FOCUS PAPER # 25 HIV/AIDS MINISTRIES NETWORK A NETWORK OF UNITED METHODISTS AND OTHERS WHO CARE ABOUT THE GLOBAL HIV/AIDS PANDEMIC AND THOSE WHOSE LIVES HAVE BEEN TOUCHED IN FOCUS PAPER # 25 About This Issue "FACING THE GLOBAL HIV/AIDS PANDEMIC" by Rev. Charles Carnahan "I WEAR A RED RIBBON" by Debbi Hood Johnson "THEORIES OF THE EARTH" by Emily Newland "THE FACE OF AIDS: A WORSHIP SERVICE FOR WORLD AIDS DAY" by Rev. Nancy Carter INVITATION FOR SUBMISSIONS "WORLD AIDS DAY 1994" Toll Church Bells 14 Times A Commitment on HIV/AIDS By People of Faith..The Council Call ---------------------------------------------------------- HIV/AIDS Ministries Network Focus Papers are a publication of the Health and Welfare Ministries Program Department, General Board of Global Ministries, The United Methodist Church, Room 350, 475 Riverside Drive, New York, NY 10115. Phone: 212-870-3909. FAX: 212-749-2641. Focus Papers, unless otherwise noted, may be quoted, reproduced and distributed with credit being given to Health and Welfare Ministries Program Department and the authors. ---------------------------------------------------------------- ABOUT THIS ISSUE October 1994 Dear Network Members: This edition of the HIV/AIDS Ministries Network Focus Paper focuses on World AIDS Day 1994. The emphasis of World AIDS Day this year is AIDS and the Family. All families, traditional and non-traditional, have important roles to play in addressing the issues related to HIV/AIDS. Focus Paper #25 provides material that can be used in developing World AIDS Day programs and activities. The Global HIV/AIDS Pandemic is an edited version of a presentation I have used on several occasions to address the global context of HIV disease. One of the most important points that I try to communicate is that HIV/AIDS must be approached in the broad context of international health. Within that context, HIV/AIDS must be addressed or it will do us little good to address other health issues. The article in the Family Network section, I Wear A Red Ribbon, by Debbi Hood Johnson shows how pain can be channeled into providing hope for others. Debbi's explanation for wearing the red ribbon calls us all to re-examine our faith and its witness in the face of this ever-growing world-wide epidemic. The Reverend Nancy Carter has developed a worship service for World AIDS Day that can be used in your church. It is designed to draw attention to the individuals behind the statistics through the use of the idea of the faces of AIDS. It can be used in conjunction with Debbi Hood Johnson's article. Theories of the Earth by Emily Newland, is a poem that could also be included in your World AIDS Day activities. Special World AIDS Day resources are included in this edition of the Focus Paper. The Council of Religious AIDS Networks and the AIDS National Interfaith Network are requesting religious communities and individuals to participate in activities to draw attention to the compassion, support and hope available through faith communities. In particular, religious congregations are being asked to ring their bells 14 times at 1:40pm local time on December 1. Also, individuals, congregations and organizations are being asked to sign on to A Commitment on HIV/AIDS by People of Faith...The Council Call. (One copy is included in this mailing which can be copied and distributed widely.) CAM continues to be a major resource for those affected by HIV/AIDS, with more than 650 users. If you haven't done so, we invite you to try it by using your computer and modem to dial 1- 212-222-2135. With kindest regards, Cathie Lyons Charles R. Carnahan Associate General Secretary Executive for HIV/AIDS Ministries ----------------------------------------------------------------- FACING THE GLOBAL HIV/AIDS PANDEMIC by Charles R. Carnahan The Reverend Charles R. Carnahan is executive secretary for HIV/AIDS Ministries in the Health and Welfare Ministries Program Department of the General Board of Global Ministries of The United Methodist Church. He has written several articles on HIV and the church and conducted numerous workshops nationally and internationally. ----------------------------------------------------------- BETWEEN 30 TO 110 MILLION PEOPLE AROUND THE WORLD WILL BE INFECTED WITH HIV BY THE YEAR 2000 10 MILLION CHILDREN WILL BE ORPHANED BY THE YEAR 2000 AS A RESULT OF AIDS IN AFRICA, GAINS IN CHILD SURVIVAL RATES WILL BE DECREASED, POSSIBLY REVERSED APPROXIMATELY 3 MILLION PRODUCTIVE YEARS OF LIFE HAVE BEEN LOST TO DATE TO AIDS To write about the global impact of HIV disease can be a daunting exercise. More has been written concerning HIV/AIDS in its brief but brutal 12 years of diagnosis than any other health crisis of modern times. Much of our world seems to be on "information overload." The seriousness of this pandemic (worldwide