Editorial
thank you!
Spirituality is one of those nebulous terms that can mean, humpty-dumpty-like, whatever one wants it to. But in this edition, we see members who are taking it seriously and looking at how we can genuinely care better for the spiritual needs of patients. Helping people facing the end of life to deal with the profound existential questions that arise, training medical students to integrate spiritual care from the start of their careers, and helping health professionals cope with their own moral injury as a result of working in a failing healthcare system. It’s even part of the current General Medical Council guidance that doctors should ‘take account of relevant spiritual factors’ in their patients. [1]
Helping one another to have integrated, healthy spiritual lives, focused obediently on Jesus Christ, is at the heart of what CMF is for, of course. It’s one of our core aims. [2] This is why, last year, we surveyed our members to find out what you valued and needed from CMF as a fellowship and an organisation.
Nearly 500 of you responded, about ten per cent of the membership. Most of you (72 per cent) encountered CMF as a student, and it was clear that student ministry was one of the most important areas of CMF for most of you. Even more valuable and important to those who responded was our advocacy and public policy work, with almost all respondents agreeing or strongly agreeing that this CMF work is absolutely vital. In fact, nearly half wanted us to share even more information on what we are doing here!
Student ministry, as well as advocacy and public policy work, will continue to be high priorities for CMF. But we were heartened to see from the survey that conferences, local groups, pastoral care, our printed and online resources (especially around ethical issues), Catalyst Teams, and specialty networks were all highly valued.
When it comes to Triple Helix, we are encouraged to find that more than half of the respondents said they read most or all of it. In-depth articles and a balanced mix of content were widely appreciated. Fellowship News was particularly appreciated.
But across the age range, the vast majority of you prefer Triple Helix to be a print rather than a digital publication. We hear you! After saying last winter that we were going to move to opt-in for the print version from this autumn, we will now continue to prioritise the print publication (although there will also continue to be a digital version online, where longer articles that we do not have space to print in full can be accessed. Those of you who really prefer online can opt out of the print version).
When asked to describe CMF, these are the words that you used most:
We were deeply moved by the words you shared. Quotes like ‘CMF is why I am still a doctor’ and ‘Without CMF, I may well have left the profession’ underscore the life-changing impact of our Fellowship. And that life-changing doesn’t only come from staff in the office – it is what you are all doing in your workplace fellowships, local groups, student groups, specialty networks, and the myriad of other ways you serve one another.
So, we wanted to say a big ‘thank you’ to all of you for your work and support. It is my honour to lead the Fellowship at this time, but our wonderful staff and volunteer team could do nothing without all of you.
In the coming months, the CMF Board and the senior staff team will work together with key members to seek the Lord on a new, five-year strategic plan for CMF. We live and work in a fast-changing and uncertain world. We want to see where God is leading us as we face the ethical challenges of the possible legalisation of assisted suicide, and emerging medical technologies that could challenge our understanding of what it is to be human. We want to support one another better to face these challenges as disciples of Jesus working in the healing and caring professions.
So, we hear what you have said to us through this survey, and it will help shape the future of CMF. Rest assured, the things you value will remain top of our priorities.
