CHICAGO (ELCA) – The presiding bishops of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and The Episcopal Church commemorate World AIDS Day, Dec. 1, “as a time to remember those whose lives were forever changed because of HIV and AIDS.”
In a joint statement, the Rev. Elizabeth A. Eaton, presiding bishop of the ELCA, and the Most Rev. Dr. Katharine Jefferts Schori, presiding bishop of The Episcopal Church, said the observance also presents “an opportunity to recommit ourselves to building God’s Kingdom by working to bring the AIDS pandemic to an end.
“This year, World AIDS Day falls on the second day of Advent, a time of hope and anticipation of the new life Jesus’ birth brings. As does Advent, World AIDS Day invites us to live with the joy that is to come by continuing to lift up the vision of a new life free of HIV and AIDS,” they wrote.
In their statement, the leaders emphasized the churches’ continued commitment to addressing the root causes that contribute to the spread of HIV.
“Poverty and marginalization of vulnerable and key populations (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex people, sex workers, people who inject drugs, prisoners, migrants, women and girls) are major contributors to the spread of HIV,” said the statement. “Infection rates within these populations are disproportionately high, and yet few have access to life-saving treatment.”
"Ensuring that all people living with HIV have access to prevention, care and treatment services must continue to be the focus of our HIV and AIDS ministries both here at home and abroad,” the statement continued. “We encourage Lutherans and Episcopalians everywhere to support efforts by our governments, churches and other partners to provide resources towards treatment, care and prevention services.”
“World AIDS Day is about getting to zero,” said Dr. Ulysses Burley, ELCA HIV and AIDs strategy coordinator. “Zero new HIV infections. Zero deaths from AIDS-related illness. Zero discrimination. We have more knowledge than ever to achieve zero new HIV infections and zero deaths from AIDS-related illness, but we have yet to adequately address the issue of discrimination.”
“The church was built upon the greatest story ever written about zero discrimination – the gospel,” said Burley, who is also a member of the steering committee for Always Being Made New: The Campaign for the ELCA. “It's in the sharing of the gospel of Jesus Christ that we can rewrite stories of stigmatization to stories of salvation, affirming that all were created in the image of God, and all have access to God's amazing grace, even people infected with and affected by HIV and AIDS. The statistics have been shared; now it's time to share the stories.”
The joint statement from the ELCA and The Episcopal Church is available here.
Information on the ELCA’s strategy for HIV and AIDS is available at www.ELCA.org/Our-Work/Relief-and-Development/HIV-AIDS-Ministry.
The ELCA's social message on AIDS, "AIDS and the Church's Ministry of Caring," is available at www.ELCA.org/aids.
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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
