By The Rev. Amy Reumann, Director, ELCA Advocacy

The Edward Hicks painting, The Peaceable Kingdom, depicts a scene from the 11th chapter of Isaiah. Lions cozy up to lambs, oxen lie down with bears and children cavort with them all. Predators put aside their natural appetites to pursue harmonious relationships with former prey. Goats and sheep swallow their understandable fear to rest beside carnivores. Each gives up something that they have needed for survival in order to create peace together.

Edward Hicks [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Hicks, a Pennsylvania artist, also interjects a decidedly non-biblical moment into the scene, showing the Quaker, William Penn, signing a treaty with the indigenous people of the region. He brings together the prophet’s peaceable natural kingdom with an image of societal peace and reconciliation for humans who might otherwise be at war. God’s realm, he suggests, delivers many kinds of peace.

I was recently among faith leaders from multiple nations that possess a history of hostile words and actions toward one another. As we spoke about the religious causes of violence between Muslims, Jews and Christians, we named the ways that sacred texts and theological misunderstandings have sanctioned violence in the name of God and are twisted to support divisive political ends. We also named the deep wellsprings in the three faiths that place a religious obligation of active peacemaking on believers. We affirmed that religion has an essential role in ending violence, with faith leaders often creating the spaces for dialog and reconciliation that resolve hostilities in communities and between nations. We parted with commitments to continue the work of peacemaking in our own nations by challenging misconceptions about one another’s religion and continuing interfaith dialogues at home.

Hicks painted the Peaceable Kingdom scene over 100 times in his life. This says something about the endless task of making peace. We are never quite done. The aggression and fear that humans may think are necessary for survival repeatedly reassert themselves in communities and between nations. We are called to promote and seek peace over and over again as part of our vocation to love and serve God.

This holy season, with wars, and with rumors of war, we await the advent of the Prince of Peace who renews our hope for a Peaceable Kingdom. May these weeks bring about renewed and fervent prayers, action and advocacy for peace in our world.

Today’s post is by Gretchen Rode, Associate Pastor at House of Hope in New Hope, MN. This is the first of two posts on how congregations will be worshipping on the 4th Sunday of Advent/Christmas Eve.

This year, the 4^th Sunday of Advent is also Christmas Eve.  At House of Hope in New Hope, Minnesota, we know that a morning worship service is important so that those who come home for the holidays or routinely come on Sunday morning have a place to be during this usual time.  We also want to honor that it is a busy day for us as pastors/church staff and that most of our people will already be in the Christmas Eve mood.  With this in mind, we hope to have a light-hearted time of gathering to mark this last day of Advent and begin to move into Christmas together as a community.

So, to bridge between Advent and Christmas, we have created a service that starts in Advent and ends in Christmas.  Our service begins in the darkness of Advent with the lighting of the Advent wreath, singing Advent hymns “Come Thou Long Expected Jesus” and “Prepare the Royal Highway,” and reading the Gospel for the Day (Luke 1:26-38) which tells the story of the Angel Gabriel coming to Mary.  The Gospel is a perfect bridge to our well-known Christmas story.  We will sing “The Angel Gabriel” after the Gospel (skipping the sermon time) and transition to the Christmas portion of our service.  This second half of the service will include a statement of faith crafted from Psalm 98*, Christmas hymns “Joy to the World” and “Go Tell It on the Mountain,” and, in a nod to the traditions of the season, we will bless Christmas ornaments* and gifts* and sing “Deck the Halls.”  We hope that this shortened service will send our people out into the day, centered on Christ and ready to celebrate together this blessed time of Christmas!

We will be using liturgy from Sundays and Seasons for quite a few parts of this service.  We love the “Call to Worship from Psalm 98” and will be using it as our statement of faith: “Justice for everyone, everything fair! Sing to God something brand new!  For God has done wonderful things!”  For the blessing of Christmas ornaments, we will invite congregation members to bring an ornament from home (and we will have some on hand to give out as well).  This blessing will be a slightly altered “Blessing of the Christmas Tree,”* adding to the last line “May we who stand in its light eagerly welcome the true Light that never fades, and as we carry these ornaments home may we remember that your light goes with us wherever we go. All glory be yours now and forever. Amen.”  We envision that everyone will hold their ornament as they sit in the pew and saying this blessing together.  If there are many children at this service, I might invite them up during this time to help lead the blessing from the front.  We intend to incorporate the Blessing of the Gifts Rite during the Benediction as a sending.

