History of CMNi

 

John and Anne Bosman immigrated to the United States from South Africa in 1986 to establish a stateside ministry of evangelism and leadership development. However, after eighteen months the Lord supernaturally directed them to accept the call to pastor Glad Tidings Church in Lake Charles, Louisiana. Exponential growth necessitated the search for a system of assimilation and retention for the numerous visitors that began attending the church.  Randal Smith, who served on the Glad Tidiings staff, had previously established a relationship with Dr. Mel Steinbron in a prior ministry, reading his book, Can the Pastor Do It Alone? (1987).  In Lake Charles, Pastor Bosman invited Mel to help him establish a system of congregational care based on Mel’s work. A lifelong friendship developed between the two men, leading to Dr. Steinbron’s offering John to utilize all of his written materials as he deems necessary to expand the ministry of congregational care.

 

Pastor Bosman designed the first care ministry system on the basis of Dr. Steinbron’s book and called it the Lay Pastor’s Network. This system of care was used by Glad Tidings for a number of years and some other churches received training for implementation in their local settings. After leaving the church and ministering once again in South Africa, John and Anne returned to the states in 2003 and picked up the mantle of itinerant ministry.  In traveling to various churches around the country, John became increasingly troubled by the lack of a system of congregational care.  These observations compelled him to reshape material previously used in Lake Charles, LA. This new material is called the Care Ministry Network. The first seminar using this new material was presented in West Florida in 2006. In the ensuing years, John has refined the concept and presented the CMNi system to dozens of pastors and churches in the US as well as South Africa where the model has been widely accepted.

 

As the ministry has expanded, John reunited with one of his earlier associates, Randal Smith, and together, they have created a re-imagined ministry capable of training hundreds of congregations throughout the US and other parts of the world. John’s book, The Care Revolution, is the final element of this important system, allowing it’s readers the opportunity to understand the rationale, philosophy and biblical foundation for what John describes as ‘the missing link’ – congregation-wide care provided by trained members of the local church. Today, CMNi can provide pastors and churches with everything they need to cast the vision, organize a training conference, and offer all the relevant training tools.