Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress…(James 1:27)
The term “religion” has fallen into disrepute of late, but it simply refers to our worship and service of God. That is, what God requires of us. The Gospel tells us what God has done for us (Sending His Son to save us and His Spirit to sanctify us). We may think of religion as our proper response to the Gospel. It certainly covers a wide array of behavior, but James insists that however wide we extend our arms, we must always include the widows and orphans in our midst. That is, those most vulnerable and in need of the protection and provision of the God’s church.
With James’ exhortation in mind, our elders met together last Fall and determined to focus our attention on two specific areas o