We hope that each part of the service will help our congregation to celebrate this joyful day and to connect rites that are done at home with the welcoming of God into the world that we celebrate at Christmas time in the Church.

*Liturgy for the Statement of Faith from Psalm 98, the Blessing of the Christmas Tree, and the Blessing of Gifts come from Sundays and Seasons in the Seasonal Rites for Christmas for Year B, 2018.

Advent is a season of hope and expectation. It is a season in which we “prepare the way of the Lord” (Mark 1:3). Advent candles, wreaths and calendars are joined with as-yet unfinished nativity scenes to mark our preparations for the birth of Jesus Christ. This year, ELCA World Hunger’s Advent Study celebrates this season with reflections focused on the preparation of the people of God for the work of the new year – the work of feeding, clothing, accompanying and advocating with our neighbors for a just world in which all are fed.

The four sessions of this Advent Study and the accompanying Advent calendar are based on the Scripture readings for each week of Advent. Each week includes a meditation on the theme, reflection questions, a prayer and hymn suggestions.

May you, your family and your community be blessed this season to see the important role the people of God are called to play in God’s transformation of the world – as individuals, as families and as the church together.

We begin at the end, and we will end at the beginning. What an odd way to go through Advent! We enter this season of expectation of Jesus’ birth and the advent of his ministry, only to start by hearing the words of Jesus describing the end of days. In a few weeks, we will celebrate the beginning of Jesus’ incarnate life among us.

We begin at the end, and we will end at the beginning.

The heavy thumb of Roman rule, high taxes and widespread vulnerability to poverty were all part of everyday life in first century Palestine. The people among whom Jesus would be born were eager for the Messiah who would deliver them. And there was no shortage of “false messiahs” (Mark 13:22) claiming to offer salvation. Some promised military victory over the Romans. Others claimed gifts of magical power and prophesied re-taking the temple.

And yet, here, in the Gospel of Mark, the true Messiah comes offering a very different story. The people of God will not ride triumphantly into Jerusalem – they will “flee to the mountains” (13:14). They will not re-take Jerusalem and its temple – “all will be thrown down” (13:2b).

But “after that suffering” (13:24)…

In the end…

Of all the Gospels, Mark is perhaps the most honest about suffering. Facing persecution at the hands of Rome, early Christians needed a message that was honest about suffering. More than that, they needed to know that God was honest about their suffering. In Mark, Jesus does not hold back in naming that suffering. The Messiah is born into suffering. The people will face suffering. He himself will suffer.

This wasn’t a newsflash to first century Jews any more than it is to the millions of people today for whom suffering is a mournful part of life – those who know the pangs of food insecurity, those who long for clean water, those who grieve the loss of their homes or their jobs. The idea that suffering is a part of life is sadly nothing new to so many of us. But Jesus makes clear two things that transform how we understand suffering. First, God knows our suffering. And, second – God rejects it.

The “great buildings” (13:2) in Jerusalem, which occasioned the beginning of Jesus’ long speech in Mark 13, were not merely beautiful examples of architecture. They were symbols of the powers and principalities that maintained systems of oppression and marginalization and would eventually carry Jesus to the cross. They seem imperishable, unshakable, overwhelming.

But the world is about to turn. And those walls are coming down.

Advent is a season of hope and expectation, but with Jesus’ exhortation in Mark 13:33 (“Beware, keep alert”), we move from “Advent as anticipation” to “Advent as active alert.” As we await the birth of the Messiah, let Advent be a season not of patience but impatience, not of passivity but activity, seeking out those places where God is already at work undoing systems of suffering and living in the daring confidence founded on faith in the promised end of suffering, sin and death.

Reflection questions

1. How has God been present with you in your suffering?
2. Where do you see suffering in the world today? How are people of faith actively working to end it?
3. As people of faith who believe God rejects suffering, how are we called to respond to suffering in the world?
4. What is the difference between patient anticipation and being on “active alert” during Advent?

Prayer

Loving God, in your incarnation, you took on to yourself our humanity and our suffering. Be present with us today as we face the pain of hunger, thirst, war, disease and neglect. Keep fresh in our hearts your promise of an end to suffering and an eternity of well-being with you. Send us out among our neighbors, that we may share with them your promise and share with you in the transformation of our world. In the name of your son, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Hymn suggestions

Canticle of the Turning ELW 723

The People Walk (Un pueblo que camina) ELW 706

Each Winter as the Year Grows Older ELW 252

To download this entire study, or to see some of our other congregational resources, please visit www.elca.org/Resources/ELCA-World-Hunger.

