CMF is a fellowship, which means we care for one another. The Pastoral Care Wellbeing and Mentoring Service has been growing over the last two years to expand how we work this out.
We aim to listen well, pray faithfully, and signpost to the next steps when needed. We now have a team of 20 Pastoral Partner-Mentors (PP-Ms) serving in many ways. The CMF Wellbeing inbox is monitored 365 days a year to answer enquiries through our web pages.
Wellbeing teams support our conferences, and their input was highly valued at our recent Junior Doctors and Student conferences. Here's some of the feedback we received:
'Really thankful for this provision.'
'Thank you very much for the opportunity for one-to-one prayer.'
'Excellent - I really appreciated having a talk and cry with a member of the team!'
'God clearly ministered to the one thing on my heart. I'm so grateful. '
The team also takes referrals from Catalyst Teams and local groups where there might be a need for special experience that is not locally available.
Our PP-Ms are available to run seminars and group events on wellbeing topics. We believe this is particularly valuable when we can frame these times biblically and draw out the impact of our faith on the issues being discussed. Sessions on 'Compassion Fatigue' and 'Christian Wellbeing in the Workplace' have been much appreciated. If you are a group leader and would like a Pastoral Partner-Mentor to speak at one of your events about a specific topic, please let us know. We would love to be able to help.
Mentoring
We are most excited about the launch of the Mentoring Scheme last autumn. We have been much encouraged by the number of people who have come forward wanting to support this. Our Mentoring Associate, Monica Hrabovsky, has worked on this for the last two years. It is great to see it moving forward. We see mentoring as a key component to support workplace discipleship and encouraging resilient faith. We are looking for people who will serve through the national mentoring scheme and who would like to be recognised as CMF PP-Ms. So, please get in touch with us if you have a heart for this area of ministry. You do not have to be very senior; mentoring occurs at every stage of our professional lives. But we do want mentors and mentees to be FAT: Faithful, Available, and Teachable. Please pray for the next extension of this scheme as we seek to build local mentoring networks during 2022 organised at the Catalyst Team level.
Team news
We are incredibly grateful to God for the highly gifted and committed PP-Ms who have joined the team. They bring wide experience and a depth of spirituality that is a great blessing. We want to welcome Liz Miller, Sarah Wain, Christine Scott, Anne Mcrorie, and Jane Clark, who have joined the team in the last year. We also said goodbye to Fiona Logan this autumn. We want to register our thanks for her insights and wisdom that were vital as we started out on this project. A big thanks, too, for our Resource Group, who are gathering and organising online specialised information to support the Pastoral Care and Wellbeing Service. Thanks are also due for the completion of CMF's Safeguarding Policy, led by Olu Lampejo, our Safeguarding Lead.
What next?
Do pray for us over the next twelve months as we seek to build local pastoral care and mentoring networks that will support and encourage one another in our Christian vocations. If you would like to get involved and join the team as a Pastoral Partner- Mentor, then don't hesitate to get in touch with us at wellbeing@cmf.org.uk
And, if you would like to someone walk with, talk to, pray with, or if you need any encouragement, do contact us via cmf.org.uk/doctors/cmf-local-contacts/, quoting #wellbeing in the subject line. Also, look out for the team at our conferences where you can book time or just 'bump into us'. We will be available to listen and pray as necessary.
We would love to hear from you. Steve Sturman - wellbeing@cmf.org.uk
