CMFN hosts national gatherings of our members and friends every decade. Our vision includes regional meetings throughout the United States that would bring migrant farmworkers and rural immigrants together more frequently.
The Second National Consultation of the Catholic Migrant Farmworker Network was held at Creighton University in Omaha, NE from May 24-27, 2007 with 156 farmworkers, rural immigrants and pastoral agents from 31 states.
The following goals were established during planning for the II National Consultation:
- To include rural immigrants who do not work directly in agriculture
- To actively recruit from farmworker and rural immigrant leadership that CMFN had worked with over the last decade
- To prepare for the Second Consultation with a national survey
- To create a highly participatory process to give voice to the farmworkers and rural immigrants invited
A printed booklet of the Resolutions and Recommendations from the II National Consultation is available for purchase on our Resources page. This document guides CMFN in our current work. The following are excerpts from the Declaration of the Community of Migrant Farmworkers and Rural Immigrants, in which the participants of the II Consultation address all members of the Catholic community:
- We are a community of migrant farmworkers and rural immigrants, who walk toward the Kingdom without fear, giving witness as actors and not as spectators; a hardworking community in search of justice, mindful of those who suffer.
- We believe that social justice is not a marginal ministry, but the backbone of the Gospel.
- We will continue to live, work and become part of the People of God in the Church of the United States.
- We want to make pastors and pastoral leaders aware of the migrant reality and their living conditions in the fields and rural workplaces, encouraging their solidarity and commitment to the migrant people.
Click to view more photos of the II National Consultation on Facebook.
The First National Consultation of Farmworker Ministry was convened by the Catholic Migrant Farmworker Network (CMFN) in 1995. It was held in Chicago, IL from November 30-December 3, 1995 with 90 pastoral agents who worked with migrant farmworkers all across the United States. The chosen theme was “Called by the Gospel to Journey Together”, and two of the stated goals were to begin documenting the faith journey of the migrant farmworker population and to consider the Church’s role in the process of transition that farmworker families experience.
The First National Consultation led to the collaboration between the Mexican American Cultural Center (MACC, now the Mexican American Catholic College) and CMFN to create two levels of Pastoral Courses. MACC also agreed to provide a lead facilitator to team with CMFN board members and network leaders to give the courses throughout the country. Another result of the First National Consultation was the launch of the first CMFN website.
Join CMFN Members will receive invitations to attend future gatherings!