Black Churches Renewing Commitment to Healing AIDS

Photo by Janene Tate, Southern Digest Dr. Herman O. Kelly is  pastor of Bethel AME Church in Baton Rouge, LA, which has an active AIDS ministry.

For centuries, the black church has been a rock for its people: a place of prayer, a base for political action and a source of education and information.

Today is no different. During the 14th Annual Black Church Week of Prayer for the Healing of AIDS this week of March 2-8, black churches are renewing their commitment to members of their flocks affected by acquired immune deficiency syndrome.

The prayer week is the brainchild of Pernessa Seele, founder of the Balm in Gilead of New York, an organization dedicated to involving black churches in AIDS education. Balm in Gilead began its campaign in 1989 because of AIDS’ rapid spread among blacks. It provides churches with literature and educational tapes. The prayer week observance has become one of the nation’s largest AIDS awareness campaigns aimed at blacks.

“We chose black churches because the church has been the pulpit of black America for so long,” said Seele. “We began with 50 churches in Harlem. We now have well over 15,000 across the country. The Southern states are responding quickly.” Bethel AME Church in Baton Rouge, La., which welcomes students from Southern University into its congregation, is one of those churches.

“We are on the Balm in Gilead’s mailing list and have participated in the prayer week for two years now,” said the Rev. Dr. Herman O. Kelly, Jr., the church’s pastor. The church doesn’t stop there. Outside its red brick structure hangs a banner welcoming those affected by HIV/AIDS.

“We are an HIV/AIDS-friendly church. This banner is one way of saying that anyone can come worship with us, regardless of their health status,” said Kelly. Bethel AME has an AIDS ministry among its committees because the congregation is committed to fight the spread of the disease, according to Kelly.

“Our congregation decided to do this. A young woman who is now a member made a testimony one Sunday and it all began there. We just wanted to reach out to those who are infected.” The AIDS committee serves as a clearinghouse for services and has doctors and other health professionals on call who can offer consultations or care. The committee also conducts educational seminars, holds prayer breakfasts and sponsors fund-raising activities such as benefit concerts. Church members have begun renovating some donated property so it can be converted to a resource center, Kelly said.

Not every black church is as open for discussion about the disease as Kelly’s. Few other churches in Baton Rouge are participating in this week’s prayer activities. Even at the campus religious centers at Southern University, for example, none has advertised AIDS prayer vigils or services for the week.

The only observance at Southern is sponsored the Alpha Tau chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., which will host its second annual International Day of Service. Tina Lee, a consumer advocate at Friends for Life AIDS Resource Center in Baton Rouge and a speaker at last year's event, said the program will include speakers, HIV blood testing and displays sponsored by area health organizations.

“It is a very beneficial day for everyone and more like it should be held on this campus," said Lee, a graduate of Southern.

Kelly says he isn’t surprised by the reluctance to deal with AIDS. “Most (black people) are afraid of the disease and are looking at it as a judgment from God. I was afraid at first because I was unsure of how my congregation would accept it. However, after prayer, my soul and my congregation were convicted (sic) and have been supportive ever since.”

Martha H. Toussant wishes such sentiments would spread more quickly. A minister at In Christ We Trust Fellowship, Toussant is also an assistant professor in the Division of Family and Consumer Sciences at Southern University.

“I’m always asked to do seminars within my churches concerning health, but none like this (about AIDS). It’s (AIDS) a secretive thing and it shouldn’t be . . . especially not here,” said Toussant.

In 2000, African Americans comprised one-third of Louisiana’s population, yet they represented 75 percent of new HIV cases detected, according to the Louisiana Statewide Coordinated Statement of Need. The HIV detection rate is more than six times higher among blacks than among whites. The rate among blacks also is three times higher than that of Hispanics. That number is rapidly growing.

“Information like this is shocking,” Toussant said of the statistics. “I have made a commitment to my church and to myself from now on to become more educated about this disease. I see now that I will have to take the first step to become a pioneer to get us (the church) active in helping our people.”

That is music to Pernessa Seele’s ears. “We can’t stop until we get every black pulpit to talk about this.”

For more information on the Black Church Week Prayer for the Healing of AIDS, call the Balm in Gilead toll-free at 1-888-225-6243.

Janene Tate, a student at Southern University, is managing editor of The Southern Digest.