The Church and Foster Care: Why Churches Are Called to Engage
Last updated July 10, 2026
The relationship between the church and foster care is one of the most powerful opportunities for congregations to live out their faith. Many biological families need relational and practical support to stay together, preventing their children from entering foster care, or to make the changes needed to be reunited with their children. And foster, adoptive and kinship families face unique challenges in caring for vulnerable children.
The good news is that the local church is uniquely called and equipped to provide the support these children and families in foster care need.
Read on to learn about what Scripture has to say about why churches should engage in the world of foster care, adoption and family-support ministry — and practical pathways and resources for your church to take your best next steps.
Jump to an Area of Focus
- The Church and Foster Care
- Why the Church
- Why are Churches Uniquely Equipped
- Are Christians Making a Difference
- Your Church's Practical Role
- Individual Christians Involvement
- Local Churches' Roles
- Common Hesitations
- Getting Started: Next Steps for Churches
- More Church Foster Care Resources
- Ready to Move Forward?
The Church and Foster Care
What is the scale of foster care in the US?
There are approximately 330,000 children in foster care in the US (sources: AFCARS, CAFO). That number can feel overwhelming, and foster care is often called a “crisis.” After all, no church or ministry can care for that many children. But that number doesn’t tell the whole story.
Can churches make a difference in foster care?
The good news is that the number of children in foster care where you live is much smaller. And every church can play a part in supporting the smaller number of children and families affected by foster care in your community.
If you don't have foster care data for your county or state, you can find it on the More Than Enough dashboard.
Local churches aren’t called to replace government child protection systems or the work of other organizations. Not all churches are called or able to raise up and support foster families. And most churches aren’t called to start an entirely new foster care ministry. Rather, local churches are called to look at what they have, whether relational spaces or tangible resources or existing support ministries, and use them on behalf of children and families.
When every church is engaging in this way where they live, foster care is no longer an overwhelming crisis to solve. Instead, it is a space where churches can make a powerful difference by faithfully being who they are made to be: the Church.
Why the Church: The biblical calling to engage in foster care
What does Scripture say about churches engaging in foster care and ministry with vulnerable families?
Scripture consistently calls God's people to protect and care for the most vulnerable, including orphaned children and families in distress, making the church's engagement in foster care a direct expression of biblical obedience (Deuteronomy 10:18, Psalm 82:3, Isaiah 1:17, James 1:27).
Throughout the Bible, God’s heart for people who are vulnerable or on the margins of society is clear, and He calls His people to show the same concern by caring for and protecting them
Some of the most vulnerable people in the historical context of Scripture were orphaned children without the care of parents and family, and widows (and their children) who were often subject to poverty and exploitation. Today, too many families and children experience similar vulnerability, regardless of the circumstances that lead to that vulnerability. And God’s call for His people to care for them remains the same.
What does James 1:27 mean for Christians engaging in foster care or adoption?
In James 1:27, James describes the way God works in our hearts and lives when we begin acting out our faith in a specific way: “Pure and undefiled religion before God the Father is this: to care for orphans and widows in their adversity and to keep oneself unstained by the world” (NET).
Drawing near and visiting the “orphan” and “widow” (those who have the lowest status and can offer you nothing in return) is not only a pure outward demonstration of the inward work of God in our hearts. It also does a cleansing work within us and helps us become more like Jesus in the process.
As we seek to become more like Jesus (holy) and follow in His footsteps (as His disciples), we will begin to reflect His love and character by entering into the broken and hard places of the world the same way He did … which in turn, helps us grow in purity and look more like Him.
Caring for vulnerable people in their distress is one of the purest and most undefiled demonstrations of the heart of God and the work of Jesus that this world will ever see.
And the “orphan” and “widow” of our day includes families struggling in crushing cycles of poverty, wrestling with substance abuse or addiction, or fracturing as a result of domestic violence, abuse or neglect — the leading cause of children entering foster care. These families and their children are the “orphans and widows” we will be caring for as we live out James 1:27 and pure religion.
How does the gospel connect with foster care and adoption?
