spellers during the most competitive bee in history, said he knew the spelling of the final word as soon as the official pronouncer read it.

And so did many Christians who recognized the word from church life: It’s been used to name coffee shops, youth groups, worship bands, retreats, summer camps, and other ministries.

“If you grew up evangelical in the 90s you can totally spell koinonia because you had a crush on the drummer for a youth group band by that name,” joked author Rachel Held Evans on Twitter.

Fourteen-year-old Karthik Nemmani of McKinney, Texas, won the Scripps National Spelling Bee by being able to correctly spell koinonia.

Koinonia is a noun that means Christian fellowship.

The word is also the name of Koinonia Farm, a community farm situated just outside of Americus in southwest Georgia. It was at Koinonia that the idea for Habitat for Humanity home-building organization first germinated in the mid-1970s.