Week of Compassion is the special mission fund in the Christian Church through which Disciples respond to humanitarian needs and support many ministries of caring, service and hope throughout the world.

At one level, Week of Compassion is one way Disciples can respond to natural and human disasters and emergencies as well as alleviate human suffering caused by poverty, disease, hunger, oppression and other injustices. In 2001, the events of September 11, earthquakes in El Salvador, India and Washington, refugees in Afghanistan, Angola and Chechnya, floods in Texas, West Virginia and southern Africa, violence in Sierra Leone, Colombia and Palestine, tornadoes in Kansas, Mississippi and Indiana, were some of the needs that Disciples through Week of Compassion were able to respond.

At yet another and deeper level, Week of Compassion affords Disciples an opportunity to share in that wider circle of compassion where all are givers and all are receivers. Through Week of Compassion, we receive the compassionate gift of being named regularly in the prayers of believers throughout the world. We share in the gift of Christian unity as we work in partnership with other churches in North America and throughout the world, and with ecumenical partners like Church World Service and Action by Churches Together.

Peace in the world is possible when the world is no longer separated into those who give and those who receive. Through Week of Compassion, Disciples share in the real compassion by both giving and receiving.