Cleveland, OH
September 16-18, 2004

Our fellowship gather began at noon on Thursday, September 16, 2004.  We met at Christ the King Church for a time of fellowship, sharing, lunch and worship.  At 4:30 pm we went to Beulah Beach retreat center in Vermilion.  We stayed there until noon on Saturday.

The following 12 ministries were represented by 25 people.

• Autumn Years Ministries                                Chuck Mosher
• Autumn Years Ministries                                Donna Mosher
• Christian Concourse                                        Jerry Johnson
• Christian Concourse                                        Dar Johnson
• Desert Ministries                                             Paul Falkowski
• Desert Ministries                                             Mary Falkowski
• Elder Source                                                     Stan Means
• God Cares Ministry                                         Bill Goodrich
• God Cares Ministry                                         Mary Ann Goodrich
• God Cares Ministry                                         Pam Case
• God Cares Ministry                                         Ruth Dodds
• God Cares Ministry                                         Greg Jevnikar
• Home Free Ministries                                      Jerry Fagerland
• Love Your Neighbor                                         John Lanagan
• Love Your Neighbor                                         Kristin Lanagan
• Outreach for Christ to the Nursing Home       Doug Lee
• Outreach for Christ to the Nursing Home       Roger McFall
• Phoenix First Special People Ministry            Sharon Henning
• Phoenix First Special People Ministry            Cherie Brown
• Phoenix First Special People Ministry            Pricilla McCanlies
• Sharing Jesus Ministry                                    Terrance Wilson
• Sharing the Care                                               Bill Roche
• Sharing the Care                                               Lyn Roche
• Toronto Outreach                                             Tom McCormick
•                                                                            Terry Grimes

After dinner on Thursday evening, Terry Grimes shared a video tape called, Compassion I Suppose.  After the video we enjoyed a time of fellowship around a bon fire where Jerry Johnson told a very memorable joke…. Well… actually, we don’t remember the joke, we just remember Jerry trying to tell it….  That, along with S’mores and a gorgeous sunset finished the evening.

After breakfast on Friday morning, Tom McCormick shared a devotional and led us in a time of praise to our Lord.

The rest of the morning was devoted to a teaching from Stan Means and Bill Goodrich, which focused on financial matters in our ministries.  During the afternoon, Sharon Henning, Cherie Brown and Paul Falkowski shared a great session on recruiting volunteers and involving youth in nursing home ministry.   Just before dinner, we spent an extended time in prayer in small groups.  What a blessing this was!!!

After dinner, Chuck Mosher led us in a devotional and a time of worship.  Several scriptures and comments were shared from various people.  (see below)  Afterward, Bill and Lyn Roche presented to everybody in the group a free copy of their book, Sharing the Care which they just published.  (A great book!  Thank you Bill & Lyn!)  The rest of the evening was spent on brainstorming CFCCM progression.  Discussions and conclusions are included under the CFCCM business title.

Scriptures and Comments Shared:

Lyn Roche – Jeremiah 29:11 ‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.

Kristin Lanagan – Hebrews 10:22-25.  ‘let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.  Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.  And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.  Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another-and all the more as you see the Day approaching.’  Also mentioned she heard a statistic that 150 pastors leave the ministry each month.  We must stay focused and not give up.

Jerry Johnson – Zeph. 3:17 ‘The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save.  He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing.’ Psalm 23:1 ‘The LORD is my shepherd I shall not be in want.’

Terry Grimes – John 21:20-22  ‘…When Peter saw him, he asked, “Lord, what about him?”  Jesus answered, “If I wanted him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you?  You must follow me.’”   Everyone of us is to discipline ourselves.  Everyone has different ministries.  We look at each other’s ministries & we can become discouraged or prideful.  We need to follow Jesus alone.  Balance is needed.  Job 31:6, ‘let God weigh me in honest scales and he will know that I am blameless-‘& Proverbs 16:2, ‘All a man’s ways seem innocent to him, but motives are weighted by the LORD.’

Tom McCormick – If we are going to see change in the care centers, it must go beyond political efforts.  It is spiritual warfare.  If prayer happens, it will bring regional and national change.

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Saturday, after breakfast, we enjoyed a wonderful time of communion led by Terry Grimes.  Included was a devotional, songs and an extended time of prayer.  We concluded the morning by making decisions on Friday evening’s brainstorm time.




CFCCM September 2004 Business:

Compassion I Suppose.

We all agreed that this video would be an excellent tool for each of our ministries.  I have been calling around to find a way to purchase or make legal copies of this video.  This task is still in progress and I believe we will have an answer within the next few weeks.  I will send an update as soon as I have a firm lead.

Training Sessions CD Availability:

The sessions on recruiting are going to be available through Desert Ministries.  Currently the session on recruiting help is complete.  It is about two hours long and on two CD’s.  The session on financial matters is not currently available.  It was decided by Stan, Paul and Bill to re-record this session.  This is because a lot of great material was left out due to time restraints.  We hope to have this available by January 2005.

CFCCM website

A draft CFCCM website developed by Terrance Wilson was presented to the group.  We decided to assign a team to develop a site.  Team members are:  Roger McFall, Chairman; Terrance Wilson, Webmaster; Jerry Johnson, Advisor.  The plan is that this team will develop a more thorough website draft and present it to the fellowship’s leadership team.  After the leadership team gives their input, the rest of the fellowship will have a chance to view and comment before the website team releases it to go online.

Leadership team.

There was discussion on developing a leadership team.  A more pluralistic, than our current approach, was suggested.  It was decided to assign three or four advisors to work with the fellowship facilitator on coordinating and decision making.  Currently, Dar Johnson, Chuck Mosher, Bill Roche and Paul Falkowski have been acknowledged as advisors to Bill Goodrich.  This leadership team will be reconsidered by vote annually.

Resident advocacy, legal issues and other outreach opportunities.

After much discussion and prayer, it was decided that we will not take on such responsibilities.  The reason being; it is not in keeping with our purpose statement.  It was suggested that we are careful to not allow the fellowship to become a coalition. However, members of this fellowship are welcome to solicit support from the membership for special issues, projects, retreats, programs, etc that they may want to lead.

Purpose Statement:

As a Christ centered fellowship, we are committed to gather to provide encouragement for leaders of care center ministries.  We do this through spiritual renewal, networking, fellowship, and sharing resources.

Endorsements/Covering

The question was raised; Would the fellowship be willing to provide endorsements/covering for individuals (for instance) that do not have a nonprofit status?  This would allow for credibility and spiritual covering.   The leadership team will prayerfully brainstorm the possibilities and responsibilities regarding this request.

Next meeting

We decided that our next meeting should be on the west coast.  Dave Compton of "Love Your Neighbor" and Sharon Haakenson / Frank Oertel of "The SonShine Society" are all very open to hosting a mid-August 2005 meeting.  Details are still needed to be worked out by the leadership team.