World AIDS Day

World AIDS Day

Resolution #153: Each year, World AIDS Day is observed on December 1.
It is a time for special programs on HIV/AIDS education and religious worship services that focus on intercessory and healing prayer, hope in God, and love and compassion in the midst of the HIV/AIDS pandemic. We recommend that United Methodists be encouraged to observe World AIDS Day on or around December 1. We further recommend that voluntary offerings be given to "Global HIV/AIDS Program Development" (UMCOR Advance #982345). (Resolution Adopted at the 2004 General Conference)

Materials for World AIDS Day are available each year from the following:
UNAIDS, General Board of Church & Society and General Board of Global Ministries

December 1 of each year marks World AIDS Day—a global observance that raises awareness of HIV & AIDS, commemorates those who have died, and celebrates advances in prevention and treatment services.

World AIDS Day is a time to educate and engage in healing prayer. We encourage United Methodists to give voluntary offerings to "Global HIV/AIDS Program Development" (UMCOR Advance #982345). For additional information, visit www.umglobalaidsfund.org.

What can I do to support World AIDS Day?

Sample Worship
(PDF file)

Focus of the 2010 World AIDS Day

The theme for this year's World AIDS Day is universal access and human rights, according to the World AIDS Campaign. Promotion and protection of human rights is vital in creating an effective HIV/AIDS response as we must empower individuals and communities to respond to the pandemic. "The incidence and spread of HIV/AIDS are disproportionately high among groups who already suffer from a lack of human rights protection," says the Program on International Health and Human Rights. Thus, as people of faith, we must break down the barriers of stigma and discrimination so that all persons feel safe and have access to treatment, testing, care, and support.

"I am living my rights" is a key slogan for World AIDS Day 2010. Campaign slogans, such as the World AIDS Campaign's "Stop AIDS. Keep the Promise," are used to hold governments accountable for their HIV and AIDS-related commitments.

Sample worship service / resources

• 2010 Sample United Methodist worship service (PDF)
• World AIDS Day bulletin insert (PDF)
• 2009 Sample United Methodist worship service (PDF)
• Ecumenical worship service (designed by the Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance, a network of faith groups addressing global poverty and AIDS)

Suggested New Testament Readings

• Luke 10:25-37 – "Love your neighbor as yourself."
• Matthew 7:7-12 – "Do unto others what you would have them do unto you."
• Matthew 10:8 – Heal the sick
• John 9:1-7 - Jesus heals a man born blind
• John 13:31-35 - A call to love one another
• Hebrews 13:3 -Take upon others' suffering as if it were your own
• Galatians 6:2 – "Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ."

The General Board of Global Ministries also provides several ideas for HIV/AIDS Worship Services. For stories, devotional resources and more, visit http://new.gbgm-umc.org/resources/worship/aids.

From The United Methodist Book of Discipline

¶162V

In Ezekiel 34:4a, God points out the failures of the leadership of Israel to care for the weak: "You have not strengthened the weak, you have not healed the sick, you have not bound up the injured." As a result all suffer. Like police and fire protection, health care is best funded through the government's ability to tax each person equitably and directly fund the provider entities. Countries facing a public health crisis such as HIV/AIDS must have access to generic medicines and to patented medicines. We affirm the right of men and women to have access to comprehensive reproductive health/family planning information and services that will serve as a means to prevent unplanned pregnancies, reduce abortions, and prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS. The right to health care includes care for persons with brain diseases, neurological conditions, or physical disabilities, who must be afforded the same access to health care as all other persons in our communities. It is unjust to construct or perpetuate barriers to physical or mental wholeness or full participation in community.

Resources

World AIDS Campaign's Resources on Universal Access and Human Rights

Website: www.worldaidscampaign.org/en/World-AIDS-Day/Human-Rights-and-Universal-Access

How to address the topic of HIV & AIDS in your congregation:

Rev. Dr. James A Forbes, Jr. suggests that when you develop sermons on HIV/AIDS, not to "limit yourself to the exact words of Jesus on these issues" and to instead, "approach the task in the awareness of John 16:12, where Jesus tells His disciples, 'There is still much that I could say to you…" Because Jesus has not revealed everything to us, we must "tread with Christian humility and openness in seeking to understand what Jesus wants of us as we approach issues—such as HIV/AIDS—which He did not address directly."

To download this resource for your own congregation, visit www.nationalweekofprayerforthehealingofaids.org.

The Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance (www.e-alliance.ch/en/s/hivaids/publications/theological-conversation) offers several useful articles on addressing HIV & AIDS and spreading Christian compassion and understanding to those affected by the epidemic. Margaret A. Foley, author of the article, "Prophetic Discourse in A Time of AIDS," shares how the religious community must "shape the aims and actions of prevention in ways that awaken and change people in response to the HIV and AIDS pandemic."

World AIDS Day Posters

Website: www.worldaidscampaign.org/en/World-AIDS-Day/World-AIDS-Day-Posters-2010

Other Faith Resources

Lutheran Worship Sample - www.elca.org/Growing-In-Faith/Worship.aspx

Links:

• General Board of Church & Society – www.umc-gbcs.org/aids
• World AIDS Campaign – www.worldaidscampaign.org
• UNAIDS – www.unaids.org
• The Global Fund for AIDS, TB and Malaria – www.theglobalfund.org
• Global AIDS Alliance – www.globalaidsalliance.org
• Global Action for Children – www.globalactionforchildren.org
• UNICEF – www.unicef.org
• Centers for Disease Control – http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/
• National Association of People Living with AIDS – www.napwa.org
• The Global Coalition on Women and AIDS – womenandaids.unaids.org