Jay McDivitt, Waukesha, WI

Warm-up Question

What’s your favorite Christmas song, and why?

Do They Know It’s Christmastime? (Do We?)

This time of year, it’s hard to avoid hearing Christmas music. One song in steady rotation is the 1980s classic, “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” Originally produced to bring awareness to famine in parts of Africa, it’s a feel-good favorite that connects Christmastime to a concern for those who are hungry. From the Salvation Army bell-ringers to your congregation’s efforts to be generous this time of year, caring for those who are poor at Christmas is a common theme. With a Savior born in a barn to bring good news to the poor, it’s not a bad idea. Yet, some of the lyrics are worth a second glance:

“And the Christmas bells that ring there are the clanging chimes of doom.”

Is it possible that even among the most famine-stricken and war-torn places in the world, there is still Christmas joy? Is it possible to be joy-full even when life is sorrow-full? Is it possible that Jesus and his crew might know something about that?

“Well tonight, thank God it’s them instead of you.”

Is there another way for comfortable Christians to be thankful for what we have that doesn’t also involve thanking God that suffering is happening somewhere else, to other people, and not to us?

“And there won’t be snow in Africa this Christmastime.”

That might be true (though not entirely). Not because it never snows on the African continent—it does, although less so each year with a warming climate. It’s most mostly because of geography; the places where it snows in Africa are in the Southern Hemisphere, where it’s summertime on December 25.

“The greatest gift they’ll get this year is life.”

What if all Christians, no matter where they lived, believed that the grace of waking up and breathing in the freedom of being loved and claimed by God is the greatest gift of all? What if there are Christians in Africa who understand this more deeply than some of us could ever imagine?

“Where nothing ever grows, no rain or rivers flow”

Geography again: “Africa” stretches from Senegal in the west to Somalia in the east, from a stone’s throw from Spain (Morocco) and Italy (Tunisia) in the north to Cape Town in South Africa. The USA fits three times inside Africa with room to spare. Madagascar is the fourth largest island in the world (fifth if you count Australia). The continent—especially including Madagascar—is abundant with rivers and rainforests and biodiversity that science cannot yet fully appreciate.

“Do they know it’s Christmastime at all?”

Considering that five of the twenty countries where Christianity enjoys the fastest growth—along with three of the top ten countries with the largest number of Christians—are in Africa, there are millions of folks there who have at least heard that it’s almost Christmastime. Even if many (though by no means all) of them are dealing with war, plague, drought, or famine, they’ll be celebrating the birth of Christ in many and various ways—with or without snow.

As Christians in North America shop ‘til they drop in these last few days before Christmas, this song may lead us not only to be generous, but also to wonder: Do we know it’s Christmastime? And what, exactly, does that mean?

Discussion Questions

• Some of this might sound fussy or hyper-critical. How important is it to think critically about the music we listen to, especially when it comes to how we think about other people and other places in the world? The song encourages us to “feed the world” and raises a concern for the poor among folks who can be generous. Isn’t that a good thing?
• When you imagine celebrating Christmas while also being hungry or poor, what thoughts, feelings, and images come to mind? Have you ever known people to be joyful even under difficult circumstances?
• How much do you know about the continent of Africa? Where did you learn about it? Of all the places in the world, whose histories and geographies do you learn the most about in school? Why do you think that is?
• Are there any other Christmas songs you can think of that sound a little weird or problematic if you really start to think about the lyrics?

Second Sunday of Advent

(Text links are to Oremus Bible Browser. Oremus Bible Browser is not affiliated with or supported by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. You can find the calendar of readings for Year B at Lectionary Readings

For lectionary humor and insight, check the weekly comic Agnus Day.

Gospel Reflection

With all the glitz and glamour of our cultural Christmas, it’s hard to remember that the first Christmas was not a tinsel-strewn affair. Jesus arrived on the scene during a time of widespread oppression and fear, among people who teetered on the edge of hunger and poverty, debt and slavery. Mark’s gospel doesn’t tell us about Jesus’ birth; he begins, rather, with the weirdly-dressed John the Baptist preaching repentance and renewal in the wilderness, inviting people to get down in the water and see the world differently. Only with fresh eyes will we be able to see what God is up to in Jesus—the Son of God who is Good News.

