Overview
The Leader Info page is used to post general information that is intended for CFM group leaders.
Many items are available here as a PDF 
file and can be viewed with Adobe Acrobat Reader, version 3 or higher. Viewing large files with modems having transfer speeds of less than 56K will result in long load times (e.g. modem speeds of 28.8K may take about a half second per kb to load; thus a 120kb file could take about one minute).
Click on the icon to download a free copy of Acrobat.
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Leader Survey Results February 2006
Click here to see the results of the 35 question poll for CFM Leaders.
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Parish Leadership Manual
This manual is intended for the CFM chaircouple or chairperson at the parish. It gives tips on creating, leading and developing CFM groups. Click here to open a new browser window with the
Leadership Manual (138kb).
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Leader Training Handbook
This handbook is intended for anyone who is leading a CFM group. It gives tips on leading CFM meetings and discusses group leader and member responsibilities. It is based on CFM at a large parish in Southern California. It generally reflects their particular structure which entails ten or more small groups and a leadership board structure. In addition to the regular CFM small group meetings, there are many CFM activities/programs listed which involve the whole parish membership. Some of this material may not reflect your particular parish situation, especially if you have only one group in your parish. However, the sections on leading meetings and qualities of a group leader are still very useful for any sized CFM group.
Click here to open a new browser window with the
Leader Training Handbook (129kb).
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Group Leader Tips
Good group leaders are good listeners who get to know the people in their group. They stay in touch outside the meeting and are supportive to all the group members. They make sure everyone knows when and where meetings are. They follow up when members miss. They make phone calls and e-mail missing members. They promote the exchange of addresses and phone numbers or make up a roster to ensure good communications.
Good group leaders exercise gentle discipline so meetings start and end on time. A predictable schedule makes everyone more comfortable. Allow one and a half-hours for meeting time and one half hour for social time. The topic can be discussed thoroughly in this time frame if the discussion is focussed. The social time is the place to carry on further discussion of a particularly interesting point and helps develop group cohesion.
Group size is important. When the group grows beyond eight couples it is time to think about splitting. Some large federations find a larger group size works for them, but most CFM groups prefer groups of 5 to 7 families. Groups of this size have good participation from everyone present. Quieter members may get overlooked in larger gatherings. Our experience is that larger groups have poorer attendance because people feel they will not be missed.
Should we reorganize membership of groups annually? While we are aware of some groups that do quite well with static membership, encouraging formation of new groups and bringing new people into the CFM process is part of the CFM approach. It is our experience that vitality suffers when groups are not open to new members. However, we realize some groups face such strong resistance to this action that it threatens the survival of the federation. In this instance, we would not recommend proceeding with the reorganization without the assurance of cooperation on the part of members. Giving some control to members by organizing around leaders or time might help with this. It may be impossible to make everyone happy no matter what you do.
Leading a CFM group is an exercise in Christian charity. Most important of all is that Christ be the center of your group. If that is so, all should go well.
Be sure to look at the Special Topics page for other ideas for CFM Meetings.
GUIDELINES FOR CFM MEETINGS
WHEN YOU HOST
- Please call the couples in your group 3 to 4 days before the meeting to remind them to come, give directions, etc. Encourage them to do their ACTIONS & OBSERVATIONS beforehand. (Life can get so busy…we ALL can use a reminder!)
- Try to involve your children in the preparation for the meeting (baking, cleaning, rolling out the red carpet). The night of the meeting, ask them to help welcome everyone…help take coats, put out the snacks, etc. This is a wonderful opportunity to teach Christian HOSPITALITY and share your family with the group!
- Keep it simple!! Please provide beverages (soft drinks, coffee, tea) and some sort of dessert after the meeting. FELLOWSHIP, not food, is the focus.
GROUP MEMBERS HAVE RESPONSIBILITIES, TOO
- If you are unable to attend a meeting/social activity, please call the CFM facilitators or hosts.
