FIELD

GUIDE
to Pure Religion Sunday
For more than 20 years, churches all around the world have rallied together each
year – on the second Sunday in November – to draw attention to God’s heart
for orphaned and vulnerable children and families and to invite their own local
congregations to respond in deep and meaningful ways. Through the power of
this focused and unified Sunday, churches have stood in solidarity with the heart
of God, the global Church around the world and the most vulnerable right there
in their own communities.

This is the powerful story we all have the opportunity to participate in again
this year - the story of God’s heart for and actions toward the orphaned and
vulnerable told throughout the narrative of Scripture and expressed through
centuries of faithful devotion and service by Christians all around the world. We
participate this year as a celebration of all that has been done while eagerly
anticipating all the ways God will continue to work through His Church.

The heart of Christian discipleship reflected in James 1:27 is that while caring
for “orphans and widows” and various expressions of vulnerability around
us (helpful) we would remain “unstained by the world,” or live lives that are
distinctively different from the rhythms and patterns of the world around us.
Pure Religion Sunday acts as a celebratory and catalyzing opportunity to inspire
and equip God’s people to live out this “pure religion” described in the book of
James and expressed throughout Scripture. This is the framework of Christian
discipleship - a holy and helpful vision for the Church, and more specifically, for
your church in your community.

Throughout this simple guide you will find helpful tools to explore unique and
creative ways your church can participate in “Pure Religion Sunday.” You will
get access to resources designed for you - the local Church - curated and
created through the work of the Pure Religion Project, a focused initiative of the
Christian Alliance for Orphans and the broader CAFO community designed to
help churches live out their calling to care for vulnerable children and families
while growing closer to Jesus as His disciples.

As you take your next steps forward, know our team stands ready to help serve
and support you in any ways we can. It’s our honor to walk alongside you as we
increasingly live out “pure religion” - together.

JASON JOHNSON
Director of Church Engagement and Mobilization
[email protected]
ABOUT
THIS
GUIDE
This guide is intended to be a primer as you plan and
prepare for your Pure Religion Sunday events! You’ll
find resources, stories, practical ideas and a sample
rollout plan to help equip you for the months ahead
– and beyond! Use any of the ideas throughout this
guide or feel much freedom to creatively come up
with your own.

We are here to help you as you plan. Please use the

simple “Request a Coach” form below at any step
along the way.

Request a Coach
BECOME A
CHAMPION
ADVOCATE
The Bible calls God’s people to advocate for the
weak and vulnerable. In Proverbs 31:8 it says,

“Speak up for those

who cannot speak
for themselves.”

When we act as advocates, Scripture shows us that we are reflecting

the character of Jesus and how he first loved us. Both Jesus and the
Holy Spirit are referred to as our advocates – Jesus advocates for us
to the Father (Hebrews 7:25, Romans 8:24, 1 Timothy 2:5) and the Holy
Spirit advocates for us when we don’t know how to pray (Romans 8:26).
At CAFO, we see committed Christians in all spheres of influence –
from the church and Christian NGOs, to businesses, social welfare
and government entities – seeking to advocate for orphans and
vulnerable children more effectively.

And we also see the unique challenges that come with advocacy,
where problems feel complicated, solutions are varied and issues
of protection and privacy can often seem limiting when it comes
to connecting the needs of vulnerable children with others in the
community.

GROWING THE
GLOBAL MOVEMENT
OF ADVOCATES
This is one reason we launched a new approach to strengthen and
unite the voices of Champion Advocates just like you – to help grow
and guide the global movement of Christians working together to
be God’s answer, through the local church, to care for orphans,
vulnerable children and families.

Learn More About Becoming a

CAFO Champion Advocate

(Note: Application windows are only open at certain times of the year, but
advocates from member organizations can apply any time. Click the button
to learn more.)
LEGACY
STORIES
of Christians standing for the
orphaned and vulnerable.
 THE LEGACY OF
ORPHAN SUNDAY
Orphan Sunday came as a gift from the Church in Africa. While
attending a church service in Zambia, an American visitor
witnessed the local pastor’s passionate call to care for orphans, in
a community that had been ravaged by AIDS and poverty. During
that first-ever “Orphan Sunday,” as the service ended, one after
another the people stepped forward giving out of their own need,
offering their food, and some even taking off their own shoes and
placing them in the offering basket for orphans.

That visitor, Gary Schneider, was

“God sets so deeply impacted by what he
had witnessed that he began to
the lonely in help Zambian leaders coordinate
Orphan Sunday efforts across
families.” Zambia and also shared the vision
PROVERBS 68:6
in the U.S. as well.