And it starts in the wilderness. Mark’s gospel quotes the other reading for this week from the prophet Isaiah. It’s a message of both upheaval and hope—of the new life that comes from carving out a new path. It’s also a lesson in the importance of grammar—namely, punctuation.

Mark’s gospel says this:

“[T]he voice of one crying out in the wilderness:  ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight’” (Mark 1:3)

But Isaiah said this:

“A voice cries out: ‘In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.’” (Isaiah 40:3)

See the difference? Mark gives us a messenger from out in the wilderness—as if John comes from some weird other place (hence the clothes) to bring a message to the people about getting their house in order.

Isaiah sends everyone out to the wilderness to see the good thing God is doing out there. Or, more accurately, Isaiah knows that his listeners are already in the wilderness, and—contrary to expectations—that is precisely where God is doing a new thing. God has not abandoned God’s people—despite how desperate their plight. Rather, God is in the wilderness, making a way out of no-way, carving out a smooth path for the people of God to walk through the desert in style, all the way home.

If this is what it means to see God coming into the world—what Christmas is actually all about—then the “snow in Africa” song has it entirely wrong, far beyond its woeful misunderstanding of geography: It is precisely the places of famine and fear where Christmas happens first and foremost. “Christmastime” is a wilderness thing.

And John’s message—despite Mark’s misplaced quotation marks—is as important now as it was then: If you want to know what Christ’s coming means, you may need to strip down a bit, get down into the water, walk into the wild, and see the world from the bottom up. “Repent” isn’t a moral thing; it doesn’t mean, “Be a better person!” It’s about perspective: Turn around. Turn your head. See the world differently.

Which might just mean: Look to Africa, not to “help,” but to see how much “they” know exactly what “Christmastime” means, and how much we might have yet to learn.

Discussion Questions

• Look again at the quotes from Mark’s gospel and the prophet Isaiah. What’s the difference? What difference does it make?
• What does “repent” mean to you? How have you heard it as a moral thing? What might it mean to understand repentance as seeing the world differently?
• It’s not really Christmas yet (but who could ever tell?). Advent is a time for preparation. If Advent is about preparing to see the world differently, what is one person, place, or thing that God might be inviting you to see differently this year? What would it mean to see Jesus—as Good News—in an unexpected place?

Activity Suggestions

Explore the African continent using Google, Wikipedia, etc. In small groups, learn three facts about Africa that you honestly didn’t know before. Together as a group, explore https://africa.lutheranworld.org/ to learn more about Lutherans across Africa. Check out https://www.one.org/us/2012/12/17/how-africa-celebrates-christmas-2/ for some great images about Christmas celebrations in Africa. Make a poster or slide show or some way of sharing with your congregation a little bit about what you learned about Africa, African Christmas traditions, and/or African Lutherans.

Closing Prayer

God, surprise us with your light and life in unexpected places. Help us to learn from friends and neighbors around the world what it means to worship you in the best and the worst of times. Give us new eyes to see you bringing joy to all people, everywhere, even and especially in places where life can be difficult or dangerous. In Jesus’ Name, amen.

The Church Response to HIV Stigma

In 2016, I had the privilege of representing the ELCA on the global scene as a member of the International AIDS conference delegation in Durban, South Africa. Throughout the conference, it was encouraging to hear how much has been achieved in the global response to HIV/AIDS.   During the two-day pre-conference, it was exciting to learn how the World Council of Churches (WCC) is responding to the fight against HIV/AIDS globally.  WCC supports and partners with leaders, practitioners and organizations reflective of many faith traditions to eliminate the epidemic of HIV/AIDS. The WCC is also intentional in providing a platform for PLWHA (People Living With HIV/AIDS) to safely and openly share their journeys.   One such story involved a Lutheran pastor living with HIV. He was silenced by his church and salary withheld because of his positive HIV status.   The touching testimonies from PLWHA, encouraged me to solemnly reflect on the challenges that remain in eradicating this global epidemic. One key question continues to permeate my mind.  What more can the ecumenical body do to stop the spread of HIV/AIDS, with specific focus on the chief agents’ stigma and discrimination against those living with or affected by HIV/AIDS?

HIV related stigma and discrimination is counter to the purpose of the church in witnessing for Christ. The church is called to love and care for the neighbor as Christ commissioned. To care for the neighbor, one must understand the stigma associated with HIV/AIDS.  In some communities, HIV/AIDS was thought to be linked to sexual disobedience or promiscuity.  Many churches reinforced a biblical narrative of pain, suffering, and death as punishment for disobedience or a consequence of one’s wrong. Thus, blaming and shaming PLWHA.  However, the message of the gospel is to love your neighbor as yourself.