God describes Himself as the “Father to the fatherless” (Psalm 68:5), and even uses adoption into God’s family as a metaphor for salvation (Galatians 4:5). We were once outside the family of God, but now, through the work of Christ on our behalf, we have been adopted as dearly loved sons and daughters. But it doesn’t end there.
Caring for vulnerable children and families also reflects the very heart of the gospel and God’s redemptive work in the world through the incarnation.
In the incarnation, God took on human form and moved toward us in our brokenness. In Jesus, he entered into the pain and sin of our world and brought us back to Himself. If the gospel is the story of people who were empty and isolated from God being brought into His family by the work of Jesus, then the local church’s care for vulnerable children and families in foster care is a continuation of this redemption story and a demonstration of the love of Jesus.
How have churches cared for orphaned and vulnerable children throughout history?
Christians have been active in caring for vulnerable children from the foundation of the Church. Documents from the earliest days of the Church, nearly 2,000 years old, require that to be considered for leadership, one must be known as a “lover of orphans.” The famous Code of Justinian in the 6th century urged that orphaned and abandoned children not be taken in merely as household workers, but rather be treated with care and compassion. Heroes and heroines of the faith — from Charles Spurgeon and Amy Carmichael to Hudson Taylor and George Mueller — all placed special emphasis on the protection and care of orphaned and vulnerable children.
Why are churches uniquely equipped for foster care, adoption and family support ministry?
Churches have built-in community and relational networks to support foster and adoptive families.
Church communities are often built around relational spaces like small groups where interpersonal support and mentorship can flourish. A healthy, compassionate community is essential for everyone involved at every stage of the foster care journey — from biological, kinship, foster, and adoptive families to caseworkers to former foster youth. As the Body of Christ, churches are uniquely called and resourced by the Holy Spirit to offer this type of connection. More foundational than any formal program, children and families in foster care need empathetic, faithful community members to walk alongside them in supportive relationships over the long haul.
Churches are present in nearly every community in the country.
Nonprofits, foster care agencies or even state social services cannot be present full-time in every community. That type of scale is costly and cumbersome. But the local church, as the dispersed, embodied hands and feet of Jesus, exists in nearly every community. By God's design, churches reflect the unique identities of local neighborhoods. But churches (when healthy) are also unified across the globe in their purpose: loving God and loving our neighbors.
Churches have a diversity of gifts and resources within a single congregation that connect to foster care and adoption.
God gives unique gifts to unique individuals in the Church, not for their own good but for the good of the whole body (1 Corinthians 12:4-7). These roles are established not based on rank, but on the premise that when each member fulfills their responsibility, the whole body will function better for it.
Local churches include people with a whole range of skills in one community: some congregants are entrepreneurs, some are mechanics, some are lawyers, some are caregivers … the list goes on and on. And all of these skills can serve vulnerable children and families.
Similarly, churches often already have resources and ministries that connect to foster care and adoption. For example, a church could be all-in on ministry with people who are homeless, providing both crisis support and economic development opportunities like job preparedness training. Many of the people a church serves in this ministry likely experienced the child welfare system. And a church's jobs preparedness classes might include biological families trying to stay together or get back together — or they could include biological families, if the church connects with social services to make these ministries explicitly available to them. The same is true of any justice and mercy ministry, whether recovery programs, financial education classes or benevolence ministry.
Are Christians making a difference in foster care and adoption?
How likely are Christians to be involved in foster care and adoption?
This individual engagement also means church attendees are likely to have seen foster care and adoption up close. Research conducted by Lifeway in 2022 showed that 16% of churchgoers knew someone from their church who had provided foster care over the past year. And 13% said that someone in their congregation had adopted a child from the US in the past year.
How many churches are involved in foster care and adoption?
44% of churchgoers surveyed by Lifeway in 2022 said their church and its leaders are involved in adoption and foster care in at least one of seven different ways. 45% said they had not seen any involvement, and 11% weren't sure.
Are churches and Christians really making a difference in foster care and adoption on the ground?
