MINNEAPOLIS (ELCA) -- The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) needs to become more knowledgeable and active when it comes to HIV and AIDS, said Cynthia Halverson, executive director of the ELCA Foundation and Development Services.
Halverson was among those who spoke to the 2009 ELCA Churchwide Assembly about the recommendation to raise $10 million to support the HIV and AIDS strategy in the ELCA World Hunger Appeal.
The churchwide assembly, the chief legislative authority of the ELCA, is meeting here Aug. 17-23 at the Minneapolis Convention Center. About 2,000 people are participating, including 1,045 ELCA voting members. The theme for the biennial assembly is "God's work. Our hands."
"This epidemic effects individuals of every age and race, every gender and sexual orientation and every geographic region of the United States," said the Rev. Andrea DeGroot-Nesdahl, coordinator for the HIV and AIDS Strategy and the Lutheran Malaria Initiative.
Degroot-Nesdahl said that on average every 9.5 minutes a person in the United States is infected with HIV, according to the http://www.nineandahalfminutes.org on the Web.
The Rev. Rafael Malpica Padilla, executive director, ELCA Global Mission, spoke of Women of Hope, a group of women in Nigeria who have been stigmatized and excluded because of their HIV positive status. They travel Nigeria and speak about their experiences with HIV and AIDS.
"Women of Hope are not victims," Malpica Padilla said. "They have chosen to break the silence of stigma."
Degroot-Nesdahl also spoke of the stigma associated with those who are HIV positive or living with AIDS.
"(Stigma) forces people into fear and isolation and creates the conditions for groups to spread the virus," she said.
When the ELCA Conference of Bishops met in March, 56 members were tested for HIV, including the Rev. Mark S. Hanson, ELCA presiding bishop.
Halverson added that AIDS is a disease that causes poverty and intensifies poverty, and because of this people of color and other sexual orientations have higher rates of infection.
"This action helped press upon our synods that HIV and AIDS are a problem for those around the world," Halverson said.
The goal of the strategy is to move the ELCA to becoming an HIV/AIDS "competent" church, Halverson said.
Voting members will vote on the recommendation during the Aug. 19 plenary session.
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Information about the 2009 ELCA Churchwide Assembly can be found at http://www.elca.org/assembly on the Web.
An ELCA News Service article on the Bishop's HIV screen can be found at http://tinyurl.com/oyqbar on the Web.
* Carrie L. Draeger is a senior communication major with a concentration in journalism at Pacific Lutheran University, Tacoma, Wash. This summer she is an intern with the ELCA News Service.
For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or news@elca.org
http://www.elca.org/news
ELCA News Blog: http://www.elca.org/news/blog
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About the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America:
The ELCA is one of the largest Christian denominations in the United States, with 2.8 million members in more than 8,500 worshiping communities across the 50 states and in the Caribbean region. Known as the church of "God's work. Our hands.," the ELCA emphasizes the saving grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ, unity among Christians and service in the world. The ELCA's roots are in the writings of the German church reformer Martin Luther.
For information contact:
Candice Hill Buchbinder
Public Relations Manager
Candice.HillBuchbinder@ELCA.org