During the conference, many communities shared their approach in breaking stigma and discrimination to learning, education and accompaniment. The role of the church in mitigating the impact of HIV has expanded beyond preaching the message of love.  Churches are partnering with communities to include local leaders, healers, church members, and community based groups in providing accurate information on the facts about HIV; especially considering the modes of transmission, testing and treatment. Access to accurate information and a gospel message of compassion, churches can play a major role in ending the stigma of HIV/AIDS. Today, a growing number of churches are working to encourage a message of love, hope, support and dignity for people living with HIV.   

Bio

A baptized and confirmed Lutheran originally from Liberia, West Africa. I serve as Council Vice President of Peoples’ Community Lutheran Church (PCLC) DE-MD Synod, Region Eight Representative of the African Descent Lutheran Association (ADLA), and HIV/AIDS Awareness Project Coordinator – PCLC. I currently serve on the ELCA Young Reformers Cohort, an alumnus of Elisha’s Call, ELCA Delegate to the International AIDS Conference (2016) and a member of the Association of Liberian Lutherans Living in the Americas (ALLLIA). I am student at the University of Maryland University College, Majoring in Cyber Security.

My fervent prayer is a world where People Living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) are no longer consider threat to society and incarcerated, rather embraced without fear as fellow humans needing love and compassion. This is something dear to me, and is evidence by my partnership with the DE-MD Synod, the ELCA Strategy on HIV/AIDS, the Black AIDS Institute and the Maryland Department of Health – office of Faith and Community based organizations. I also envisioned that, we as a community of believers, can help to ultimately seal the achievement and privilege gap that currently exist.

To learn more about ending the stigma of HIV/AIDS, view the ELCA’s repository resource link below :

http://download.elca.org/ELCA%20Resource%20Repository/ELCA_Strategy_on_HIV_and_AIDS.pdf.

Advent is the first season in the church year, comprising the four weeks before Christmas. The word “Advent” comes from the Latin, “to come,” and the church has observed Advent as weeks of preparation since the fifth century with themes of watchfulness, preparation, and hope infusing this season. Together we both anticipate the celebration of God’s coming in the form of the Christ child and the final coming of Christ in the time to come. Blue or purple is the appointed color for the season.

A Few Notes on Current Practices for Celebrating Advent

• Lutheran churches observe Advent in numerous ways. Most light the advent wreath during the four weeks of Advent, adding one new candle each week. These candles are typically lit during the Gathering rite. Prayers for the Advent Wreath lighting can be found in Sundays and Seasons.

• Some congregations hold midweek services during the Advent season.

• Many congregations experience the challenge of celebrating Advent in a culture that celebrates Christmas during the month of December. The commercialism of Christmas can so easily creep into the faith practices of the church. Some congregations hold Advent Festivals for the Sunday school or Advent musical events to help the faithful understand how to keep Advent amid the culture’s early celebration of Christmas. Advent devotional booklets for home use are also a helpful resource.

• Theological issues related to Advent often come up when discussing worship planning, especially related to musical matters. On the one hand, Advent is a time to prepare, to sing music related to the impending birth of Christ. On the other hand, as Christians, we know that Christ is already present with us. It is important that Advent is not a “pretend time,” as if Jesus had never come into the world. Focusing on the waiting for the light of Christ in a dark world and on the eschatological nature of Advent can help make Advent a more depth-filled, honest time of waiting.

• Keeping this in mind, it is wise to make musical decisions in Advent (as in all other times) with care. Some assemblies do not sing any Christmas carols in Advent, remaining true to the spirit of watching and waiting that characterizes the season. Other congregations, for pastoral or teaching reasons, begin to sing some Christmas carols in Advent. If a new Christmas hymn is to be learned, for example, Advent might be a time for teaching.

Ellen Rothweiller, Des Moines, IA

Warm-up Question

• How do you prepare for something? For school? For a test? For a big game or music competition?
• How do you prepare for the unknown? For the future that you know will come, but hasn’t?

Be Prepared…but for what?

We spend a lot of time thinking and worrying about the future, and we all prepare for the unknown in different ways. Some are excited and motivated by the possibility of what the future brings. Others are paralyzed by the fear of the unknown and don’t know how or what to plan for.  As students, as early as sixth grade, you are encouraged to consider what you will do after you graduate high school. Threats and fear are thrown at you about what will happen if you don’t have a plan, are not prepared for the future that will come.

