ELCA NEWS SERVICE
November 23, 2009
Lutherans to Observe World AIDS Day Dec. 1
09-264-JD
WASHINGTON (ELCA) -- Every nine and a half minutes a person in the
United States becomes infected with HIV, according to the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta. Globally, the Joint United
Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS estimates the number of people infected
with the virus is 33 million.
On the weekend before or after World AIDS Day, Dec. 1, members of
the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) are invited to
participate in a worship service, event or advocacy activity, and to
remember and demonstrate support for people living with and affected by
HIV and AIDS.
A World AIDS Day liturgy and other information about ELCA ministries
related to HIV and AIDS is at http://www.ELCA.org/aids on the ELCA Web
site.
"World AIDS Day shines a light of awareness on the pandemic of HIV
and AIDS," said the Rev. Andrea DeGroot-Nesdahl, ELCA coordinator for the
HIV and AIDS Strategy and the Lutheran Malaria Initiative. "It's
important for all people of faith, infected or not, to stand together
against this epidemic that is taking such a devastating toll."
The 2009-2010 World AIDS Day theme is "Universal Access and Human
Rights." This theme was selected by the World AIDS campaign, a network
that works in response to HIV and AIDS. The association includes the
Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance (EAA), an international network of churches
and Christian organizations cooperating in advocacy about global trade,
and HIV and AIDS. The ELCA is an alliance member.
The theme encourages people to deepen understanding, develop
partnerships and challenge discriminatory laws, policies and practices
that stand in the way of access for all people to HIV prevention,
treatment, care and support, according to the EAA.
The Rev. Mark S. Hanson, ELCA presiding bishop, spoke on the subject
of discriminatory laws when he welcomed a travel policy decision by U.S.
President Barack Obama that removed entry restrictions into the United
States for people who are HIV-positive. He said that an end to
discriminatory policies and confronting stigmatizing attitudes toward
people with HIV and AIDS are essential for their full inclusion in
society and religious communities.
In March 2009 the ELCA Church Council adopted a strategy to address
HIV and AIDS. The 2009 ELCA Churchwide Assembly approved a three-year,
$10 million fundraising proposal to support the strategy.
In his remarks to the assembly, Hanson said he hoped in 2017 the
ELCA could say, "Together, we increased access to government and non-
government resources in the fight against the spread of HIV and AIDS.
Through improved access to treatment and education, the number of cases
were significantly reduced, and stigmatization and discrimination
diminished."
According to DeGroot-Nesdahl, the ELCA Strategy on HIV and AIDS
represents an ongoing engagement with the pandemic both globally and
domestically.
"The ELCA has a long history of partnering with global companions on
HIV and AIDS ministry. Those same companion churches have encouraged the
ELCA to also attend to the growing number of infections in the United
States, and to become a more HIV-competent church in our own country,"
she said.
In the spring of 2009, at least 56 ELCA bishops participated in HIV
screening. "The bishops' testing spoke prophetically to their own synods
in the United States as a witness to the importance of knowing one's own
status, and of dismantling the stigma and discrimination around HIV and
AIDS," said DeGroot-Nesdahl.
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World AIDS campaign information is at
http://www.worldaidscampaign.org on the Web.
For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or [log in to unmask]
http://www.elca.org/news
ELCA News Blog: http://www.elca.org/news/blog
