Be Smart, Use the CFC MMD

If you are a chapter leader, chances are you have been busy for the last few weeks making the database of your chapter.  Chapter Leaders have to submit their rosters of members to their respective Sector Heads for offering at the 30th anniversary celebration of Couples for Christ last Sunday, June 26.  Another reason is the Center's campaign for full compliance and implementation of the Couples for Christ Members Management Database or CFC MMD. The CFC International Council (IC) envisions the CFC MMD as a tool for the mission.  It aims to lessen the time spent for administrative work so there will be more time for pastoral formation and evangelization. 

The CFC MMD is the latest buzz going around in our sector.   By going through the manual for the first time, I was overwhelmed by the scope of information that has to be encoded for each member of our chapter. If a chapter has at least 50 couples, that's 100 databases to be encoded.  From my experience, I did not find any difficulty as there is batch encoding.  The CFC MMD is so easy to navigate specially because of our familiarity of how social networks like Facebook, blogs, LinkedIn, Multiply and the like work.  Now tell me, who doesn't have a Facebook account up to this time?  Even my nephew's dog has an FB account!  

To put it simply, it is like a Facebook fan page of a chapter, a cluster, sector.  It gives you a bird's eyeview of what goes on in a chapter, cluster or sector et al.  The scope of the network depends on the member's level of service.  If you are a chapter leader, you can only view the activities, reports and members' database of your chapter. A cluster leader on the other hand has access on the chapters under his cluster and so on and so forth.

Why is it a powerful tool for the mission?  The portal can generate reports at real time of the evangelization and pastoral formation initiatives of the smallest chapter.  It can keep track of all members, both active and inactive.  It is like having your CFC DNA.  Just by reading the reports, a leader can chart the course that his group will take.  Since the reports are important in decision making, encoding of data should be done responsibly by a qualified chapter servant if the chapter leader is not available to do it.

We are now ready to start.  Go to Google and type http://cfcglobaldata.com.  After clicking go, your screen will look like this:

Log-in by typing your username and password.  This will bring you to your chapter's dashboard.  At this page, you can choose the task that you want to do by clicking on the appropriate tab.

Not only data of a chapter or cluster et al can be found in the CFC MMD.  A member can also access his own page by doing the following:

Go to Google and type http://cfcglobaldata.com. Instead of logging in, click on Member's Portal.

 

To be able to go to your page, you have to type your member ID number and password. Don't know your member ID number?  Ask your chapter head or chapter servant for your number.  If you are a first time user, you have to provide your ID number and email address.  

Check your email for your password.  Once you have your password, click to login.

You are now in your own page.  You can choose to edit your profile, upload your profile picture, or change the system generated password to one of your own creation.

I hope this little exercise has helped you with the creation of your chapter's database.

Pearl of Great Price: Celebrating 30 Years of Blessings

June is a busy, make that hectic month for Couples for Christ.  It is anniversary month.  Traditionally, the anniversary is celebrated with congresses, that big parade and celebration at Luneta and what have you.  This year, 2011 is special.  CFC is 30 years old.  To mark the 30th or Pearl Anniversary and the unity that has remained strong and steadfast, despite undergoing tough challenges, Couples for Christ has a lot of activities lined up.

The celebration officially started with a Global Community Recollection Day on June 4.  For the chapter leaders, the recollection was given a week earlier during the Chapter Leaders Training on May 28.  After a week, said recollection was cascaded to the general membership.  A week before the big celebration at Luneta, various activities will be held to be participated in by delegates from all over the world.  The climax of the anniversary celebration will be a grand parade at the Luneta in the afternoon of June 26.

To commemorate this special milestone in CFC, a song was composed  and recorded.  I have downloaded the song (with lyrics and chords) and included it in this article so you will not have a hard time searching for it.

Aside from the song, CFC is coming out with a coffee book that will include pictures of different household groups, etc.  You can have it at P500 apiece.

Commemorative t-shirts which are very cool and world class are available.  The t-shirts come in different shades of blue, depending on the ministry you represent:  royal blue (Couples for Christ and Servants of the Lord), navy blue (Singles for Christ and Youth for Christ) and aqua blue (Handmaids of the Lord and Kids for Christ).  Aside from t-shirts, there are also commemorative stickers for a very affordable price of P20 each.

Let's all be counted and join in the celebration on June 26.  See you all.