Some seize the opportunity of the unknown and use if for their own personal gain, preying on those who are more cautious and pushing their own hopes and agendas for the future. This can be a relief for those of us who are reluctant to plan; we are glad that someone has a vision and is taking steps to realize it. But, what if this supposed future ends up not to be? What if life happens and the dream is not realized or the vision given to us is not in our best interest? How do we know whose prediction of the unknown future to listen to?

In the Disney movie The Lion King, Scar lays out a hopeful future for the hyenas in the song “Be Prepared”

If you have seen the film, you know that the temporary rise to power of Scar and the hyenas is short-lived. Scar’s dream of being king  ends in death and disappointment. Simba, who is the heir to the throne, becomes a pawn in Scar’s plan and in the process denies his own future. In this story, and in many stories, a plan is not enough but a lack of planning does not always pan out either.

Discussion Questions

• Are you excited by or afraid of what the future brings?
• Are you a planner or a wait and see type of person?
• Whose advice do you listen to when attempting to plan for the future?
• How do you know when that advice is not right for you and your life?

First Sunday of Advent

Isaiah 64:1-9

1 Corinthians 1:3-9

Mark 13:24-37

(Text links are to Oremus Bible Browser. Oremus Bible Browser is not affiliated with or supported by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. You can find the calendar of readings for Year B at Lectionary Readings

For lectionary humor and insight, check the weekly comic Agnus Day.

Gospel Reflection

In  Matthew 13:32-37, we read about the importance of being watchful and keeping awake. It also says that we do not know when Jesus, the Son of Man will come: only the Father knows when that day will come. Verses 24-27 speak of a darkened moon, falling stars and the powers and the heavens being shaken as a part of this coming. This is some serious stuff, mysterious and scary! Some Christians would link this passage with the “end times”, giving a check list of ways to secure your salvation as a way of preparing for these things.

As Lutherans we believe that in the death and resurrection of Christ our salvation is secure so there is nothing that we need to do, no check list of things to complete. So with this confidence, how do we heed this word of watchfulness and “keep awake”, and yet not let our fear of the unknown overcome us? As Simba learned in The Lion King, we cannot avoid or run from who we are, and who we are as Christians is baptized Children of God called to new life in Christ, freed from sin to love and serve others. So, perhaps the way that we as Christians can be prepared is to live and love freely. That can be the plan that we can count on and the plan that succeeds when all other plans fail.

Discussion Questions

• Do you feel that your faith prepares you for the future? How?
• Have you ever heard Christians speak of “end times”? What did they say?

Activity Suggestions

Do a Google search for “end times” and see what other religious organizations have to say about how you can prepare for this. Consider how this compares to our Lutheran approach to this subject. Invite you Pastor to be a part of this conversation.

Closing Prayer

O Lord, in life we have many pressures to plan ahead and be ready for the future. Sometimes we fail. We forget things, we fail to do things, and we miss opportunities. Sometimes we plan and then life happens and things do not turn out how we planned. Give us the courage to remember who we are in you in the midst of all the pressure and planning. Give us peace. Amen.

December 1 is World AIDS Day, an important time to learn, advocate, and pray. It is a time to celebrate how far we have come in the fight against HIV and AIDS – and how far we have yet to go.

This September, six ELCA Young Adult delegates, supported by ELCA World Hunger and Lutheran Campus Ministries, attended the United States Conference on AIDS (USCA) in Washington, DC. The USCA is a key event for activists, medical professionals, non-profits organizations and others to learn about the latest challenges and opportunities in the fight against HIV and AIDS. ELCA delegates heard from leaders in a variety of fields and engaged in conversations around connections with their faith. Below, Yen Tran and Richard Adkins, attendees at this year’s conference, share their reflections on the event.

ELCA staff and delegates at the United States Conference on AIDS

Richard Adkins – “The stigma is real”

Richard Adkins has over 10 years experience involved in HIV and AIDS. He has led numerous workshops around stigma reduction. He has been a member of the ELCA’s Young Adult cohort, an ambassador for ELCA World Hunger, and a youth delegate for the 2014 International Aids Conference.  

One of the most dangerous obstacles in the fight against HIV and AIDS is stigma.  Yes stigma. The medical treatment of the disease has come a long way and HIV is no longer the death sentence it was in the early 1980s. In fact, the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently agreed with the science from the U = U campaign, that if a person is on treatment and virally suppressed, they cannot transmit the virus. The medical community has provided the knowledge and treatment to keep people alive and reduce the spread of HIV.