epidemic) is clear. If current trends continue, HIV disease will become, within the next 7 to 10 years, the most devastating preventable health crisis the world has ever witnessed. While some churches have made great strides in responding to AIDS, responses of churches overall have not matched the significance of the crisis. Unfortunately, in many areas of the world, including the United States, the church has been one of the greater hindrances to providing comprehensive prevention information and services. As we move into the second decade of this pandemic, we have already learned that every sector of society, including the religious community (especially the religious community), must resolve to dedicate its resources in amounts and ways which are proportionate to the actual and potential devastation of HIV/AIDS on individuals and the global community. Several years ago, I was part of the founding meeting of the AIDS National Interfaith Network. At that time the majority of voices heard from the religious community categorized AIDS as the "gay plague," as judgment from God. These voices offered not a God of love, but one of isolation and hatred. At that meeting, one of the participants commented that he was not surprised by the churches' response to the AIDS pandemic. He observed that "the Church has, throughout its history, had problems dealing with issues associated with semen and blood." Unfortunately both semen and blood are vehicles for the transmission of HIV. The tables on page 6 shows the latest statistics released by the World Health Organization (W.H.O.) and the Centers for Disease Control. These figures, which record the cumulative reported deaths from AIDS in the world and in the U.S.A., just begin to tell the story of the impact of AIDS. AIDS is affecting all areas of our lives. There is the ever growing cost in human suffering. For example W.H.O. projects that more than 10 million children worldwide will be orphaned by the year 2000. In Africa entire families and communities are mourning the loss of too many of their most educated young adults: their hoped-for future leaders. It is impossible to project the future cost in lost lives and human potential due to illness and death from HIV disease. We know it could be years until infection rates peak and level out globally. In recent months, surveillance teams have witnessed an alarming increase of HIV infection in Asia. Much of Africa is already devastated by AIDS. HIV infection cannot be seen simply as an issue to be dealt with alone. It must be viewed in the larger context of related issues and concerns. HIV/AIDS is negatively affecting the already vulnerable economies in countries in Latin America, Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, and the Pacific Islands. The government of Thailand projects that its Gross Domestic Product will decrease by as much as 20 percent in the next few years as a direct result of HIV disease. Economic hardship is evident in villages and cities where grandparents have been forced to take on the added financial responsibility of caring for their grandchildren. Dr. Nariman Behravesh of DRI/McGraw-Hill, presenting information on the economic impact of HIV disease at the National Leadership Coalition on AIDS briefing in Washington, DC, in 1992 pointed to a reduction in worldwide Gross Domestic Product as a result of HIV disease by the year 2000 of between $350 and $500 billion (or the equivalent of the economies of Australia or India). HIV is causing a slowing and even a reversal of many of the health gains that have been made within the developing world in the past 20 years. Marjorie Dam of W.H.O. has stated that, before AIDS, the world's average life expectancy was projected to be more than 60 years by the year 2010. As a result of AIDS, the rate may drop to as low as 48 or 50 in some parts of the world. Reduction in child mortality in Africa that had come from successful, privately funded, immunization programs has been nearly wiped out by HIV. While HIV disease is no respecter of persons, position, or power, it continues to disproportionately affect marginalized individuals and communities throughout the world. These members of God's human family can ill afford additional burdens. In June, 1992, at the Council of Evangelical Methodist Churches in Latin America and General Board of Global Ministries sponsored HIV/AIDS consultation held in Recife, a Brazilian woman who worked with local sex workers spoke of her efforts to positively impact their lives and provide risk reducing HIV/AIDS education. She said, "To talk about putting oneself at risk for HIV that may impact their lives within the next 3 to 5 years, in their context is irrelevant and ineffective because daily life, itself, is a risk." In many parts of the our world, women do not