Who is Couples For Christ Australia?
Couples for Christ (CFC) Australia is a Catholic renewal community, whose goal is to strengthen the Christian family. We believe Couples for Christ is a work of God established to support Christian families committed to living by the biblical principles. Members do this by meeting weekly in small household groups where we share our faith and support each other.
Our members have committed themselves to serve God, to evangelise and to spread the good news of Jesus Christ throughout Australia and all over the world. Through our formation programs we aim to help others and ourselves grow in maturity as men and women of God and to fulfil the role of our primary vocation, by raising up families under the lordship of Jesus Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit.
We see ourselves as servants of Christ working towards total human liberation through the power of the Holy Spirit. As lay individuals, we endeavour to support the work of the church by supporting our parishes. Our service extends to the families of members youth, singles, the divorced, and separated.
Origin of Couples for Christ Australia
Couples for Christ started in the Philippines in June 1981.
Couples for Christ Australia was establised in August 1988. The first Christian Life Program (CLP) was held in Sydney under the leadership of Tony and Dolly Haber. Over the years, the community has been blessed by God and has spread not only to the main cities of Australia but also to some regional areas in New South Wales and Victoria.
CFC Australia is a highly evangelistic community. Our call is to bring the good news of Jesus Christ to people. We proudly proclaim that Jesus came into the world in order to bring salvation to men, through His death and resurrection. We obey the command of Jesus "Go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel to every creature." (Mark 16:15). To do this effectively we need to be trained and thus we have
The pastoral support of CFC Australia members are very important and integral in our work of Evangelization and Mission. There is a strong need for each member to grow in personal renewal and holiness. Areas of personal prayer life, household meetings and Community gathering attendances are encouraged to build up each other and relationships. All members are also encouraged to work in their parishes and assist in building up the Catholic Church. We seek the advice of the Bishops of Australia in support of our Pastoral Formation.
Our Vision is to reach out to anyone who is in need. We want our members helping the least of their brethren, thus living out the spirit of the first Christian community where no one was in want as they shared things in common. We want our members to work with the parish to have work with the poor, leading to massive work of poverty eradication. We seek to provide for the needs of the poor and restore their dignity as children of God. Our projects are chosen by members and we will utilize the services of Catholic and reputable government agencies to disburse funds.
Couples for Christ Australia have been and staunchly remains pro-God, pro-Church, pro-family, pro-poor and pro-life. A strong pro-life stance is very much in line with CFC Australias way of life as well as its work for total human liberation. This is in line with the teachings of the Catholic Church and as accorded in the encyclical letters Humanae Vitae (Of Human Life) of Pope Paul VI and Evangelium (The Gospel of Life) of Pope John Paul II. Pro-Life as a major ministry in order to raise consciousness among CFC Australia members, as well as others, on the sacredness of life as a basic value rooted in the dignity of man.
The CFC Australia family is regarded as the central unit of society and as such requires continuity and support in its life. The CFC Australia Family Ministries as listed below offer and foster the atmosphere of FAITH, FRIENDSHIP, FREEDOM and FUN.
* CFC Australia Kids For Christ
* CFC Australia Youth For Christ
* CFC Australia Singles For Christ
* CFC Australia Handmaids of the Lord
* CFC Australia Servants of the Lord
CFC Australia has a "womb-to-tomb" ministry. There is something for everyone. This is God's gift to all of us in the community. It is our assurance of the Lord's blessings from birth to death. It is God's provision for us to enable us after our earthly sojourn to enter into our eternal reward in heaven.
Mission & Vision
Statement of Mission and Vision
God has raised up Couples for Christ Australia so that we in turn would rise up in defence of His work. We believe the Christian family is a creation of God and no one has any right to change it, its structure or its purposes. Couples for Christ Australia is distinctly called to bring families back to the plan of God. The community of Couples for Christ are called to bring the Lord’s strength and light to those who are struggling to be truly Christian families in the modern world.
We believe that God is working powerfully in the world today, and is moving to accomplish His plan for the fullness of times, to sum up all things in Christ, in heaven and on earth (Eph 1:10). In this task, God calls upon Christian families to be light and leaven in the world.
As such, all the members of Couples for Christ Australia are called to be families in the Holy Spirit renewing the face of the earth. As Christian families we are called to grow in holiness and discipleship, so that God can use us as evangelizers and missionaries in order that He might renew the world.
In this task, we are called to take up the very mission of Jesus in bringing glad tidings to the poor. We rise up in defence of the poor and the oppressed. We strive for peace, justice and the preservation of the integrity of God’s creation. We work for the total human liberation in order to establish the kingdom of God here on earth.
Couples for Christ Australia, under the guidance of the Catholic church and in submission to God’s will commits itself to this mission and will serve wherever God calls us to serve.
Statement of Philosophy
Couples for Christ Australia adheres to a set of beliefs and ideals, from which flow its Christian values, attitudes and behaviour, as well as its teachings, programs, and approaches to Christian renewal within the context of families and relationships.
WE BELIEVE marriage is an indissoluble institution as taught by our Lord Jesus Christ (Matthew 19:6), and that God created marriage primarily for love between man and woman, and for the procreation and proper rearing of children.
WE BELIEVE that God created man and wife with equal personal worth and dignity; and that God established order in the family by giving the man the role as head of the family and the woman as his helpmate and support, which roles best express their complementarity.
WE BELIEVE in the inalienable and irreplaceable right and responsibility of parents to educate their children and raise them in the faith; and that the children need to be educated in essential human and Christian values for them to become responsible and mature members of society.
WE BELIEVE that the family, in practicing the gospel message, shares in the life and mission of the Catholic Church through prayers, evangelization and service to others, especially to the poor.
WE BELIEVE that Christian family renewal can best be achieved by inviting Jesus to be the Lord of our homes, by allowing the power of the Holy Spirit to lead our family lives, and through the full use of all spiritual gifts at our disposal.