Building Awareness and Compassion on Pure Religion Sunday

Project 1.27’s name is rooted in James 1:27, “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” (NIV) All of our work is aimed at helping the Church live out pure religion. We exist to help you care for today’s orphan.
Once a year, congregations around the world dedicate a single Sunday to growing awareness about, and compassion for, vulnerable children. This day is called Pure Religion Sunday, and this year it lands on November 8, 2026. Thousands of churches in countries around the world will consider what it means to practice “pure religion” by caring for the orphan and the widow.
We would love to help you plan Pure Religion Sunday. The service could include:

• Project 1.27 staff sharing or preaching
  
• A video from the Pure Religion Project created by CAFO (Christian Alliance for Orphans)
  
• Interviewing a family from your congregation that has been impacted by foster care or adoption
  
• Your team preaching on James 1.27 or other Scripture that confirms our call to care for the vulnerable

We would be happy to have a presence after your service as well. Project 1.27 could:

• Provide training on trauma and children
  
• Host an informational meeting on the next steps for becoming a foster parent
  
• Help facilitate a meal-making event for freezer meals for kinship, foster, and adoptive families

We know that you may be creating your fall schedule now, so we are letting you know that Pure Religion Sunday falls on November 8. But know we are available to help with any of these ideas on any Sunday of the year. Our mission is to help your congregation understand the call to care for the orphan, the opportunities available outside your door, and facilitate next steps so that you can participate in “pure religion.”
For videos, sermon ideas, and activities you can do as a congregation, visit CAFO’s Pure Religion Sunday site: https://cafo.org/purereligion/pure-religion-sunday/
Contact Alex Kuykendall if you’d like to schedule training or have a staff member be part of your Sunday service. [email protected].
By Alex Kuykendall, Director of Community Engagement