possess the power to be able to make decisions concerning with whom, when, or how they have sex with a partner. The Program on Population has observed, "Poor women with low levels of education and who have little control over their sexual relationships are leading candidates to contract AIDS. Most women are at risk not as a result of their own behavior but from that of their male sexual partners." AIDS is presently the leading cause of death in women aged 20-40 in certain cities in sub-Saharan Africa, Western Europe and the Americas. In many countries of the world, the traditions and cultural norms include practices that allow and encourage multiple sexual partners, rituals that put one at risk, and a devaluing of women preclude active choice making. Women throughout the world, because of this devaluing, are still viewed as mere property or as utilitarian instruments by their male counter parts. To talk about HIV in a global context necessarily is to talk about the plight of women, their empowerment, and their basic human worth and dignity. Because women are so severely affected by HIV infection, children remain vulnerable. General Board of Global Ministries missionaries and staff traveling in Africa report that, upon entering villages, they look around and see old people and young children. When they inquire where the childrens' parents are, they are told that they have died of "slims disease" (a term frequently used in Africa to refer to AIDS). Millions of children are growing up without parents to care for them. At early ages they have to take on roles that are usually reserved for much later in life. AIDS has increased sexual abuse of children. In some parts of the world, young girls and boys 10 to 12 years old, some younger, are kidnapped or sold to the sex trade industry. Such children command high prices in sex trade houses, since customers believe someone so young is "clean" (not infected). Once they test positive, they are returned to the area from where they were kidnapped or purchased. When the family or village discovers they are HIV positive, they are run out of the village or even killed. Troubling reports from Burma indicate that sex workers who have been returned to Burma from the sex trade houses of Thailand have been killed by the Burmese government. HIV disease has the very real possibility of changing the course of history and development of many countries if bold action is not taken to stop its spread. The church must be equally bold in its response. Believing there will be a vaccine or effective treatment for HIV disease only indicates our Western bias. The fact is that if an effective treatment were announced today or a vaccine developed tomorrow, at least 80% of the world would still face the effects of an AIDS epidemic. The distribution and cost of such vaccines and treatments are simply out of the reach of most severely affected countries. The estimated cost of caring for each persons with AIDS in Africa ranges from $US100 to $US1,500. Place that against the reality that in Africa, government per capita spending on health care varies from $US1 to $US10 per year. HIV disease continues to call people of faith, our institutions and governments to action to stop the spread of this disease. The reality of AIDS informs us that if we do not respond appropriately, little progress will be made in responding to most of the worlds other problems. The impact of HIV cannot be ignored. We know what we need to do to stop the spread of HIV/AIDS. Our challenge is to find the will, through our faith, to provide the education, medical and human response necessary to meet the challenges we face in this pandemic. ----------------------------------------------------------------- U.M. FAMILY HIV/AIDS NETWORK A NETWORK OF UNITED METHODIST FAMILIES AND OTHERS WHO HAVE BEEN TOUCHED BY HIV/AIDS ---------------------------------------------------------------- I WEAR A RED RIBBON by Debbi Hood Johnson Debbi lives in Charlotte, North Carolina, where she has been an AIDS educator/counselor for eight years. She is currently writing a book about her husband and their fight against AIDS. Debbi is the daughter of a former Wesleyan Methodist minister. -------------------------------------------------------------- People often ask me why I wear a Red Ribbon. Some people ask the question simply to find out what the ribbon means, but other people are really asking a hidden question: they wonder what experience in life has moved me so that I would want to wear a Red Ribbon, a visible reminder to all who see me of the continuing battle against HIV and AIDS. They are asking why I, a white heterosexual female in the heart of the conservative South, would choose to take an often unpopular stand, instead of quietly going about my life. Unknowingly, they are asking