News Release
For Immediate Release
(Madison, WI) — Nurses Christian Fellowship (NCF) is entering a time of transition as positive developments are expanding its ministry on campus and in print. NCF has announced that a search is on for a new director as Mary Thompson plans to step down in March 2007. This transition comes at the request of Mary Thompson whose ministry has provided solid foundations for the next season of growth. Thompson has been director since 1984.
Involvement in NCF is growing. In the past year the number of NCF student groups has jumped from 101 to 113. Efforts are underway to form new groups at 33 additional schools. Nationwide, over 2200 nursing students, faculty and nurses are actively involved with NCF. Three times that number are served through NCF’s email network, linking over 6700 with resources for Christ-centered nursing.
The i>Journal of Christian Nursing (JCN) is poised for growth through a new partnership with Lippincott Williams & Wilkins (LWW)/Wolters Kluwler Health, a renowned health care publisher. LWW offers its expertise to distribute and market JCN throughout North America and worldwide to an audience of over two million nurses and students. This greatly expanded network of nursing contacts will be provided an opportunity to discover how the gospel of Jesus Christ can make a difference in their work.
A personal faith in Jesus Christ provides a great resource to those who are in a compassionate care profession, such as nursing, particularly as nursing staff shortages grow in many locations. NCF’s contribution to nursing is exemplified by some of the topics addressed at NCF conferences and retreats in the past year, such as Prescription for Compassion Fatigue: Rediscovering Joy in Nursing, Ethics: Challenges and Opportunities, Spirituality: The Missing Piece of Wholistic Care, and Forgiveness: Implications for Nursing Care.
One of the greatest challenges to the field of health care, as well as to the church, is the AIDS pandemic. NCF’s missions director Grace Tazelaar is the co-leader for the HIV/AIDS track at InterVarsity’s Urbana 06 Student Missions Convention. NCF staff will be involved in prayer ministry teams, as well as collaborating with the Urbana operations team for health service ministry
NCF is also one of the 10 partners sponsoring the annual Global Missions Health Conference held at Southeast Christian Church in Louisville, KY. More than 2,500 students and professionals from around the country attended in November 2005.
More about Nurses Christian Fellowship at www.ncf-jcn.org. More about the NCF Director Search at http://ncf.intervarsity.org/info/directorsearch.html.
For additional information:
Gordon Govier
InterVarsity Christian Fellowship
ggovier@intervarsity.org
608-443-3688