Churches across the country are engaging in foster care and adoption in ways that make an incredible difference for vulnerable children and families. Here are just three examples:
Raleigh, North Carolina: County social services shared with a group of ministry and church leaders that youth were sleeping in agency offices due to a shortage of foster homes, and they needed supplies for these children. A network of local churches responded within 48 hours, with eight congregations gathering more than 260 items that the county needed. But the impact went far beyond supplies. As county leaders witnessed the people of God working side by side and following through on their commitments, trust started to replace their skepticism about churches. That trust opened doors to renovate a visitation home for families and to dream bigger together.
Las Vegas, Nevada: Carly Souza started a foster care ministry in her church because, as a foster mother, she needed it. It started by serving just a few families and by partnering with county social services to host foster family trainings. As the church built trust with the county and relationships across their community, the ministry grew and grew. Today, the church has served over 500 families and has become a central pillar of foster care and adoption in its community.
San Francisco, CA: In response to their faith and requests from local social services, a group of ministry leaders, pastors and advocates formed a coalition called Foster the City to mobilize churches in the Bay Area. Over the years, the coalition has expanded beyond San Francisco and has partnered with more than 300 churches to raise up over 500 foster families — and nearly 2000 support friends to help care for families.
Your local church’s practical role in foster care ministry
What are the characteristics of a healthy church foster care ministry?
First and foremost, healthy ministry lives out a “pure religion” that is both holy and helpful, serving others as both an overflow from and a means of discipleship.
From that foundation, other key elements of a healthy church foster care ministry include:
A focus on family preservation, strengthening and restoration — not just placing children in new homes: Whether a church is directly engaged in biological family support programs, entering the world of foster care requires a healthy culture that does not dismiss biological families. Foster care requires a commitment to the best interests of a vulnerable child and to reunification with safe, stable biological family whenever this is achievable. As followers of Christ, this commitment is rooted in our biblical calling to love our neighbors as ourselves, and we should pray for, support and advocate for reunification whenever it is safely possible.
A commitment to respecting the dignity of all children and families: Healthy church ministry acknowledges the adversity or trauma children and families have experienced, and adapts to care for these children and families in light of those realities. Simultaneously, a church ministry should not reduce children and families’ identities to the hard things they have experienced, or sensationalize their stories. While ministry in this space has unique nuances and layers, at its core, every person needs to be seen, known and cared for as an overflow of God’s love for them. Which is exactly what the local church is designed to do.
A posture of collaboration with local social services and other ministries: Local churches can help lead the way in caring for children and families in foster care. But they are not the only players. Local organizations or agencies are key potential collaborators for churches — not competitors or obstacles. And government social services, in particular, have a unique legal role in foster care that churches cannot and should not perform. For example, removing a child from parental care, assessing and prosecuting cases of criminal abuse or terminating parental rights are weighty matters that rightfully involve legal processes and decisions. The state also has the opportunity to serve families by helping them access specialized services or support that local churches might not be able to provide. Local churches are called to collaborate with these institutions and ministries, not dismiss or work around them.
A culture that emphasizes that “everyone can do something”: For most people sitting in a church sanctuary, their next right step is not to become a foster or adoptive parent. A healthy church ministry doesn’t guilt-trip or pressure people to open their homes, but rather casts a vision that “everyone can do something,” using their existing gifts and resources on behalf of children and families in foster care.
What are practical ways my church can be involved in foster care?
Churches can be involved in foster care through wrap-around support for foster families, mentoring youth, training volunteers in trauma-informed care, hosting agency events, supporting biological families through existing ministries and championing caseworkers.
Here are some practical, tangible ways your church can begin exploring:
- Wrap-around support ministry: These types of ministries leverage the existing relational and tangible support rhythms of your church on behalf of foster, adoptive and kinship families. Wrap-around support teams help coordinate meals, childcare, transportation or other practical forms of assistance for families, while also offering prayer and relational support.
- Biological family and youth support: Many churches have existing ministries, whether recovery programs, benevolence funds, financial education classes or parenting resources, that can be intentionally leveraged for biological families trying to stay together or reunify, or for youth as they transition into adulthood. Neglect is the leading cause of family separation, which is often connected to poverty. And youth who age out of foster care without permanency are vulnerable to a range of challenges, including homelessness, substance abuse and trafficking. Your church can connect with social services and offer to welcome youth and families into any existing programs focused on these areas — without starting anything “new.”