about my husband, BJ. BJ made me his wife, but AIDS made me his widow. He died in my arms at 1:45 a.m. on Monday, May 17, 1993, in the little white house we had moved into only two days earlier. Surrounded by packed boxes filled with our books, our music, our photographs, and other mementos of our life together, we lay in the dark on the hospital bed provided by Hospice. Consumed, at this point, by massive brain lesions caused by PML (Progressive Multifocal Leukoencephalopathy), Beej had lapsed into a coma hours before. Earlier that day his wonderful parents and our supportive friends, our "family of choice," had come, encircling his bed to say their soft good-byes, kiss his cheek gently, and whisper final messages into his ears as the room began to fill with the loud, bone-chilling sound of fluids collecting in his lungs as he struggled to breathe. In our private final hours, I sang to him, prayed over him, and recited the 23rd Psalm over and over as I carefully brushed his long hair. I reminisced aloud about how we met and some of our favorite "heart snapshots"-- those special memories and private jokes and tender moments we had shared for so long. I chose to believe BJ could still hear me through the curtains of his coma. As I sang one of our most special songs to him, I suddenly noticed my voice was no longer competing with the loud gurgling "death rattle" of BJ's breathing. I sat up on the bed and saw that his eyes were open-- he was looking at me. I knew he could really see me once again and that he could see that I was truly with him until the end. His face looked so serene, with a slightly lopsided grin. "Go ahead, sweetie," I whispered hoarsely as I held him, "it's okay to let go now." As I kissed his lips for the last time and felt his life leave his body, my hand stayed on his chest, where his body heat remained the longest. I sobbed as I felt the chill spread; the warm spot over his heart grew smaller until it was no more. Another brave warrior in the fight against AIDS had fallen. Why do I wear the Red Ribbon? I wear it because I CAN. I am still alive, still able to carry the message about the reality and urgency of AIDS and how HIV can be prevented. I carry this message for those whose voices can no longer be heard but whose presence can still be felt. What message is that? I carry the message-- to all who will hear AND listen-- that HIV/AIDS is, at this point, 100% FATAL... but it is also 100% PREVENTABLE. I carry the message that Persons Living with AIDS (PLWAs), or-- as I heard recently from a feisty long-term survivor-- PLISOAs (Persons Living In Spite of AIDS) are PERSONS first and foremost:  persons who have families and loved ones,  persons who have dreams and hopes and fears,  persons who laugh and cry,  persons who deserve the same respect as you and I. The gay community, for more than a decade, has shown us an incredible example of what unconditional love and honest, unflinching AIDS prevention education can accomplish. What about the rest of us? Where are the mainstream churches? I have been dismayed by stories of persons picketing AIDS funerals with hateful signs or quietly asking HIV-infected families to leave their congregations so that the tithes and offerings won't diminish. I know that these hurtful actions are not the only witness of churches. Others have heeded Jesus' message in Matthew 25:35-45 ("...I was sick and you visited me..."). Recently I have read and been deeply touched by the document "The Council Call" that the AIDS National Interfaith Network (ANIN) has asked all persons of faith to sign on to by World AIDS Day this year. It sounds a clarion cry for all of us to serve those in need, people who are gathering up the courage every morning to get out of bed to face yet another day with AIDS. When I wear the Red Ribbon, I am demonstrating my compassion and care for people living with HIV/AIDS, my determination that those who have already died from AIDS-related causes will not be forgotten, my support for the ongoing efforts of all AIDS service organizations and researchers, my respect for the dedicated caregivers, and my desire to educate others about how to halt the spread of this obscene plague. I can think of many other reasons to proudly wear the Red Ribbon, and these reasons have names and faces: Bill, the first PLWA I knowingly met and for whom I became one of Charlotte's first volunteer AIDS Buddies; David, the quiet man whose face had become a macabre mask of purple Kaposi's Sarcoma lesions; Daphne, the woman who fretted about who would care for her children after she had died; Tony, the entertainer who hung himself in desperation, afraid of how AIDS would continue to ravage his mind and body; Curtis, the proud African American who had such a big heart and tried to alert his community to its risks