Churches across the country will use this Sunday's service to mark Adoption Sunday.

One of the church leaders marking the occasion is the Bishop of Rochester, James Langstaff, who is also the Bishop for Prisons. He will use his Sunday morning sermon to raise awareness of the need to ensure vulnerable children grow up in loving, stable homes in order to stem the flow of children from the care system entering prison. At present, 49 per cent of young men aged under 21 who are in contact with the criminal justice system have spent time in care.

Other churches will show a short film produced by fostering and adoption charity Home for Good, or interview foster carers or adopters in their congregation.

The campaign comes at a time when there is a need for a further 8,100 foster carers to meet the need in the UK. In England, the children on the Adoption Register outweigh the families waiting to adopt by almost three to one. In all parts of the UK, there is a shortfall of families open to caring for children with additional needs, in sibling groups, over the age of four or from black and minority ethnic communities.

Dr Krish Kandiah, founding director of Home for Good, which initiated Adoption Sunday, said: 'In the same way we have been welcomed into God's family, not by birthright but by radical hospitality, we are calling people to offer children a loving welcome and a home for good. Adoption Sunday is an opportunity for individual Christians to reflect on the way God cares for the vulnerable and consider how they too might care for the children in their time of need.'

Shadow Children's Minister, Emma Lewell-Buck said: 'This Adoption Sunday I want to pay tribute to foster carers and adopters and to the many churches who support them in their care for vulnerable children. Sometimes in the face of real adversity, these families are doing something amazing for those in need and today is an opportunity to publicly express our thanks.'

Click here for Adoption Sunday resources.