How Big is our Big God?

Join us for a fantastic residential weekend conference for all Christian healthcare workers and their families for excellent teaching from God’s Word, wonderful fellowship, and great food!

‘Bewitched, bothered and bewildered’. The title of this old jazz standard is an apt description of how many of us feel in our current cultural moment. We can often feel downcast, dispirited, and dishevelled. We need
something to pull us out of ourselves. We need something to pull ourselves together! In order to do this, we will need to see the big picture. More importantly we will need to see our big God. It is this vision alone that will give us the reorientation and rejuvenation we badly need. In this case, the book Isaiah is the appropriate medicine to prescribe. At this year’s CMF National Conference, we will be looking at three chapters in Isaiah. These chapters are familiar to us, but far from being pretty and sentimental, they are powerful and cutting, as they constantly contrast the living and life-giving God to dead and death-giving idolatry. It is in this comparison that we ill rediscover our identity, our strength, and our witness to declare hope in a hope-less world. 

Guest Speaker: Dan Strange

Dan Strange is the Director of Crosslands Forum, a centre for cultural engagement. Formerly he was College Director at Oak Hill College, London. He is a visiting professor at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, contributing editor for Themelios, Vice President of The Southgate Fellowship, and a Fellow of The Keller Center for Cultural Apologetics. His most recent books are Plugged In (The Good Book Company, 2019), and Making Faith Magnetic (The Good Book Company, 2021). Dan is married to Elly, has seven children and a foster child, and is an elder of Hope Community Church in Gateshead in the North East of England.

PLENARY SESSION: 'Surviving and thriving in the workplace

Amidst today's cultural landscape, how can Christian healthcare professionals effectively address workplace challenges while being a blessing to those around us? What defines success in the eyes of God? Join us in this plenary session as John shares personal insights, draws wisdom from Scripture, and integrates these with findings from staff surveys. Together, we will explore how to survive and thrive as God's ambassadors in healthcare. And how we do we do this with kindness and consistency amidst the inevitable tensions we face in healthcare leadership, and in so doing bear fruit that glorifies the Lord. 

This session offers a space for honest conversations and prayer.

Plenary Speaker: John Drew

John Drew has been Director of Staff Experience and Engagement at NHS England for the last 3 years, which includes responsibility for the annual NHS staff survey and the national health and wellbeing team. He also led the implementation of the NHS People Plan during the pandemic.  He joined the NHS in 2017, as Director of Improvement and Culture at a large teaching hospital, having previously been a partner at McKinsey working in the Operations and Healthcare practices. 

He is an Associate Fellow at Green Templeton College, Oxford where he teaches on the Management in Medicine programme, and is a trustee of Samaritans and 4Front Theatre, a Christian theatre company. 
He is married with three grown up daughters and lives in Worcester, where he is part of All Saints church. He is hooked on parkrun and is the proud owner of a Morris Minor pickup. 

Online Gathering 
We are offering an online option for those who are unable to join us in person at Yarnfield Park.  This is an online gathering to join the main sessions only (and does not include seminars) at the following times: 

Friday evening (19:45 -22:00) - The great big God – Isaiah 40 
Saturday morning (9:15 – 11:30) - Identity: his, and ours – Isaiah 41  
Saturday evening (19:30 – 21:30) - Plenary Session: 'Surviving and thriving in the workplace' 
Sunday morning (11:15 - 13:00) -  Idol comments - Isaiah 44

Bookings for the Online Gathering will close on 19th April.

How to book

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