Antiretroviral therapy (ART) preserves the health of people living with HIV…When ART results in viral suppression…it prevents sexual HIV transmission. CDC, 2017

Despite these medical advances, the rate of annual infections only decreased 10% in 2014.  What is the reason? Stigma.

Stigma is a mark of disgrace associated with a particular circumstance, quality, or persons. The stigma surrounding HIV is unique in that part of it comes from the history. In the early 1980s and 1990s, people were dying, little could be done, and little information was known about the disease. The stigma also comes from how it’s transmitted, through injection drug use and through bodily fluids exchange through sex, both highly taboo subjects. The population that HIV disproportionally affects are gay males and people of color, so HIV is further stigmatized through homophobia and racism. There is an intersectionality of stigma experienced that can be made worse by race, class, sexual orientation, gender identity and/or other factors.

The cycle of stigma is a vicious one that can reinforce negative beliefs and behavior. HIV stigma leads to discrimination, which can affect the ability of people living with HIV to find work or housing, which in turns contribute to a lower self-esteem. This can even cause a person to avoid doctor’s appointments, which leads to poorer health outcomes and more stigma. The stigma is then reinforced through negative or false beliefs or even stigma from enacted laws. The end result of stigma is that fewer people get tested, and those living with the virus live in secrecy and silence.

If stigma feeds on shame and isolation, the key to overcoming stigma, is community and understanding.  It starts with information, knowing how the virus is transmitted and how it is not. The next step is acknowledging HIV. The United States currently ranks 9th for most people living with HIV at 1.1 million people. These are people in our communities, in the same neighborhoods, attending our faith communities, the same schools. They are often in the shadows for fear of not being accepted and of facing discrimination. Ending stigma means seeing people for more than their status, and creating a safe and welcoming environment for all.

Yen Tran – “We Are Family”

Yen Tran is a Public Health Professional. She implements sustainable practices and promotes healthy living environments for the St. Paul Public Housing Agency in Minnesota. She enjoys collaborating with diverse populations, who have a common mission to flourishing equitable communities. Yen resides in Wisconsin with her partner, who is an ELCA Pastor for North Beaver Creek Church.

This upbeat, make-you-want-to-groove song by Sister Sledge, was played continually throughout the U.S. Conference on AIDS. Community members from across the country have united for more than two decades now at these important events. The annual frequency has transformed the gathering into something like a “family reunion.” A time to catch up with familiar faces, welcome new arrivals, to share and listen to numerous stories of triumphs, challenges, and hopes, and to be re-energized in the mission to end to this HIV and AIDS epidemic.

Reunions of any sorts always stir a spectrum of emotions. Whether it’s feeling excited to reconnect with distant friends or feeling dreadful to encounter new faces or re-encounter a particular person who drove you to the edge. During the reunion, I experienced both ends of the spectrum. I felt nervous, excited, amazed, saddened, disappointed, hopeful, empowered, and many times, hangry when I didn’t get a snack in between the workshops. However, at the end of this particular reunion, I felt overwhelmed with love and filled with inspiration.

As a Midwestern, first-generation, Asian-American, Catholic, cisgender, ‘negative-status’ person, I was welcomed open-armed into this diverse family. I felt privileged to be trusted and to hear personal struggles of how the social, environmental, and political systems have hurt or failed to protect the most vulnerable populations. I saw how various determinants of health, such as education, economic stability, society, access to health care, and the physical environment, have tremendously impacted a persons’ mental and physical well-being. Though there were many lessons I learned from the stories shared, but these three facts have blown me away:

1. There has been immense progress in medicine (like PrEP[1]) to help a positive-status person prevent the transmission to their partner(s), and innovative technology has improved access to health centers and resources.

2. Social stigma has been one of the primary culprits in hindering the end to the HIV and AIDS epidemic.

3. There are unjust laws that have incarcerated many populations based on their health status. Policies need to be re-evaluated, adapted, and implemented to prevent and address inequities.

Overall, the conference created a sanctuary, an environment that was inclusive and encouraged all voices to be heard. A community where I felt so at home. It would be wishful thinking that all communities – schools, workplaces, spiritual centers, healthcare clinics, public centers, etc. – can be just as inviting and supportive. I know not every community (and not every families) may have similar priorities, support systems, resources, values, and policies that may promote such environments.

