COUPLES FOR CHRIST

Contents

Organization

History

Position statements

References

See also

External links

Organization

CFC members are organized into 'Household' cell groups (a group of 10 to 12 individual members, or 5 to 6 couples), which are led by a Household Head. Multiple households form a 'Unit', multiple units form a 'Chapter', multiple chapters form a 'Cluster', and a 'Sector' can be formed depending on the amount of clusters in the area. Overall direction is provided by a national CFC council and ultimately the CFC Council in Manila. There are 350 CFC Chapters around Metro Manila alone.
CFC claims a membership of over a million lay Catholics in 160 countries.

History

★ 1981 - 'Couples for Christ' ('CFC') established in Manila, Philippines with 16 couples

★ 1983 - First formal planning session held, and statements of mission and philosophy formulated

★ 1984 - CFC established, for the first time, outside Metro Manila in the province of Bukidnon

★ 1985 - CFC established, for the first time, outside the Philippines--in India

★ 1989 - Thrust of rapid, massive, and global evangelization for the decade of the 1990s formulated

★ 1991 - '''"Families in the Holy Spirit Renewing the Face of the Earth"''' adopted as theme

★ 1993 - 'CFC Family Ministries' - 'Kids for Christ' ('KFC'), 'Youth for Christ' ('YFC'), 'Singles for Christ' ('SFC'), and 'Handmaids of the Lord' ('HOLD') established

★ 1994 - 'Servants of the Lord' ('SOLD') established

★ 1995 - 1st International Glory Songwriting Festival held, CFC approved by the 'Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines' ('CBCP') as a ''National Private Association of Lay Faithful'', various 'CFC Social Ministries' established

★ 1997 - Ben Donato and June Frias died while on mission in Vanuatu on September 8

★ 1999 - First house built for the poor in Bagong Silang, Metro Manila

★ 2000 - CFC Mission amended to '''"Bringing Glad Tidings to the Poor"''', CFC recognized by the 'Holy See' ('Vatican') as a 'Private International Association of Lay Faithful'

★ 2001 - Work with the poor evolved to 'Gawad Kalinga' ('GK')

★ 2002 - First missionaries sent on long-term mission to southern Africa, first 'GK National Build' mounted, GK started for the first time outside the Philippines, in Cambodia

★ 2003 - 'GK777' launched

★ 2005 - 'The 7 Pillars of CFC' completed with the establishment of 'Pro-Life' and 'CFC Special Ministries', CFC received its permanent recognition from the Vatican as a Private International Association of Lay Faithful

★ 2006 - CFC's 25-year anniversary

★ 2007 - Worldwide CFC community reached a total of 160 countries.

Position statements

The following are the so-called "Pillars" as ascribed to by CFC-GMF. Note that CFC-FFL ''does not'' ascribe to some or all of these position statements:
# ''Evangelization and Mission''
#: (membership entry through a 'Christian Life Program' ('CLP') and serves as the CFC membership body)
# ''Pastoral Support''
#: ((logistical and pastoral support, ex. 'CFC Home Office' and 'Pastoral Center' operations, development of teachings and formation courses, providing counseling, training music ministries, handling finances, etc.)
# '' Family Ministries''
#: (support for every member of the family; 'Kids for Christ' ('KFC'), 'Youth for Christ' ('YFC'), 'Singles for Christ' ('SFC'), 'Handmaids of the Lord' ('HOLD') (for widows, older unmarried women, separated or divorced women, and women whose husbands are unable to join them), and 'Servants of the Lord' ('SOLD') (the counterpart of the Handmaids for the men).
# ''Social Ministries''
#: ('CFC EFI' (child education), 'Flame Ministries, Inc.' (CFC social communications), 'GKare Health Foundation, Inc.' (primary health care), 'Isaiah 61:1' (prison ministry), 'St. Thomas More & Associates' (promoting morality, justice, and peace and society), 'Sword of Gideon' (armed services ministry), 'Tekton Guild' (economic ministry), 'Teodora' (women empowerment ministry), 'The Oikos Society' (environmental ministry))
# ''Gawad Kalinga''
#: (Work with the Poor; ''Bringing Glad Tidings to the Poor'')
# ''Pro-Life''
#: ('Natural Family Planning' ('NFP') and education)
# ''Special Ministries''
#: (''Building the Church of the Future''; 'Priests for Family and Life' (clergy), 'Nuns for Christ' (religious women), 'Missionary Society of St. Francis and St. Paul' (lay celibates), 'Jacob's Well' (irregular unions)).

References

★ Couples For Christ Global Mission Foundation, Inc. (CFC-GMF) website

★ CFC Fulfilling the Mandate, a CFC-GMF website

★ Couples For Christ Foundation for Family and Life, Inc. (CFC-FFL) website

★ "Lamentations", Frank Padilla's blog, a CFC-FFL site

★ A website calling for the reunification of CFC-GMF and CFC-FFL

★ "Couples for Christ now in 134 countries"

★ "Meloto takes Gawad Kalinga global"

★ "KIKO CITES GK AS A MODEL FOR SOCIALIZED HOUSING"

See also

★ CFC-Singles for Christ (SFC)

★ CFC-Youth for Christ (YFC)

★ CFC-Kids for Christ (KFC)

External links

★ CFC New Jersey

★ CFC Calgary

★ CFC BC

★ CFC Edmonton

★ CFC United