HIV and AIDS Ministry

World AIDS Day: December 1, 2022

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On Dec. 1st, the ELCA has the opportunity to join with our neighbors around the world in commemorating World AIDS Day. On this day, we remember all who have been and continue to be affected by HIV and AIDS. We also take this day to raise awareness and recommit to a faithful and dedicated response.

World AIDS Day Resources:

• World AIDS Day Worship Resource
• World AIDS Day Bulletin Insert
• A video message from Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton
• Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance, World AIDS Day Service
• Overview of ELCA HIV and AIDS Strategy

AIDS has claimed the lives of more than 25 million people worldwide. Millions of children under the age of 18 in sub-Saharan Africa have lost one or both parents to AIDS. The ELCA, along with the international community, has pledged both resources and action. There is cause for great hope.

Real progress has been made to:

• halt the spread of HIV through effective prevention, treatment and care;
• eliminate the stigma and discrimination experienced by those who are HIV-positive; and
• reduce the conditions of poverty that contribute to the spread of HIV.

Your action makes a difference as we do God’s work in the world together. See below and the links to the right to find important ways you can help today.

Donate

Your generous gift can have a profound impact on the lives of those who live with or are affected by HIV and AIDS. Support children who’ve lost parents or their guardian to the disease. Train a pastor in HIV and AIDS counseling. Get anti-retroviral medicines to remote rural health clinics. Make free HIV testing available. Prevent new infections. Transform this church into a safe space for people living with HIV and AIDS.

Learn

• What is AIDS?
• How many people worldwide are living with HIV?
• How many children have lost a parent to AIDS?
• How can you get or spread HIV?
• Where can you go in your community for HIV testing and treatment?
• How can you prevent HIV?

Advocate

Join with others who are seeking to ensure that governments, corporations and communities do their part to achieve the goals of:

1. Halting the spread of HIV through effective prevention, treatment and care.
2. Eliminating the stigma and discrimination experienced by those who are HIV-positive.
3. Reducing the conditions of poverty and marginalization that contribute to the spread of HIV.

Serve

Discover specific ways of walking with and serving people who are living with HIV and AIDS. Together, we can achieve things on a scale and scope that we could never do on our own.

Pray

Grounded in God’s love and forgiveness, we are called to discern what it means to be a church that is HIV-positive — a community that suffers when one member suffers and that celebrates the joys of each member. We grow in faith, awareness and strength to live and serve in the world through prayer, study of Scripture and worship.

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