What Is Triangle Christian Medical & Dental Associations?
Triangle Christian Medical & Dental Associations (TCMDA) is the central North Carolina local ministry group of the national organization Christian Medical & Dental Associations (CMDA). We care for Christian healthcare students and practitioners in Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, and surrounding areas. Our mission statement is:
“Cultivating and disciplining the Christian healthcare community to integrate faith in practice”
The foundational Christian principles of healthcare are being eroded and dismantled by our secularized post-modern culture. Christian doctors, dentists, and other healthcare professionals need to be Biblically equipped to address such issues as abortion, euthanasia, the right of conscience, and other ethical issues.
In response, TCMDA disciples students, faculty and practitioners to realize their unique privilege and responsibility of advancing a Christian response to the secularization of healthcare delivery. Ours is not just a message of sharing the gospel to fulfill the command of the great commission. We teach practicing Christian healthcare with excellence based on love and Christian ethics.
As a Christian organization, this belief is based upon a theological triangle:
- Jesus’ teachings and actions are our models for how to provide Christian healthcare. Jesus healed the body, the soul (emotions, intellect, and will), and the spirit. (Matthew 4:23-25)
- Jesus assigned this work to His disciples. (Matthew 9:35-10:15; Luke 10:1-12) Christians in healthcare today are the disciples uniquely suited to follow in Jesus’ footsteps, being able to heal the body, the soul, and the spirit.
- Through professional training, theological reflection, and mentoring, Christians in health care learn to walk faithfully in His footsteps. They strive for all things well. They expose – rather than impose – Jesus by proclaiming what the Lord has done for them and, as the hands and feet of Christ, what they do in His name for their patients. (Mark 7:31-37; Mark chapters 4-6, especially 5:19-20; John 13:34) Their Christian walk is an encouragement and witness to one another, colleagues, students, and patients.
As a ministry organization, TCMDA reflects our theological triangle by a ministry triangle. We care for caregivers by:
- Caring for their bodies. We do this through recreation, shared meals, etc.
- Teaching their souls. We do this through mentoring, guided Bible studies and presentations that focus on the direct application of Biblical principles to living, working, and ministering as Christian healthcare professionals and students.
- Ministering to their spirits through pastoral care. Our Area Director-Pastor has a healthcare plus ministry background, making him exceptionally suited to minister to the complex needs and concerns of Christians in healthcare.
As a missionary organization, we serve a mission-field triangle.
- Healthcare-related students at Duke and UNC.
- Healthcare faculty and practitioners of all types throughout the Triangle area.
- Wherever else we are asked for help in North Carolina.