The ripples of the economic recession are now beginning to be felt in the health service where the rising drug bill, increased burden of life-style related disease and growing elderly population have created a cocktail of increasing need and spiralling costs at the same time as the government attempts to restructure and reduce spending. As yet there seems to be little agreement on the shape of reform.
The Health and Social Care Bill, with its plans to replace Strategic Health Authorities and PCTs with GP Consortia, continues to limp slowly forward in an increasingly amended state amidst much criticism. It will be some time before the future path is fully clear. As doctors we face huge uncertainty about funding, jobs and work structures as these events unfold and we wonder what sort of environment we will be practising in this time next year and what impact these changes will have on our institutions, teams, families and patients.
Meanwhile our own economic and political uncertainties are dwarfed by disturbing events elsewhere: Greece teetering on the brink of financial meltdown, with Spain, Ireland and Portugal threatening to follow; unrest in the Middle East and unresolved conflicts in Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya. And our uncertainties are not just political and economic. The Christchurch earthquake and Japanese Tsunami have been grim reminders this year of how fragile our lives are even in the supposedly economically robust and politically democratic West.
Yet amidst all this turmoil Jesus Christ is in control and is patiently and steadily building his church to testify to the truth of the gospel and to minister to the lost and broken. Every crisis brings new opportunities to love and serve for God's people.
I hope that this edition of CMF News, with stories of all God is doing in and through Christian doctors and medical students, will inspire you in your own personal walk as you seek to love and obey him day by day.
God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea… He says, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth” (Psalm 46).
CMF's three year development plan
In May I finished a tour of Bristol, Nottingham, Glasgow and Newcastle. This gave me the opportunity to meet CMF members, let them know the good news of where we are now, and speak about our exciting plans for the future.
By now qualified members should have received a letter from me commending CMF's Three Year Development Plan (extra copies available on request). This has been put together by the CMF board and staff.
As we have earnestly and prayerfully sought God's leading we have identified eight key areas of growth to target over the next three years aimed at strengthening our ministry and serving the church. These include strengthening our core services to students and doctors, helping CNM (Christian Nurses and Midwives) build a new nurses' ministry, launching a new website with on-line forums and new media, engaging and resourcing churches through a 'friends' and 'link churches' scheme, building stronger links with media and Parliament, mobilising members for mission and developing our home, Johnson House.
There are much fuller details in the brochure sent with my letter. You will read about the £1.2 million extra funding needed – over and above our budgeted income. Members raised £1.2 million to buy our Johnson House in 2007, so this is an equivalent challenge, but over three years rather than one. Please do take time to read prayerfully through these plans and consider how you might be able to help.
At this time when so many charities are trying hard just to make ends meet, we do realise how blessed CMF is to have such a dedicated and involved membership, and we remain acutely aware of our responsibility to use our talents wisely for the Kingdom. It was wonderful to be able to brief so many CMF members on my tour and at the national conference, and I found the response deeply encouraging. I trust that, in the same way, you too will be inspired by our plans for the future.
'Now finish the work, so that your eager willingness to do it may be matched by your completion of it, according to your means'
2 Corinthians 8:11 (NIV84)
New Staffworker
Julian - tell us about your professional life to date
I trained in London, at St Thomas's Hospital Medical School (now part of KCL), and after junior posts did my GP training in the Cotswolds. I returned to London in 1988 to a pioneering practice in Battersea, SW London, and became a GP trainer. I left in 2004 to work on the staff of our church, in a mixed pastoral & managerial role, and devoted 2010 to writing on the theme of 'calling'.
What are your hopes for the London Staffworker role?
My patch is London and the adjacent counties, and I see my role – in concert with my colleagues in Scotland and the North of England – as a means for CMF to serve our members with the emphasis on 'fellowship' – supporting local CMF groups, developing mentoring and prayer networks; possibly at times an advocacy role. I look forward to building links between CMF and local churches and para-church bodies. But to start with I'm asking questions and listening, finding out what models for local support work best, and seeing where we could develop our ministry further so that every Christian doctor in the country is well resourced in the front line of medical service.
Who is at home and what do you do to relax?
I'm married to Holly, a community midwife and native of Canada, and we live in Wandsworth. We've three daughters, two at university (one a CMF student member!) and one still at primary school. I cycle, and Johnson House is a bracing 30 minute ride from home. I ski erratically but with enthusiasm, and enjoy painting and photography.
Tell us about your church
We're members of St Mark's, Battersea Rise, a charismatic evangelical Anglican parish church fellowship affiliated to the New Wine network. I'm in a men's group that meets fortnightly to feed on the word of God (and cake) and to pray for and 'sharpen' (Proverbs 27:17) each other.
How can members best pray for you?
The team at Johnson House and my graduate and staffworker colleagues are a great bunch whom I'm enjoying getting to know. Please pray for discernment as to where to focus my efforts, multiplication of my contribution, wisdom in juggling family and work commitments – and protection for all on London's 'Cycle Superhighway 7'. Thank you very much!