before his life was cut short one Christmas; Little Jessica, whose panel in The NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt haunts me to this day with its stuffed animals and baby blanket; Ryan White, whose unyielding courage showed the world that AIDS might sap his strength but never bend his spirit; Ron, whose independent streak continued until he drew his last breath in his apartment, surrounded by his friends and beloved cat; and BJ, my sweet, gentle husband, who never passed up an opportunity to speak to groups to educate them and to "put a face on AIDS."AIDS finally robbed him of his speech, his mobility, his bodily functions, his smile---but never his dignity. There are those who believe the Red Ribbon has lost its meaning, that it's only an empty symbol now. I disagree! As long as my Red Ribbon gives someone the opportunity to ask me a question about AIDS, or gives someone the strength to go through another day encouraged by this small sign of support and solidarity, then its message is very clear: The Red Ribbon simply means that I care. ----------------------------------------------------------------- THEORIES OF THE EARTH by Emily Newland It remains to us now to formulate a theory of our own lives, to excavate the layers through which we have settled into our selves; the drifted continents of days we might gather into explanation, sounding our lives as seas are sounded by the light toward which they are impelled. We might see what it is we are surviving, and from what we are resulting, we who have measured our fevers against the suns, we who have named our selves with the names of every heaven. Will we pass now from the classified globe, whose atmospheres have fallen onto the heads of saints? And what will we say to the arrogance of mountains who infinitely continue expecting everything and who are certain, as they watch us going, that they, alone, endure? _________________________________________________ From IN MEMORIAM: EVERYBODY, an unpublished book in progress, by Emily Newland, Copyright 1994. Used by permission. Emily Newland's poetry and short stories have been published in magazines and journals such as THE MISSOURI REVIEW, LIGHT, ELLERY QUEEN MYSTERY MAGAZINE, TWILIGHT ZONE MAGAZINE, and Roz Warren's humor anthologies. She has a fellowship in short fiction from the Arkansas Council for the Arts and Humanities. ----------------------------------------------------------------- THE FACE OF AIDS A WORSHIP SERVICE FOR WORLD AIDS DAY By Nancy A. Carter Nancy A. Carter is a consultant for the Health and Welfare Ministries Program Department, General Board of Global Ministries, The United Methodist Church. This service has been designed for use with "I Wear a Red Ribbon" by Debbi Hood Johnson and other materials in this month's mailing. Feel free to adapt these resources to your needs. Hymn: "Lord, Whose Love Through Humble Service," #581, The United Methodist Hymnal Reader 1: 1994 is the International Year of the Family. As the year began, the General Assembly of the United Nations heard a warning from Donna Shalala, Secretary for Health and Human Resources for the United States. She said that families worldwide are being torn apart from the force of the AIDS epidemic. HIV is striking increasing numbers of children and adolescents and destroying family ties at a time when the world is struggling to preserve them. Reader 2: The World Health Organization has made some mind- boggling projections about the spread of AIDS. It predicts that by the year 2000:  30-40 million people in the world will have been infected with HIV; 8 million of these people will have died already:  90% of the new infections will be happening in two-thirds world countries, primarily through heterosexual sex;  10 million children and teens will have been orphaned by the AIDS pandemic;  10 million babies will have been born with HIV antibodies in their blood;  13 million women will have been infected. R1: The World Health Organization believes that, in the decades after the year 2000, more than 1 billion people-- 1/5th of the world's population-- could be infected with HIV. Facts and projections are important. They help us to understand what is happening today and what could happen tomorrow. They help us to make decisions about what we will do, as Christians striving to be faithful to God. R2: Even more important than statistics are the people themselves. Jesus stressed this truth with his face-to-face personal ministry with people. He also taught that his followers must do good and love God, others, and self in order to be recognized as the righteous ones of God. In the parable of the sheep and the goats in the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus says that both the just and the unjust ask, "Lord, when did we see thee