In 2009, the Christian Alliance for Orphans began providing

united leadership to make Orphan Sunday a catalyst for
awareness and action across the U.S. and worldwide. Today,
churches and organizations in more than 100 nations observe
Orphan Sunday annually. Through Orphan Sunday, we join
in the promise of “One Day, One Voice, One Purpose.”

We pray the Church all over the world may be

as faithful as our Zambian brothers and sisters
to reflect God’s heart for the orphan, both near
and far.
THE LEGACY OF
STAND SUNDAY
When Bishop Aaron Blake, a pastor and foster/adoptive father, left his
breakfast table for church on the second Sunday in November of 2004,
he had a sermon prepared… and it wasn’t about foster care:

“I had prepared a sermon to Without explanation, Bishop Blake

preach that morning that I had said to his congregation, “Brothers
worked on all week. I stood up and sisters, there are about 30,000
to bring the message when the children in the foster care system
breakfast table image of our boys in Texas and nearly half a million
came back to my mind. The faces in the U.S.” He then asked this one
of our sons seemed to multiply simple question (and he wasn’t
in my emotions as I recalled the expecting a verbal answer):
image from the breakfast table
earlier. I knew then that God was
prompting our church to answer
the call to care for children and
broken families.”

“Who will stand with me to defend, care, and support

abused, abandoned, and neglected children in our
community?”

After a brief moment of silence,

one lady in the back of the church “Pastor... I will.”
stood up and simply replied,

Like a tiny smoldering ember dropped in a pile of thirsty pine needles,

her voice began to multiply. To his amazement, Bishop Blake watched
as one family after another stood up and joined their voices to hers. As
a result of that day, this church and the surrounding community has
cared for and adopted hundreds of children in foster care over the last
12 years. In fact, their county actually has more than enough foster
families to meet the need.
Each year, since 2004, the
church has celebrated on the

SECOND SUNDAY
IN NOVEMBER.

In 2017, these two efforts merged:

—for the purpose

of inviting the church to
care for orphans worldwide
& —for the purpose
of calling the church to
stand for children and
families in the U.S. Foster
Care system

In 2024, these two identities officially become

one unifying vision, known now as:
Pure Religion Sunday rises from the
heritage of Orphan Sunday and Stand
Sunday, where a small, humble church
in Zambia (Orphan Sunday, 2002) and
another in Brownwood, TX (Stand Sunday,
2002) responded to God’s call to welcome
and care for the vulnerable children of
their communities. Over the decades
since, tens of thousands of local events
have been held in local churches all over
the world — often under the name Orphan
Sunday or Stand Sunday. Today, churches
are encouraged to continue this heritage,
and CAFO provides free guidance and
resources to make planning events and
activities easy.
THE PURE
RELIGION
PROJECT
A Holy and Helpful Vision for the Church
WHAT IS THE
PURE RELIGION PROJECT?
The Pure Religion Project is an initiative from the members of the
Christian Alliance for Orphans (CAFO) working together. Simply put,
the Project aims to inspire and equip God’s people to live the “pure
religion” described in the book of James and invited throughout
Scripture. We want to help Christians to live in ways that are
decisively different and set apart and embody self-giving service
for the orphan, widow, and others in distress. Holy, and helpful. We
seek especially to help local churches live this vision together as a
community. Our goal is not recruitment or activism. It is Christian
discipleship, ultimately to see the people of God overflowing with
the love of God.

This is the earnest aim of the Pure Religion Project. We long to help
God’s people grow in this character, reflecting both the holiness of
God and His merciful, near-coming care. We aim especially to help
local churches live this out together — growing as communities
that are both unpolluted by the priorities and patterns of the world
and caring sacrificially for orphans and widows in their distress.

How does the Pure Religion Project help churches?

CAFO’s Pure Religion Project provides tools and resources,
teaching, and more to help pastors and lay leaders build effective
foster, adoption, orphan care, family support and community
development ministries in their church. This includes practical
guidance for the nuts-and-bolts of building ministry programs
with an “everyone can do something” approach to wrap-around
support for foster, adoptive, and struggling biological families. It
also encompasses guidance and resources for wise, effective and
sustainable engagement in a cross-cultural global context. At the
same time, all Project Resources are grounded in a rich vision for
whole-life discipleship, centered on the gospel of Jesus Christ.
HOW DOES PURE RELIGION SUNDAY FIT
INTO THE PURE RELIGION PROJECT?
Pure Religion Sunday or any other name that resonates best with your church
community are incredibly powerful tools that can be utilized to help disciple
your people into greater intimacy with Christ and invite them into very
specific opportunities to serve and support the vulnerable around you. As
we look toward the future we recognize the need for the growing number of
tools in the field to have a strong, solid and clearly-defined toolbox in which
they rest. The Pure Religion Project provides the focused and consolidated
framework through which tools and resources – like Orphan Sunday and
Stand Sunday – teaching, coaching and more, are made available to help
pastors and lay leaders build effective foster, adoption, orphan care and
family support ministries in their church.

