PURE RELIGION SUNDAY FACT SHEET
Since 2012, The Bair Foundation has partnered with Christian Alliance for Orphans and the local church to celebrate Stand Sunday and Orphan Sunday on the second Sunday in November and throughout the month. (Stand Sunday is specifically for children in foster care, who are our modern-day orphans.)
Churches across the United States will be standing together to bring families to the more than 450,000 children in foster care and the 100,000 children in foster care who are waiting for a permanent home. Join us in standing in the gap for the vulnerable, and being the voice to the voiceless.
This year’s official date is November 10, 2024, but The Bair Foundation celebrates Stand Sunday every week and we are filling churches the whole month of November to Stand together for foster children.
Many churches are calling this Sunday Pure Religion Sunday, because it encompasses both kids in foster care (Stand Sunday) as well as orphans across the globe (Orphan Sunday). Because our ministry is towards children in foster care, we celebrate Pure Religion Sunday, for the month of November and can provide you with statistics and stories of kids in care.
History of Stand Sunday
from www.cafo.org/pure-religion-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 preach that morning that I had worked on all week. I stood up to bring the message when the breakfast table image of our boys came back to my mind. The faces of our sons seemed to multiply in my emotions as I recalled the 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.”
Without explanation, Bishop Blake said to his congregation, “Brothers and sisters, there are about 30,000 children in the foster care system in Texas and nearly half a million in the U.S.” He then asked this one simple question (and he wasn’t expecting a verbal answer):
“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 stood up and simply replied, “Pastor … I will.”
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.
To watch the history of Stand Sunday, follow this link: https://vimeo.com/224756922
This Year’s Theme is:
“BECOMING”
God has good work for us to do, and there are few things better than getting to join Him in it. But His first priority, His great interest, is in the person you are becoming. Everything else flows from that.
It is our responsibility to keep children safe during these vulnerable times. The call for foster families has never been greater. God has good work for you to do. This could be your time to say yes to children in care.
WILL YOU STAND AND BE A FAMILY FOR A CHILD OR TEEN?
We are not only looking for foster parents, we are looking for church partners who will help us fulfill James 1:27 to take care of the widows and the orphans, to help us support our families through prayer and support until there is more than enough resources available for every part of their lives. We know that not everyone can foster or adopt, but everyone can help our children and families whom God has entrusted in our care.
There are other tangible ways that you can help as a church, an organization and as a family other than becoming a foster parent.
We can tell you the specific needs of foster families in your area who may need assistance in the form of transportation, respite care (babysitting), mentors, beds or specific needs for kids in care. We have several scholarship opportunities and opportunities to bless families all year round. We can always use prayer – for everyone involved from the kids in care, to the foster parents and our workers.
YOU MAY NOT BE ABLE TO CHANGE THE WORLD, BUT YOU CAN CHANGE THE LIFE OF ONE.
WILL YOU STAND FOR THE NEGLECTED, ABUSED, AND ABANDONED CHILDREN IN YOUR
COMMUNITY?