hungry, thirsty, naked, sick...?" (Read Matthew 25:34-40.) Reading: "I Wear a Red Ribbon" by Debbi Hood Johnson Hymn: "Help Us Accept Each Other," #560, The United Methodist Hymnal R1: We have heard the words from the Gospel of Matthew about when we have visited with the Christ. We have heard Jesus' words illustrated in Debbi Hood Johnson's witness, "I Wear a Red Ribbon." Let us be in an attitude of meditation, close our eyes, become quiet, look, and listen inwardly. (speak slowly and quietly) Take some time now to go in your mind's eye to a safe and comfortable place. Relax there. (pause) Reflect on the ways the Christ has appeared to you in your life. (pause) Can you see the face of the Christ? What does it look like? (pause) How do you respond to the face of Christ? (pause) Now look again. Can you see in Christ's face the many faces of people with AIDS? (pause) Can you see the HIV positive women, men, teenagers, girls, boys, babies? (pause) People from all races and continents? (pause) People form all economic backgrounds? (pause) People from cities, suburbs, and the countryside? (pause) How do you respond to the face of Christ? (pause) What do you do? (pause) What do you say? (pause) What does Christ do or say? (pause) Say goodbye now to Christ, saying any final words that you wish. Your good bye may take the form of a thank you or a promise. Do whatever is comfortable for you. (pause) R2: Let us pray. Perhaps as you were looking at the face of Christ, thoughts came to your mind of persons for whom you would like to pray. Now is a time you can speak your prayers out loud and pray silently to yourself. Remember to respect the confidentiality of any who may have requested this. (accept prayers from the group and then pray) May we see the face of Christ in all of the family of God. May people with HIV/AIDS know the love and acceptance Jesus has shown us and not be shunned by family, friends, and community. May persons with AIDS and their loved ones experience God's grace, not guilt and blame. May they be lifted up by the Holy Spirit of God, not pulled down by the weight of sickness, poverty, oppression, or depression. May all of us in this room, whether HIV positive or HIV negative, respond to God's call in our lives and show God's love and justice in our actions. Amen R1: Jesus calls us to follow him. We have heard stories from the Bible of how he ministered with all in need and called us to do the same. Let us show our commitment to stand with persons who are HIV positive and their loved ones: (Choose one or more options at this time: (1) Pass an offering plate around the group, inviting those who wish to take a red ribbon and wear it to symbolize that they care; (2) Read "The Council Call"; (3) Read "A Covenant to Care"*; Pass an offering plate with a request that persons give money toward The United Methodist Church's Advance Special "Enabling AIDS Ministries"* [Advance #982215-6] or another HIV/AIDS Ministry Program.) R2: Let us pray: GROUP: WE ASK FOR GOD'S GUIDANCE THAT WE MIGHT RESPOND IN WAYS THAT BEAR WITNESS ALWAYS TO JESUS' OWN COMPASSIONATE MINISTRY OF HEALING AND RECONCILIATION; AND THAT TO THIS END WE MIGHT LOVE ONE ANOTHER AND CARE FOR ONE ANOTHER WITH THE SAME UNMEASURED AND UNCONDITIONAL LOVE THAT JESUS EMBODIED. Hymn: "Love Divine, All Loves Excelling," #384, The United Methodist Hymnal R2: We go assured that nothing can separate us from the love of God. We are committed to loving one another as God has loved us. We seek to be the body of Christ, revealing God's love to the world. We are strengthened by the Holy Spirit as we go from this place. Go in peace. ____________ *"A Covenant to Care" is a program sponsored by Health and Welfare Ministries, which encourages congregations and other United Methodist groups to adopt statements covenanting to welcome people with HIV and their loved ones. The resources below are available from the Service Center, General Board of Global Ministries, 7820 Reading Road, Caller No. 1800, Cincinnati, OH 45222-1800. They are free, except for postage and handling. AIDS: A COVENANT TO CARE is a statement that declares that your church welcomes people with HIV/AIDS. It can be ordered in two sizes: - bulletin inserts (English #5072, Spanish #5074 Spanish) - posters (English #5073, Spanish #5074). ENABLING AIDS MINISTRIES is a flyer that gives information about this Advance Special of The United Methodist Church (#5088). ---------------------------------------------------------------- HIV/AIDS NETWORK FOCUS PAPER ON WORSHIP RESOURCES INVITATION FOR SUBMISSIONS In 1995, the Health and Welfare Ministries Program Department, General Board of Global Ministries, The United Methodist Church, plans to feature an HIV/AIDS Network Focus paper focused on worship and HIV/AIDS ministries. We are looking for your original materials (not