WHAT SHOULD WE CALL OUR SUNDAY?

We believe a great way to frame this day is as a “Pure Religion Sunday,”
through which the options are many as to how you choose to coordinate
and focus your efforts and calls to action. This of course could be done
in an integrated way with the legacy stories of Orphan Sunday or Stand
Sunday, as well as any other creative ways you choose to recognize and
leverage this powerful, globally unified day of recognition, celebration and
action. For example, we know of one church that calls it their “Justice and
Mercy Weekend” because that language more closely aligns with how they
regularly refer to their outreach, missions and engagement initiatives within
the church.

DO WE HAVE TO DO THIS ON THE SECOND SUNDAY IN

NOVEMBER?
No. We believe God calls His people to live out this vision every day of the
year, so the date definitely isn’t the most important thing! That said, there
can be something especially meaningful about joining with God’s people
across town and all over the world on the same day – and we’d welcome
you to do so if you can.
 RESOURCES
& TIMELINES
to help you plan

RESOURCES TO SHARE
We’ve created a suite of resources including
graphics, videos and worship songs that
you can use to promote and plan your Pure
Religion Sunday events. These graphics
include posters, slides, social media graphics,
videos and more – available in English and
Spanish! Make it your own by adding your
logos, dates and content to fit your church
and community.

Click to access
Access Canva Resources

Access Print-ready Resources

Access Video Resources

Access Logo Files

Access Worship Resources

 SAMP LE TIMELIN E

AUGUST
Become familiar with the Pure
Religion Project resources, including
the Leverage book which provides
instructions for before and after event
planning. Consider working with
other churches and organizations in
your community to share resources
and plan events together!
SEPTEMBER
Download and customize promotional
graphics for your event and modify
them to fit your church and community!

OCTOBER
Continue to promote and spread the
word about your event within your
church and community. Access the

NOVEMBER
free worship resources available
through the Worship Initiative
website as you begin planning your
Second Sunday in November
Pure Religion Sunday service.
Today, churches and individuals
worldwide are sharing about God’s
heart for the vulnerable.

DECEMBER
Host an informational meeting, or
make appropriate connections, for
those who want to get involved and

JANUARY
learn more!

Kick off the new year with strategic follow

up and collaboration for the next year.
MOVING
BEYOND
a One-Day Event
 POST
PURE RELIGION
SUNDAY
Remember, the goal of your Pure Religion Sunday event is two-fold:
1) To honor, recognize and celebrate the heart of God for vulnerable
children and families and how you may already see that playing out
in your church, and 2) Utilize this focused Sunday (or weekend) as
a catalyst for further, on-going, long-term engagement in the lives
of vulnerable children and families. These resources are designed
to help you do just that.

LEVERAGING THE POWER OF A

PURE RELIGION SUNDAY
This simple guide is designed to help your
church prepare for and execute a meaningful
Pure Religion Sunday event, as well as build an
actionable follow-up plan to help your people
take their next steps. You’ll discover principles
and practices for how to plan effective follow-
up events designed to connect and encourage
people as they follow how God is inviting them
to respond. If you’re operating within a team,
this is also a great tool to process together.
Simply walk through the content and ensure
everyone is aligned on the vision, purpose and
next steps of your Pure Religion Sunday event.

Access the Book

THE FOSTERING CHURCH PODCAST
This limited series is specifically designed to help
churches grow their foster care ministry – no matter
where they are on the journey. In each episode you’ll
gain insight on where to focus your efforts and the
encouragement you need to take your next best
steps forward. And if you’re working with a team, this
is a great series to share with them. Follow up with
them to learn what their takeaways were and how
together you can execute the most effective strategy
moving forward.

Listen Now

EVERYONE CAN DO SOMETHING

This book is designed to rally churches around the
care of the vulnerable in strategic, effective, and
sustainable ways. You’ll discover the principles you
need to help you take your next best steps in areas
like clarifying your message, making the problem
relatable, connecting people into a community
of support, developing a strategic plan, planning
and promoting events, and more! Again, if you are
working with a team this is a great gift to them -
one you can have them look through to get ideas
and perspectives for follow-up conversations and
planning.

Learn More
 Copyright 2024 | All Rights Reserved
A ministry resource provided by the Christian Alliance for Orphans

cafo.org/purereligion