In Prayer and Action, Episcopalians Keep Vigil During the AIDS Crisis
Episcopal News Service. October 31, 1990 [90284]
The scent of holy oil, the sound of voices united in song and prayer, the warmth of an embrace, the silent shedding of tears -- all were poignant reminders of Episcopal parishes keeping vigil during the fifth annual Day of Prayer for Persons Living with AIDS.
Across America thousands joined Presiding Bishop Edmond L. Browning in his call that the church pray during the month of October for people living with AIDS.
In the midst of much fear, prayer continues to be at the heart of AIDS ministries in the Episcopal Church. Mission congregations and large parishes alike used prayers provided by the national office of AIDS ministries. Some congregations developed their own liturgical responses.
At Christ Church in Washington, D.C., for example, both morning services on October 14 centered on AIDS awareness. Attached to the pulpit was a panel of the AIDS quilt made by members of the parish in honor of David Barton, a member of the parish who died recently from AIDS-related complications. The service included healing, laying on of hands, and anointing with oil. This was the fifth annual AIDS service for Christ Church "and the reaction was nothing but positive," said the Rev. Robert Tate, rector.
The scene in Washington was repeated in countless places throughout the country. A colorful 12' by 12' panel from the Names Project quilt hung from the balcony of Christ Church in Las Vegas. The names of 114 persons who have died were read aloud from an AIDS memorial book. At the morning service on October 14, parishioners, received the laying on of hands and prayed for healing.
Although people are separated in widely scattered parishes, prayer seemed to unite them across the miles. "I am convinced that prayer is our first initiative in the midst of this pandemic and our sure source of strength for our various HIV/AIDS ministries," said Presiding Bishop Edmond L. Browning in a letter that set October 14 as the fifth annual Day of Prayer.
"People are hungry to pray, and they find that prayer is essential to their own sense of self-worth and strength in the face of an awful lot of discrimination and mixed messages in the Christian community," said the Rev. Randy Frew, staff officer for AIDS ministries in the Episcopal Church.
One indication of the increasing success of the Day of Prayer can be measured in the quantity of materials Frew sends out for use in local parishes. "We have sent out almost 37,000 pieces of [literature on] AIDS," said Frew. "Every indication I have is that the material for use on the Day of Prayer are being used in wider and wider circles," he reported.
Growing participation in the Day of Prayer suggests that more parishes are getting involved in AIDS ministries, according to Frew.
"A few years ago there was a backlash when AIDS was mentioned," said the Rev. Jerry Godwin, assistant rector of the Church of the Transfiguration in Dallas. "That has turned around in a short amount of time [because] no one in the parish has not been affected," he said.
Godwin's church incorporated a special litany and prayers into its liturgy on October 14 as parishioners remembered persons living with AIDS, and those who had died as the result of the disease.
At St. Michael and All Angels Church in Dallas, all seven services of public worship on October 28 incorporated the special AIDS intercessions provided by the Episcopal Church's AIDS ministries office. The Rev. Robert Ratelle, rector, pointed to "a growing awareness of AIDS in the parish" that has led to a wide acceptance of the parish's concern for persons living with AIDS.
According to Ratelle, no one in his congregation has ever raised a question about the parish's concern for persons living with AIDS. "More and more we are realizing that AIDS is losing its homosexual stigma. It affects the heterosexual community as well -- and teenagers are most at risk now," he said.
Many parishes took the Day of Prayer as a creative opportunity to respond to the need for educating people about the AIDS crisis.
At St. Paul's in Richmond, Virginia, the senior high youth and their peers from nearby Presbyterian and Methodist churches attended a play entitled For Whom The Bells Toll, written for the Richmond AIDS Information Network and performed at St. Paul's by area professional actors. The 40minute play, billed as an instructional drama, was a series of skits on various aspects of AIDS such as "the emotional trial of telling your lovers and parents and bosses that you have AIDS," said the Rev. Paul Johnson, assistant rector and youth minister at St. Paul's.
Following the play, the youth had the opportunity to ask questions of a panel of speakers including two HIV-positive patients, a parent whose son had died of AIDS, and two care givers -- one professional and one volunteer.
Sallie Pullman, an lth grader who attends St. Paul's, was especially impressed by the play. "It was awesome," she said emphatically. "They personified the situations so that you could relate to them. It was a very strong message, and it's something I think every youth should see."
As the AIDS crisis continues to mount, it is forcing many local communities and churches to reevaluate their level of compassion and commitment.
The Rev. Merrill K. Broach, rector of St Paul's Church in Clay Center, Kansas, reported that he would be using AIDS resources provided by the Episcopal Church at a nine-county conference on AIDS on October 30. "We are sincerely trying to make the Episcopal Church an AIDS-friendly church in Kansas," Broach said.
At All Saints Church in Beverly Hills, California, AIDS Sunday was preceded by a parish forum at which participants discussed how their 1,800member congregation might implement a broader response to the AIDS crisis. The parish hopes to develop a healing ministry for persons living with AIDS, reported Randolph Kimmler, parish communications director and chair of the diocesan commission on AIDS ministry.
"The Day of Prayer is important because it provides an opportunity -- especially for clergy -- to raise the issue of AIDS. That is not easy in some congregations," Kimmler said.
AIDS Sunday sends an important message to persons living with AIDS, Kimmler added. "It lets them know that, nationwide, Episcopalians consider this tragedy important enough to hold up within the whole life of the church."
Although some parishes participated in the Day of Prayer for the first time, many parishes are on the frontlines of a crisis that continues to demand a response by the Christian community.
In Santa Barbara, California, members of Trinity Church gathered on the eve of AIDS Sunday for the congregation's fourth annual AIDS service. The liturgy was followed by a candlelight procession to the Santa Barbara County Courthouse, where a vigil was held advocating increased AIDS services and awareness in the community.
In Columbus, Ohio, an ecumenical service was held at the Third Avenue Community Church. "This service poignantly marked our ministry to people living with AIDS and celebrated the lives of those who have died," said the Rev. Peter Strimer, co-pastor of the church.
The Columbus church houses the AIDS Service Connection, which was recently awarded a $20,000 grant from the United Thank Offering for its efforts on behalf of persons living with AIDS.
At St. Aidan's Church in Alexandria, Virginia, ministry to persons living with AIDS is a top priority in outreach, according to the Rev. Hal White, rector. On October 21, St. Aidan's participated in the Day of Prayer by using prayers of the people sent from the national church, by making AIDS the focus of the morning sermon, and by giving parishioners an opportunity to contribute to and learn about the work of the Northern Virginia AIDS Ministry (NOVAM).
NOVAM, an ecumenical ministry that receives most of its financial and volunteer support from Episcopal churches, offers AIDS patients direct assistance in the form of cash or volunteer help. NOVAM also runs the only residence in Virginia for persons living with AIDS, offers monthly healing services, and operates Face to Face, an educational program in which teens learn about AIDS firsthand by meeting trained HIV-positive educators. About 80 volunteers, including several from St. Aidan's, currently participate in NOVAM's programs.
In the morning sermon, the associate rector, the Rev. Bunker Hill, said that churches should open themselves to people living with AIDS. "My suggestion was that we advertise ourselves as 'the AIDS church,'" Hill said. "It's one thing to say, 'We don't mind if you come.' It's another thing to say, 'We want you to come."'
Contributing to this story were communicators in the dioceses of Washington (D.C.), Southern Ohio, Virginia, Dallas, and Los Angeles.