materials someone else has written and published), such as prayers, litanies, meditations, responsive readings, vignettes, songs, homilies. Short articles on worship and HIV/AIDS ministry will also be considered. Submissions should be 1000 words or less. We will pay a very small honorarium for each piece published. Our focus paper also has an electronic edition which is uploaded to our own CAM (Computerized AIDS Ministries) bulletin board, the AEGIS network, HNS HIV net, CDC NAC Online, and other electronic information services. If you are interested in submitting materials, please send them to: Charles Carnahan HIV/AIDS Ministries Network Room 350 475 Riverside Drive New York, New York 10115 You can also write to the Network and request a sample focus paper or download our online versions from CAM (BBS number 212- 222-2135). In your cover letter, include a short biographical sketch and that you are submitting your work for the focus paper on worship. On each submission, please include your name, address, and telephone, fax, and/or electronic address. Be sure to indicate your correct byline and any copyright notice, if you do not want your work to be in the public domain. If you want your materials returned, please include a SASE. If we have lots of good material and not enough room in this issue, we may use your submission in a later edition of the focus paper. DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS: February 1, 1995 ----------------------------------------------------------------- WORLD AIDS DAY 1994 Toll Church Bells 14 Times In an effort to re-focus the public on the impact of the HIV/AIDS pandemic, the AIDS National Interfaith Network is requesting that parishes and religious congregations across all faith communities toll their bells 14 times at 1:40 pm local time on December 1, World AIDS Day. The ringing of the bells will symbolize the 14 years since the first cases of the disease that is now known AIDS were reported. Bell ringing is symbolic of grief as well as joy. Let this time be an outward sign of our remembrance of those who have died as well as a celebration and recognition of those who continue in compassionate love and service with those living with AIDS/HIV. Those communities which will ring bells are asked to notify ANIN in writing at 110 Maryland Avenue NW, Room 504, Washington, DC 20002. A Commitment on HIV/AIDS by People of Faith...The Council Call You have an opportunity to be a part of history this year. For the first time in the 14 years of the pandemic a call is going out -- to religious officials, to the "people in the pews" and to all people of faith across the United States to sign on to A Commitment on HIV/AIDS by People of Faith...The Council of Religious AIDS Networks a project of AIDS National Interfaith Network (ANIN). On World AIDS Day, Thursday, December 1, 1994, ANIN will sponsor a public ceremony at the United Nations to acknowledge and celebrate the endorsements of The Council Call received by that date. With your help, we hope to reach hundreds of thousands of people of faith with this important message. Please make copies of The Council Call, if you need to, and disseminate them as widely as possible. A COMMITMENT ON HIV/AIDS BY PEOPLE OF FAITH... THE COUNCIL CALL We are members of different faith communities called by God to affirm a life of hope and healing in the midst of HIV/AIDS. The enormity of the pandemic itself has compelled us to join forces despite our differences of belief. Our traditions call us to embody and proclaim hope, and to celebrate life and healing in the midst of suffering. AIDS is an affliction of the whole human family, a condition in which we all participate. It is a scandal that many people suffer and grieve in secret. We seek hope amidst the moral and medical tragedies of this pandemic in order to pass on hope for generations to come. We recognize the fact that there have been barriers among us based on religion race, class, age, nationality, physical ability, gender and sexual orientation which have generated fear, persecution and even violence. We call upon all sectors of our society, particularly our faith communities, to adopt as highest priority the confrontation of racism, classism, ageism, sexism, and homophobia. As long as one member of the human family is afflicted, we all suffer. In that spirit, we declare our response to the AIDS pandemic. ----------------------------------------------------------------- 1. WE ARE CALLED TO LOVE: God does not punish with sickness or disease but is present together with us as the source of our strength, courage and hope. The God of our understanding is, in fact, greater than AIDS. 2. WE ARE CALLED TO COMPASSIONATE CARE: We must assure that all who are affected by the pandemic [regardless of religion, race, class, age, nationality, physical ability, gender or sexual orientation] will have access to compassionate, non-judgmental care, respect, support and assistance. 