The anticipation of Pure Religion Sunday in November brings to mind the compassionate, discipleship-focused work of many Wesleyan churches throughout the United States and Canada who have answered the call to live out the “pure and undefiled religion” referenced in James 1:27. A cluster of churches in eastern Pennsylvania’s Lehigh Valley helps us gain a vision for the exponentially greater impact that can result when churches choose to work cooperatively.
“Vulnerable children have always been at the heart of Wesleyan churches,” Dr. Anita Eastlack, director of Evangelism and Discipleship for the Northeast District, lead pastor of CrossPoint Wesleyan Church in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, and board chair of Hephzibah62:4, noted in a recent conversation. “So, it’s a natural fit, from church to church expressed in different ways. And praise God for Keystone Family Alliance being a partner that helps us join forces.”
Keystone Family Alliance (KeyFam) is a Christ-centered organization and trusted regional partner of Hephzibah62:4, working toward the goal of bridging the gap between the desperate needs in the child welfare system and local churches in each of Pennsylvania’s 67 counties. In the Lehigh Valley, a cluster of four Wesleyan churches (all Hephzibah62:4 churches) are among 15 churches that have so far become actively involved in the collaborative work that has been connected and supported by KeyFam since they began working in the two-county region in 2022.
“It gives me so much joy to see how God is using his people to bring light and hope to such a dark space,” said Sarah Whiteford, the KeyFam coordinator for the Lehigh Valley, who recruits, trains and supports their churches.
Relationships are being built and nurtured with local child welfare professionals. And each congregation is committed to church-led ministry according to real needs identified in their community and their unique context and calling.
While representing only a fraction of the ways these four Wesleyan churches are invested in transforming the lives of vulnerable children and families in the Lehigh Valley, be encouraged by how God is using each church individually and collaboratively:
Bethany Wesleyan Church (Cherryville) learned that KeyFam was invited by a secular residential facility to provide a Bible study for teen girls who have experienced significant trauma, some of whom are in foster care. Several volunteers from different churches, including Bethany, partnered to answer this call. Up to 32 girls at a time have voluntarily attended and are experiencing Jesus’ love through relationships with Christian women and hearing the gospel proclaimed!
CrossPoint Wesleyan Church (Bethlehem) has started their first Care Community, a proven model of ongoing team support and family strengthening, for a single mom with three children, all of whom are impacted by special needs.
Faith Wesleyan Church (Orefield) not only provides Christmas gifts for kids in foster care, but they recently partnered with a local ice cream shop to provide sundaes as a show of appreciation to their 120 county child welfare workers.
Mountain View Wesleyan Church (Bath) has cooked hundreds of homemade meals in their church’s kitchen and delivered them to provide support and encouragement to foster, adoptive and kinship families, since launching their meal ministry over a year ago. They are also gearing up to launch a kinship family support group, to help meet the unique needs of relative caregivers and their families.
Lay and clergy advocates from each church in Lehigh Valley’s Keystone Family Alliance meet monthly to pray for one another, collaborate and work on events.
One advocate that stands out to Sarah Whiteford as a faithful pillar of the Lehigh Valley alliance is Kristin Everett, a volunteer lay leader from Bethany Wesleyan Church. Sarah recognizes that Kristin, “has coordinated gift bag, coffee and donut drives for (county child welfare) staff, helped meet dozens of tangible needs for struggling families and youth posted by caseworkers, personally engaged in mentoring, and hosted and helped plan our annual fundraiser and awareness event in 2024.”
For Pure Religion Sunday* each November, KeyFam encourages individual church participation but also holds a regional event where all are welcome. Past events have included:
- A walk-through simulation of a youth growing up in foster care.
- A worship night with a panel discussion that included an adult foster alum, advocate, mentor and foster parent.
- Making gift bags for youth aging out of foster care.
While celebrating the ways churches are being Jesus’ hands and feet for Lehigh Valley’s vulnerable children, we must also hold in tension the many needs that remain. In recent days, God has opened doors to develop a mentoring program for foster care youth. The same secular residential facility for foster care teens mentioned earlier is now asking for a Bible study for the boys in their care. More foster parents are needed for the hundreds of Lehigh Valley children in foster care. What incredible opportunities for the body of Christ!
Churches working in collaboration in the Lehigh Valley are offering a powerful, living demonstration of what James called “pure and undefiled religion.” As more disciples of Jesus are mobilized as advocates, mentors and foster parents, they become participants in the ongoing work of God’s sanctifying grace and the hope of transformation in the lives of vulnerable children, families and others who are impacted along the way.
*Pure Religion Sunday, rooted in James 1:27 and reflected through all of Scripture, rises from the heritage of Orphan Sunday and Stand Sunday where a small church in Zambia (Orphan Sunday, 2002) and another in Brownwood, Texas (Stand Sunday, 2004) responded to God’s call to care for the orphaned and vulnerable children in their communities. Since then, tens of thousands of churches have held events across the globe. In 2024 these two identities became one unifying vision now known as Pure Religion Sunday. Wesleyan churches are encouraged to participate in this annual tradition on or around the second Sunday in November, drawing attention to God’s heart for orphans and vulnerable children and inviting their congregations to respond to their needs in deep and meaningful ways. Get free planning resources here.
Jodi Lewis is the director of Hephzibah62:4, a subsidiary of The Wesleyan Church dedicated to equipping and mobilizing local Wesleyan churches to transform the lives of vulnerable children. Learn about becoming a Hephzibah62:4 Church and benefits available for every Wesleyan church.
