Christian Family Movement
This method has led to action in such areas as "foster-parenting, prison ministry, refugee sponsorship, religious education and couple counseling".
Pat Crowley and six other men began to meet in a law office in Chicago in February 1942 to discuss the laymen's role in the church community.
The Christian Family Movement was born when Burnie and Helene Bauer and Pat and Patty Crowley met each other at the Cana Conference in August 1948.
In the 1960s CFM even caused the formation of such new organizations as the Foundation for International Cooperation (FIC) and the Christian Family Mission Vacation.
[9] CFM members in 1975 wrote and tested a family centered drug awareness campaign that was published by the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare.
The Christian Family Movement in the US, while still existent and active, has fewer English speaking members than in decades past, but the growth in the CFM in the Spanish Catholic community is robust.
In 1970 all of the coordinators from each parish was invited to attend a meeting to discuss if they can be united as a team and under the umbrella of the Los Angeles Archdioceses.
In this meeting, several couples attended Roberto and Consuelo Perez, Jorge and Dora Antillon, Salvador y Maria Rangel, Enrique y Pilar Pacheco, Lauro y Tere Romero including Bishop Manuel Moreno from Tucson, Arizona.
[14] Starting in 1994, CFM published a column called "Taking the Time to Make a Difference", written by Paul Leingang, that has received several awards for excellence in spirituality from the Catholic Press Association of the United States and Canada.
Other presidents have been Ray and Dorothy Maldoon (1968–1977), Bob and Irene Tomonto (1977–1981), Gary and Kay Aitchison (1981–1985), Wayne and Sue Hamilton (1985–1989), Peter and Carolyn Broeren (1989–1993), Paul and Jane Leingang (1993–1997), Chuck and Jan Rogers (1997–2001), Peter and Jane Buchbauer (2001–2005), John and Lauri Przybysz (2005-2009), Bob and Anne Tomonto (2009-2013), Tom and Mary Kay Halpin (2013-2015).
CFM also uses the Bible verse James 1:22—Be doers of the word, and not merely hearers—to help portray its mission to its fellow Christians.
[19] Anthony M. Pilla, Bishop of Cleveland, explained the mission of CFM best when he addressed the Christian Family Movement on August 5, 1995.
But the Church doesn't stop there; it also speaks of the relationship between families and the larger culture, the duty of service, working for the common good, welcoming strangers, and giving voice to the Christian conscience.
Man – shown lifting his arms to God, it represents a strong tower, being the total embodiment of the head of the family.
[22] During the early years of the movement (1948-1956), CFM received some criticism because it did not fall squarely under the clerical authority of the American bishops as a whole.
In the days before the second Vatican Council, such approval was difficult to receive, in part because of differing views on jurisdictions; Kathryn Johnson notes that "the NCWC had been set up as an advisory conference" and that "bishops proved unwilling to tread on one another's individual diocesan decisions.
[23] In addition, this early conflict between CFM and the FLB was complicated by the larger changes and questions about the role of the laity in the Catholic Church, some of which were addressed during the Second Vatican Council.