- Using your facilities: Your church can offer to host informational meetings with local agencies or county social services, using your space and existing child care infrastructure to facilitate gatherings that other institutions can’t easily host. Similarly, your church can host support groups for foster or adoptive parents.
- Celebrating and commissioning foster families publicly: When applicable, your church can honor and commission foster families when they choose to open their home, highlighting it as a powerful way of serving the broader community, praying for them as they begin their journey and building momentum to support the family internally.
- Training staff and volunteers: Your church can train its small group and discipleship staff, children’s ministry volunteers or deacons in some of the complexities of serving children and families in foster care. Whether helping them to understand the legal process of foster care or to navigate challenging behaviors that are common with children who have experienced trauma or early adversity, your church can take steps to serve children and families effectively.
- Mentoring: Your church might have informal or formal mentoring opportunities that you could leverage to walk alongside foster or adoptive youth as they enter adulthood. Similarly, biological parents can often benefit from mentoring and encouragement as they take steps to keep their families together or reunify with their children.
- Supporting child welfare professionals: Caseworkers and state social services employees have an incredibly important and challenging job, and turnover rates are high. Often, these workers only hear from their community about what is challenging or “broken” in foster care. Your church can build relationships with these professionals, host regular appreciation events for them, and pray for them, helping prevent burnout and lay the groundwork for other ways of serving within the child welfare system.
How can individual Christians be involved in foster care and adoption?
Many individual advocates are passionate about serving vulnerable children and families. Even if your congregation isn’t yet involved in a formal capacity, you can be involved in many of the above types of service on a one-on-one capacity (ex: mentorship, helping meet tangible needs, etc.). Remember: everyone can do something.
Additional roles for individuals include:
- Becoming a foster or adoptive parent. Explore how to become a foster parent by connecting with your local agency or a licensed foster care organization.
- Becoming a respite care provider, where you are trained and approved by the state to provide temporary care for children while their foster families travel or take a break. Respite care is one of the most impactful ways to support foster families and prevent caregiver burnout.
- Using your business or skills on behalf of families: Businesses can provide meals or catering for free, donate time and work to repair homes or cars, cut a family’s hair for free, etc.
The Watershed: Local churches’ roles before, during and beyond foster care
What are the characteristics of a healthy church foster care ministry?
It's essential to establish an "everyone can do something" holistic message in your church foster care ministry. It's equally important to begin taking steps toward developing a holistic approach to how your church engages in the child and family welfare continuum — from prevention to intervention to restoration — in a balanced and sustainable way.
As we seek to establish a holistic, comprehensive and strategic ministry approach in our churches, it's helpful to think of the world of vulnerable children and families as a watershed or a river, with countless interconnected streams and tributaries. What happens upstream affects the whole system, but so do the conditions downstream, in the clouds and in the sea. Every part matters. Before a child enters foster care, there's a family in crisis. And while a child needs to be in foster care, he or she (and their family) needs support. And what happens beyond foster care — whether reunification, adoption or a child aging out of foster care — shapes a child's future in significant ways.
Generally speaking, care for vulnerable children and families within churches has been focused on foster care and adoption — to jumping into the raging child welfare watershed mid-stream and pulling as many kids out as fast as we can. This is a right and necessary place for Christians to be. But that's not the totality of what churches can do. This perspective is too narrow and siloed. It fails to consider how these kids found themselves in this position in the first place (upstream), and what the trajectory of their lives statistically looks like (downstream) if no one intervenes on their behalf now.
How can churches be involved in prevention, helping families before foster care is needed?
While the foster care system plays a vital role in providing kids a safe place for a season, your church can also prevent kids from entering foster care in the first place by addressing the causes of family separation, identifying potential red flags to keep families together, and providing intensive support for families on the brink of having their children removed.
How can churches be involved in the intervention stage of the watershed, helping children and families during foster care?
In addition to the many practical ways your church can support individual families and children, you can be involved in shifting the whole foster care landscape in your community. In particular, support for foster and kinship families, social workers and biological families during foster care has the dual benefit of improving outcomes for children and reducing the shortage of foster families. This is because foster family turnover, caseworker burnout and slow progress toward reunification all increase the number of foster families needed — placing more pressure on the system as a whole.