3. WE ARE CALLED TO WITNESS AND DO JUSTICE: We are committed to transform public attitudes and policies, supporting the enforcement of all local and federal laws to protect the civil liberties of all persons with AIDS and other disabilities. We further commit to speak publicly about AIDS prevention and compassion for all people. 4. WE PROMOTE PREVENTION: Within the context of our respective faiths, we encourage accurate and comprehensive information for the public regarding HIV transmission and means of prevention. We vow to develop comprehensive AIDS prevention programs for our youth and adults. 5. WE ACKNOWLEDGE THAT WE ARE A GLOBAL COMMUNITY: While the scourge of AIDS is devastating to the United States, it is much greater in magnitude in other parts of the world community. We recognize our responsibility to encourage AIDS education and prevention policies, especially in the global religious programs we support. 6. WE DEPLORE THE SINS OF INTOLERANCE AND BIGOTRY. AIDS is not a "gay" disease. It affects men, women and children of all races. We reject the intolerance and bigotry that have caused many to deflect their energy, blame those infected, and become preoccupied with issues of sexuality, worthiness, class status, or chemical dependency. 7. WE CHALLENGE OUR SOCIETY: Because economic disparity and poverty are major contributing factors in the AIDS pandemic and barriers to prevention and treatment, we call upon all sectors of society to seek ways of eliminating poverty in a commitment to a future of hope and security. 8. WE ARE COMMITTED TO ACTION: We will seek ways, individually and within our faith communities, to respond to the needs around us. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Portions of the text of this document were taken, with permission, from "The African American Clergy's Declaration of War on HIV/AIDS," (The Balm in Gilead Inc., 1994), and from "The Atlanta Declaration" (AIDS National Interfaith Network, 1989). ----------------------------------------------------------------- YES! I/WE SUPPORT A COMPASSIONATE AND JUST RESPONSE TO HIV/AIDS. Please fill out the information below, detach, place in an envelope, and mail to: The Reverend Charles Carnahan United Methodist HIV/AIDS Ministries Network Room 350 475 Riverside Drive New York, New York 10115 _____ This is an individual endorsement. _____ This is an organizational endorsement. Name Organization Address City State Zip Phone Fax ---------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE: THIS DOCUMENT MAY BE COPIED * * * * * A Commitment on HIV/AIDS by People of Faith, The Council Call, was written by the Council of NATIONAL RELIGIOUS AIDS NETWORKS. The Council, a project of the AIDS National Interfaith Network (ANIN), is composed of leaders of AIDS networks associated with specific national religious bodies. It is a voluntary association working together to support ANIN's mission, to foster better communication, and to enhance the dissemination of information from ANIN and/or other organizations to the individual members of the networks. IN OBSERVANCE OF WORLD AIDS DAY, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 1, 1994, ANIN IS CALLING UPON: * all people of faith to "sign on" to this document, The Council Call, and * all house of worship to ring their bells 14 times at 1:40 PM local time on Thursday, December 1, 1994 in recognition of the 14 years of the HIV/AIDS pandemic. For additional copies of The Council Call or for more information about the ringing of bells or AIDS National Interfaith Network, please call ANIN at 202-546-0807. ----------------------------------------------------------------- ENDORSEMENTS AIDS Ministry Network--Christian Church (DOC) American Friends Service Committee Friends Committee on National Legislation Dr. Robert Glover, Rev. Jane Lawrence, Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) Jane Hull Harvey, Assistant General Secretary, General Board of Church and Society, The United Methodist Church Dr. Jon Lacey, AIDS Ministry Network, Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) National Catholic AIDS Network Office of Governmental Relations, National Ministries, American Baptist Churches USA Presbyterian AIDS Network 206th General Assembly (1994) Presbyterian Church (USA) Union of American Hebrew Congregations/Central Conference of American Rabbis AIDS Committee Unitarian Universalist Association, John A. Buehrens, President United Church AIDS Network United Methodist HIV/AIDS Ministries Network Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches AIDS Ministry Washington Office, Unitarian Universalist Association, Robert Z. Alpem, Director and others