However, we are equipped to learn open-mindedly, to love unconditionally and to listen humbly to diverse perspectives. We can set aside our differences or claimed identities and realize that we are not perfect human beings. We do wish to do good, to be valued and for our voices to be heard. Most importantly, we have the ability to unite as a family and to uplift each other.

The missions to end epidemics, stigmas, and inequities are attainable:

Here’s what we call our golden rule

Have faith in you and the things you do

You won’t go wrong, oh no,

This is our family jewel….

WE ARE FAMILY!

Yen and Richard at USCA

[1] https://www.cdc.gov/hiv/basics/prep.html

By Ruth Ivory-Moore, Program Director, Environment and Energy Policy

“Talanoa is a generic term referring to a conversation, chat, sharing of ideas and talking with someone. It is a term that is shared by Tongans, Samoans, and Fijians.” It is also a term that will be linked to the twenty-third United Nations Climate Change conference (COP 23) that ended on November 18.

During this conference, Fiji’s Prime Minister and COP 23’s President, Frank Bainimarama lifted up the experiences and voices of Fijians and communities most vulnerable to climate change. Three critical outcomes of the COP meeting include the creation and inclusion of the Gender Action Plan (GAP), an Indigenous Peoples platform, and moving forward in Talanoa dialogue. These three resolutions will help ensure that the Paris Agreement is inclusive and intersectional in its continued planning and implementation. [Right: photo of The Fiji Pavilion at COP 23]

As a global community, we are facing what is likely one of the most serious threats to all creation: climate change. The time for action around climate change has never been more critical. Human activity is greatly amplifying Earth’s rising temperature and environmental degradation due to increased accumulation of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. The negative consequences of this degradation disproportionately impact the most vulnerable and marginalized communities, even though they have contributed the least to it. They are also least equipped to mitigate and adapt to the changes in our environment.

We must become a global community that works together to ensure the sustainable and peaceful coexistence of all. Climate change leads to increased poverty, food insecurity, migration (due to necessity for survival), and health issues. To lessen these consequences of climate change, we must all work together. As stewards of God’s creation, the only option is to act, to mitigate, to adapt, and to build resilient communities. The simple fact is that we must step up our game and implement the three mechanisms that were produced to facilitate more inclusive and productive planning.

Critical outcomes of COP23:

The Gender Action Plan (GAP) facilitates the implementation of the Paris Agreement by formalizing the role of women in decision making around climate policy and action. While the role of gender and women was acknowledged in the preamble to the Paris Agreement, the GAP includes provisions for: capacity-building, knowledge sharing and communication, gender balance, participation and women’s leadership, coherence (strengthening the integration of gender in all aspects of implementation of the Paris Agreement), gender-responsive implementation and means of implementation, and monitoring and reporting.

The Indigenous Peoples Platform provides a means for native communities, who are often most impacted by climate change, to have a significant voice in all aspects of discussions around solutions. Discussions and resolutions included strengthening the knowledge of indigenous people, enhancing engagement of indigenous people, sharing of best practices and experiences, and providing means to facilitate the operationalization of the Indigenous Peoples Platform. [Right: photo of Indigenous People March at COP22]

The Talanoa dialogue lays a foundation critical for working toward climate resilient communities. The Talanoa dialogue stresses inclusivity of all, upholds communities most vulnerable, and emphasizes the need for fair and balance processes that will create fair and balanced solutions.

The Gender Action Plan, Indigenous Peoples Platform and Talanoa dialogue are key to ensuring the implementation of an inclusive process and that ensures the achievement of sustainable solutions. We celebrate these important successes; and we should congratulate the COP 23 Fiji Presidency on his leadership as well as the significant progress that was made.

We must now move and act with deep intentionality. No one entity is to be vilified, demonized or otherwise disparaged. We need energy companies, civil society, governments at all levels, trade associations, faith-based communities, policy makers, attorneys, researchers, agriculturalists, and people from every discipline working for a sustainable world. As bridge builders, faith-based communities have a tremendous opportunity! In the words of the Fiji youth who delivered a powerful message at the opening of the COP23 plenary, we must “walk the talk.” [Left: photo of World leaders congratulating the Fiji youth after his powerful speech]

We must proceed intentionally to work on implementation of the Paris Agreement. We have hope, and we have faith. But we know “for just as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is also dead.” (James 2:26)

To that end, to the Fiji Presidency of COP 23: