Minute for Mission

Worship Service

How my church can respond

Resources

Minute for Mission

Consider for a moment the statistics. Every 18 seconds someone in Africa dies of AIDS. In the course of a one-hour Presbyterian worship service, 200 people will die. The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A)'s international HIV/AIDS work is focused on Africa, where the AIDS crisis is the most severe-60 percent of the people in the world with HIV/AIDS live in sub-Saharan Africa, a region with only 10 percent of the world's population. [Read more]

Worship Service

The World AIDS Day Remembrance Vespers worship and materials have been developed and sponsored by Fourth Presbyterian Church Advocacy and Mission and the Center for Whole Health, a program of Chicago Lights at the Fourth Presbyterian Church of Chicago. The materials below were used on the first Sunday of Advent, November 28, 2004. [Read more]

How my church can respond

• Use the Worship Service, Sermon, and Prayers on the Sunday closest to World AIDS Day, December 1, or during any service throughout the year.
• Share “It’s A Matter of Faith” minute for mission with the congregation.
• Order “It’s A Matter of Faith” materials to be used in Sunday school class, study groups or meetings concerning the worldwide problem of AIDS.
• Create a bulletin board with information about the AIDS issue and the response of the church. Go online to download information and pictures.
• Spread the facts about AIDS in Africa and the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)’s response. Use the AIDS Talking Points and facts on the back of “It’s A Matter of Faith” bulletin inserts.
• PRAY—for someone living with AIDS.
• Speak with your church about working with other PC(USA) congregations in support of the AIDS strategy being developed in PC(USA) partner churches in Africa.
• Seek God's direction and strength and make a personal commitment to respond to the problem of AIDS in Africa.
• Worship and pray—keep all the people infected and affected with HIV/AIDS in your prayers, and also the people working with this issue.

This 8-page booklet provides an overview of the AIDS ministry in Africa starting with the scope and severity of the AIDS issue and ending with the response of our African church partners to this crisis through prevention, home-based care and care for children.

AIDS: Families in Crisis
Presbyterian Response

This 8-minute video, filmed in Malawi in central Africa, demonstrates the relationship between poverty and AIDS. The clear "call to action" provides multiple ways for your congregation to bring hope to the African pandemic, including the support of African Presbyterian churches.

$5.00

Web Resources

• International AIDS Ministries
• Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance
• UNAIDS
• UNIFEM (United Nations Development Fund for Women)
• World AIDS Day