How can churches be involved in restoration, helping children and families beyond foster care?
It's typical for churches to be involved in various types of downstream justice and mercy efforts — whether feeding people who are homeless, ministering to incarcerated people or engaging in ministries committed to rescuing victims of sex trafficking, etc. However, they're often doing so without a clear understanding of how interconnected the plight of those cross sections of people is to the larger continuum of child welfare. A significant percentage of incarcerated males, the homeless community and children who are trafficked (downstream) have at one point in their lives spent time in the foster care system (midstream). So as churches minister in these other capacities, they are also engaging with people who have experienced the child welfare system. Further, as churches mentor or support youth aging out of foster care, they are also helping youth thrive and preventing them from entering these further cycles of harm.
Common Hesitations About Church Foster Care Ministry
We’re overwhelmed — where should my church start in helping kids and families in foster care?
Start with what you already have. Assess which existing ministries and relational networks at your church can be leveraged on behalf of children and families in foster care, then take one step to connect with a local foster care organization or county social services.
You don’t need to launch a new program. Any ministry or program at your church that serves hurting or vulnerable people can also be used to support children and families in foster care. Connect the dots between what you are doing and foster care — rather than assuming you need to start something new. Take one step to connect with a foster care organization or county social services to start integrating into the foster care ecosystem in your community.
We don't have the resources, or our church is too small!
Even if your church does not have formal programs or ministries to offer, you have the most important thing children and families need: supportive relationships and community. Look at what God has given you and use it on behalf of children and families in foster care.
Isn't this the government's job?
The government has a vital role to play in child welfare. In fact, there are roles that the government plays that churches should not play — roles like removing a child from a family or terminating parental rights. But churches are called to love their neighbors, and God shows special concern for people who are vulnerable. That calling cannot be outsourced to a government system. And while the government's role is distinct and important, a system alone is insufficient to help children thrive.
Isn’t foster care ministry too hard and complicated for a church? Won’t it make my church less safe for existing children and families?
Engaging in the work of caring for vulnerable children and families isn't easy. Drawing near to deep brokenness and heartache can feel disruptive and uncomfortable. But your church can become a safe place to do hard things as you disciple your congregation in both holiness and helpfulness.
Jesus did not stand far off from our brokenness and suffering. Instead, in the incarnation, He moved toward us. And He calls and equips his people to do the same today. To help you live out the calling, the Pure Religion Project at CAFO can provide resources and coaching opportunities, equipping you to lead your church with assurance and hope.
Getting Started: Next Steps for Churches
For Your Church
At CAFO, we firmly believe that churches should be on the front lines of foster care and adoption. Whether your church is just beginning or has been engaged in foster care for a long time, we’re here to help your congregation take its next steps. Get started with these resources:
- The Pure Religion Project: Access resources to help your church live out its calling to care for vulnerable children and families while growing closer to Jesus.
- The Fostering Church Podcast: Listen to this limited-series podcast designed to help grow your church’s foster care ministry—no matter where you are on the journey.
- Everyone Can Do Something: Read this strategic field guide designed to help your church rally around caring for vulnerable children and families.
For Your Community
If you have dreams of moving from not enough to more than enough for children and families in foster care, you’re in the right place. We’ve created tools to help you work with others in your community to fill the gaps that will make the biggest difference for vulnerable children and families. Get started with these resources and connections:
- The More Than Enough Dashboard: Get foster care statistics for your community and explore a map connecting you to others working to care for children and families in foster care where you live.
- Until There’s More Than Enough: Explore principles and practices that will help advocates, churches, and organizations in your community work together to provide more than enough.
- The More Than Enough Starter Guide: Access communications tools that will help you cast a vision of more than enough, mobilizing your community around the box top.
Discover More Church Foster Care Resources
Foster Care and the Church – Forgotten Initiative Curriculum
Wait No More - Focus on the Family
Jason Johnson Blog - Jason Johnson
Foster the Family - Jamie Finn
Ready to Move Forward as a Church?
Download a free primer, BUILD: Building a Foundational Culture of Care in Your Church, to get guidance and insight on how your congregation can begin moving toward children and families in foster care.