- Be aware, each person needs a chance to share. Try to state your observes and opinions briefly.
- Be considerate. Really listen to the person before you jump in with your thought. Realize and respect that each person sees life from a unique and different perspective…they may differ in their opinion. LISTEN with an open mind.
- Click here to open a new browser window with a
Group Agreement (15kb).
- CFM IS AN ON-GOING PROGRAM…
YOU WILL GENERALLY GET OUT OF IT
WHAT YOU’RE WILLING TO PUT INTO IT!
WHEN YOU LEAD A MEETING, REMEMBER…
- Couples should read through the lesson together and decide how you’ll share the “leadership”. Get any materials together (extra paper, pens, props for role play, candle, etc.) You might want to bring a special prayer or song to set the mood for the meeting.
- Start on time and end on time. Remember the social time after the discussion is also important for the building of community…and relaxing! If the discussion goes too long it will mean less social time.
- Be aware of the time and “keep it rolling” in order to progress from OBSERVES to JUDGES to ACTS…the whole sequence is the CFM meeting. If you’re spending more time on one question, call a “time out” to get on track or skip a question or two to keep things moving.
- CFM uses OPEN SHARING for discussion…which means, leave the response open to the group. If the facilitator asks a specific person their opinion, that person can “pass” if they prefer not to share at this time.
- Don’t be afraid of silence!! Often people need time to organize their thoughts before they respond. Leave time for this to happen.
- Try to stick to the questions. If a really good side discussion happens, encourage people to continue it during social time.
- Encourage couples to DO an ACTION and make their OBSERVATIONS between meetings! These are the things that actually help us LIVE OUT what we TALK about!
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Membership Tools
Click here to open a new browser window with these in pdf format .
These pdf format flyers below from St. Thomas Villanova CFM in Palatine, IL might give others ideas of how to organize a new CFM group. The approach at St. Thomas is interesting because the large group meets at the parish hall, kids go to babysitting rooms and parents divide up in groups to go through the meeting. Family activities are held at another time. The Quizzes are a fun way to spark interest:
This pdf format monthly newsletter below is from Holy Family CFM in Inverness, IL. It offers some good ideas for building community as well as some interesting approaches to activities between meetings.
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Board Meeting Presentations
Click below to open a new browser window with Peter and Jane Buchbauer's presentation in conjunction with the Winter 2003 Board Meeting. The talk is a PDF and the accompanying slides are a PowerPoint presentation for download and also a PowerPoint web page (for which PowerPoint is not necessary to view).
Click below to open a new browser window with John and Lauri Przybysz's presentation in conjunction with the Winter 2004 Board Meeting. The talk is a PDF and the accompanying slides are a PowerPoint presentation for download and also a PowerPoint web page (for which PowerPoint is not necessary to view).
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Special Articles
Click here to open a new browser window with these in pdf format .
Following
are seven qualities that Susan Vogt, former Director of Family Ministry in Covington, KY believes a vibrant, living Catholic Church should embody:
The complete Coming of Age Program book (below) is available below. Its five meetings deal with the issues of relationship that
challenge us in the second half of life: our identity as we move
beyond parenting, our relationship with each other as couples, with
our parents as they age, with our children's children, and with all
the issues that come as we transition out of the workforce.
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Email List
The Contact-CFM e-mail address is a list of CFM USA group
leaders. It is an open list, meaning that messages sent to the list are immediately sent to everyone on it (about 100 people).
This was done so that it could provide a means of free discussion among the "subscribers". All the subscribers are parish CFM leaders and so topics regarding organization and leadership of parish groups are very appropriate for this e-mail list. Please make use of this forum for this purpose. Just send a message to
to participate.
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CFM USA Bylaws
Click here to open a new browser window with the
CFM USA Bylaws
, adopted at the July 2002 Board Meeting.
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Copyright © 2002-2009 Christian Family Movement
