The approval from the Diocese completes a more than four year process from when the group was given a temporary clearance as a ministry.
CMF also sponsors conferences, retreats, leadership days and other events for men throughout California. CMF lay volunteer leadership, composed of Board Members and Ambassadors, is devoted to encouraging and supporting Catholic men on their journey of faith.
In the Diocese of San Bernardino Ben Hernandez and Manuel Gonzales are the two ambassadors, along with associate Charlie Knatz. Hernandez, who belongs to St. Catherine of Alexandria in Riverside, has successfully completed Parish Ministry Formation Program (PMFP), Small Faith Community classes and is also an Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion. Hernandez has taken the lead in establishing CMF in the Diocese over the past five years, navigating the approval process and coordinating several men’s conferences here.
CMF was founded in 1991. In 1997, following the work of a task force headed by Bishop Michael Driscoll and composed of clergy and laity from the dioceses of central and southern California, Cardinal Archbishop Roger Mahony officially recognized CMF as a lay faith ministry for men.
CMF groups are a safe environment where men can gather to pray and to discuss their faith and the unique issues that they face as men. “As iron sharpens iron, so man sharpens his fellow men.” Proverbs 27:17.
For more information about CMF or to start a men’s faith sharing group in your parish, please call Ben Hernandez at 909-238-5273.