The Christian Medical Fellowship is a community of 5,000 qualified and student members working in medicine, nursing, and midwifery across the British Isles. Our aim is to unite and equip Christian health professionals to live and speak for Jesus Christ. Here is how it began…
our heritage
early beginnings
Christian Medical Fellowship (CMF) is the modern outworking of a series of movements among Christian health professionals in the United Kingdom (UK) dating back to the creation of the first Christian Medical Association (CMA) by Dr William Golding Bird in 1854. This was in response to an anguished cry for spiritual support from a Christian medical student at Guys Hospital, published in the British Medical Journal the previous year. The following century saw the rise and fall of various movements among Christian medics and nurses, including medical missions in the UK and overseas, as well as hospital-based fellowships and student fellowships.
These coalesced when CMF formally came into being on 22 October 1949. By this time, the main foci for Christian medical fellowships were in the Medical Prayer Union and the Graduates fellowship of the Intervarsity Fellowship. It was the coming together of these two movements that led to the creation of CMF.
Over the next 50 years or so, CMF continued to grow, admitting students into full membership in the 1980s. CMF then merged with one of the older medical mission movements, the Medical Missionary Association, in 2004, strengthening and resourcing our global mission ministry.
In 2014, CMF formally merged with Christian Nurses and Midwives, the fellowship in England and Wales for Christians in those professions.
2024, therefore, marks four significant milestones: the tenth year of nurses and midwives as members of CMF, the twentieth anniversary of uniting with the Medical Missionary Association, the seventy-fifth since CMF came into being, and the one hundred and seventieth since the formation of the first Christian Medical Association.
We give thanks to God for his grace, mercy, and provision in bringing all these movements together for the furtherance of his Kingdom.
All through this time, several things have been central to this movement.
- First and foremost, that it is focused on Jesus Christ as our Lord, King, and Saviour. He is also our great example and role model as healers and carers.
- Second, that we serve Christ best when we serve our patients and one another as if we were serving him.
- And lastly, that when we come together in fellowship to build each other up and encourage one another to love and good deeds, our Lord at work is in our midst.
You can read more about the history of how Christian Medical Fellowship came into being at https://cmf.li/lessons
