Every year thousands of Christians around the world participate together on the second Sunday in November in a beautiful honoring of God’s heart for the most vulnerable children and families among us.
It’s a both/and expression – of both the diversity and the unity of the Body of Christ – a powerful demonstration of the Church at its best when it is, together, reflecting God’s heart for the orphaned and vulnerable.
Beginning in the early 2000’s, the second Sunday in November has been long and widely known as Orphan Sunday. This name is more than just a name, it is an ebenezer pointing to the legacy story of the good work God started through one local church in Lusaka, Zambia. This is a story that will forever be told, creating ripple effects of good fruit through the Church for the good of orphaned and vulnerable children that continues to impact lives around the world to this day.
Orphan Sunday is a beautiful story to tell, and a name that will always be honored and celebrated.
As that good fruit began to produce wider and more varied expressions of action through churches around the world, the need for more specific ways to describe that work became necessary. The biblical implications to care for the vulnerable are simple and clear… but the practical applications are full of nuance and diversity. So too, sometimes, is the need for our language to be both clear yet reflective of the unique expressions of not only our work but also of those it is intended to love and care for. This work is important; so is the language we use to describe it.
In light of that, several years ago, the name Stand Sunday was introduced as a co-laborer alongside Orphan Sunday to be utilized by churches who felt their focus and efforts were more aligned with an application slightly outside of that which was primarily serving true orphans around the globe. For example, many churches whose efforts are specifically focused on caring for and supporting families in their communities affected by foster care found the Stand Sunday language and story to be most fitting for their second Sunday in November.
This name, Stand Sunday, just like Orphan Sunday, is tied to a rich legacy story in which one church in a small town in Texas responded to the call of their pastor to “stand” together on behalf of vulnerable children in their county. One by one they stood, and together made a significant impact that will continue to bear good fruit for generations to come.
Stand Sunday is a name, and a story, that will forever be utilized and honored.
These two names have run concurrently for a handful of years, providing churches with options to choose from and adapt in ways that fit their unique focus and intent. God has used these two avenues to move His people in significant ways toward practically caring for vulnerable children and families around the world.
A new season and the story behind the Pure Religion name
While these two names (Orphan Sunday and Stand Sunday) have served churches well, there has always been a desire to identify a single name that could be utilized as the primary emphasis for this day – a name that does three primary things:
- Reflects the unique expressions of what James 1:27 describes as “pure religion”;
- Grounds the second Sunday in November in deeply rooted biblical language; and
- Aligns the day with a unified voice using simple, clear, shared vision and language.
In early 2022, leadership at CAFO – alongside faithful servants from the Orphan and Stand Sunday teams and trusted advisors within the broader CAFO community – all began prayerfully exploring how God might want to grow and guide this movement in the future. Among the top of priorities was to work toward identifying a name and language that accomplished the three above goals.
This was an immensely important process and not taken lightly. Expediency was never the priority – seeking the wisdom of the Lord, the counsel of others and sensing together the Holy Spirit’s guidance was – no matter how long it took. And it took a while! All involved wanted to get it right, not just get it done.
In early 2023, after months of discussion and prayerful consideration, it felt as if the Lord provided what was needed. And rather than leading our community to something new entirely, He actually directed us back to language that has always been the undergirding and infrastructure of what this entire movement rests upon. It was right in front of us the whole time; He simply needed to give us eyes to see it.
Throughout the remainder of 2023 and into 2024, CAFO is excited to roll out the Pure Religion Project – a focused initiative inspired by the members of the Christian Alliance for Orphans and the broader CAFO community, aimed to inspire and equip God’s people to live the “pure religion” described in the book of James and invited throughout Scripture.
Drawn directly from James 1:27, a verse we are all keenly familiar with, the “pure religion” language is both striking and substantive. It draws us into the essence of God’s heart reflected throughout Scripture, grounds us in the truth of Scripture and provides us all with a unified language and vision to individually and collectively invite our people into considering how God might have them care for the vulnerable among them.
Ultimately, this vision is not merely about a social cause or activism. Most of all, it is a response to the gospel that leads us to live lives that are holy and helpful, both pure and poured out. It is about God’s people living very differently from their neighbors and yet also giving ourselves in service to our neighbors, including the most vulnerable.
A unifying vision for the second Sunday in November
The global gathering of God’s people around the world on the second Sunday in November will continue to be a critical resource for the broader CAFO community within the Pure Religion Project.
Moving forward, 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. This of course can 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.
Increasingly at CAFO, we will be utilizing the language of Pure Religion Sunday moving forward.
We believe this language provides the greatest expression of unity for all while also allowing for diverse applications and expressions that can continue to be used in each church and community.
This year, Pure Religion Sunday will be celebrated on November 12, 2023. We know you are excited and anticipating all God will do in your church and community and we want to make sure you have the resources and support you need.
You can visit the Pure Religion Sunday landing page to learn more and discover all the different tools available to your church and community. There you will find the 2023 Field Guide, Marketing Toolkits and the new Leverage booklet, a framework for leveraging the power of your Pure Religion Sunday events.
What a joy and privilege it is to get to participate in a global community of churches, organizations and individuals all driven by the heart of God and laboring in the same direction on behalf of the orphaned and vulnerable. We are deeply grateful for your involvement and for your shared commitment to standing in unity together as we each faithfully respond to the unique and diverse ways God is calling all of us to live out “pure religion” in the world around us.
We are excited about this new season and the growing movement in the global Church to reflect God’s heart for the orphaned and vulnerable, rooted in the vision of James 1:27 – together.
– Jason Johnson is the Director of Church Mobilization and Engagement at CAFO. To receive updates and information about the Pure Religion Project in the future, join the email list.