ELCA NEWS SERVICE

November 25, 2008  

ELCA Conference of Bishops Agrees to HIV and AIDS Testing
08-200-JB

     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- In response to the development of an HIV
and AIDS strategy by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America,
the ELCA Conference of Bishops agreed to the presence of health
screeners at its March 5-10, 2009, meeting for the purpose of
providing HIV and AIDS testing to all members.
     The ELCA Conference of Bishops is an advisory body of the
church that includes the ELCA's 65 synod bishops, presiding
bishop and secretary.  Its March 2009 meeting is to be held in
Itasca, Ill.
     More than 1.2 million people are living with HIV in North
America, while the number of people worldwide living with HIV is
estimated to be 33 million, according to the 2008 report on the
global AIDS epidemic by the Joint United Nations Programme on
HIV/AIDS.  More than 2 million people died from AIDS in 2007.
Seventy-two percent of these AIDS-related deaths occurred in
sub-Saharan Africa, the report said.  It also noted that because
of expanding life-saving treatment, the annual number of AIDS
deaths globally has declined in the past two years.
     The proposal for testing conference members was brought to
the October 2008 conference meeting by its Ministry Among People
in Poverty (MAPP) Committee.  The action formally encouraged all
bishops "to be supportive and involved with local events on World
AIDS Day, Dec. 1."  Under the umbrella campaign, "Stop AIDS. Keep
the Promise," the theme of World AIDS Day 2008 is "Lead. Empower.
Deliver."
     In its action, the conference noted it has an opportunity to
raise awareness about AIDS-related issues including prevention,
testing, treatment, care, stigma and
discrimination. "By personally engaging in and supporting actions
on World AIDS Day ... ELCA bishops can help encourage all people
to 'know their status' by being tested and help break down the
stigma surrounding the disease," the conference action said.
     The Rev. Paul Stumme-Diers, bishop, ELCA Greater Milwaukee
Synod, and chair of the MAPP Committee, said the conference acted
because of the ELCA's work to develop an HIV and AIDS strategy,
expected to be considered by the 2009 ELCA Churchwide Assembly.
     "We wanted to do something concrete to help amplify that
initiative," Stumme-Diers said. "Part of the message of doing
this is to remind people of both the importance of being tested
for HIV and AIDS and also the confidentiality that surrounds that
whole process.  That way it's more inviting for people to
participate in that, and it ensures the health and welfare of
society when those confidentialities are kept."
     Because African religious leaders have been willing to state
publicly that they have been tested, their actions have helped
lessen stigma associated with the disease and have provided
strong encouragement to others to be tested, said the Rev. Mark
S. Hanson, ELCA presiding bishop, and president, the Lutheran
World Federation, Geneva.
     "I believe ELCA bishops being tested will be a similar act
of accompaniment and encouragement for ELCA members and global
companions," Hanson said. "This decision by ELCA bishops is one
more sign of this church's commitment to respond to the HIV and
AIDS pandemic."
     Stumme-Diers, whose synod maintains companion relationships
with Lutherans in El Salvador and Tanzania, said education and
testing are important topics for these global partners when it
comes to addressing HIV and AIDS.
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     Information about the ELCA Conference of Bishops is at
http://www.ELCA.org/cob on the ELCA Web site.

     Audio of comments by Bishop Paul Stumme-Diers is at
http://www.ELCA.org/audio on the ELCA Web site.

For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or [log in to unmask]
http://www.elca.org/news
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