Dear FCNI Members and Friends,

This is my last Passage as your FCNI President. As I reflect, it has been two years of change, transition, and growth. FCNI is a different organization in December 2024 than it was when I started my 2-year term as President in January 2023. And the organization is better because of our members and board. We celebrated our 10th anniversary in 2023 (and carried that theme through into 2024).

Please go to our “About Us” section to see Dr. Renee Kumpula, Education Committee Chair, interview two of our FCNI Founders, Dr. Andrea West and Dr. Beverly Siegrist. Their stories share the legacy and future of FCNI, support our enduring mission, and advance the idea that this is the only professional specialty nursing membership organization that was CREATED By, is LED BY, and FOR faith community nurses and parish nurses, exclusively. Use our hashtags:

#byFCNsforFCNs - #byfaithcommunitynursesforfaithcommunitynurses - #calledtoserve

Here is a picture of the inaugural FCNI board, October 2015. Photo provided by Dr. Donna Callaghan.

For those of you who missed the annual meeting, here is a recap of our accomplishments and the benefits (many of which are free) that were achieved by and for our members:

• Community of Support: Mentoring for research or EBP projects
• I Am FCNI: Showcasing our members’ practice and ministry
• 8 ANCC approved webinars and 2nd annual conference
• On-demand 24-hour access to video recordings of our CNE presentations
• Strategically outsourced website tech and financial services
• 10th Anniversary donation enabled significant website updates
• Discount on Journal of Christian Nursing subscription
• Discounted Foundations course from Widener University
• Quarterly member orientation
• Quarterly research and EBP scholarly article reviews
• Discounted student membership categories
• Two issues of IJFCN, including a themed COVID issue
• New Practice Toolkits: Technology, Grief & Bereavement
• Nine Aspiring Authors Writing Sessions to enable FCNs to develop writing and publication skills

Our growth goals demonstrate we achieved year-over-year increases in our membership and in the racial and ethnic diversity of our board to better represent the faces of our membership. The number of persons of color increased from 3 out of 13 (23%) in 2023 to 6 out of 14 (43%) in 2024 and will increase to 8 out of 15 (53%) in 2025. Research shows that organizations with more diversity achieve better outcomes!

I would like to remind you that FCNI is a 24/7/365 accessible organization. Our members have access to member-only benefits such as the Practice Toolkits and Monthly Health Topics; the recordings of our 2023 and 2024 webinars with CNE credit are available on demand for everyone.

Please let me know at contact@fcninternational.org if anyone has a passion for communication and is savvy with social media. We are recruiting a volunteer Communications Coordinator.

Hold the date for our 3rd Annual virtual conference.

Saturday, October 18 from 10 am to 3:00 pm (CT)

Finally, I’d like to wish everyone a blessed season of holy days and holidays. This quote from Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks resonated with me as FCNI has sought to maintain a welcoming interfaith perspective and make the world a better place through our ministry and practice. We recognize numerous religious and traditional holidays in the last few days of 2024 and early 2025. Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa, and Happy New Year!