Page One

For 52 years, 60-year-old social worker Doris Mack said she has depended on faith at McGee Baptist Church to keep her going. Yesterday, she drew on the strength of those around her again during the World AIDS Day Service while remembering those who have died of the disease. 

“He had no chance, he was born with AIDS,” she said tearfully, remembering a two-year-old foster child that she had watched over. 

The boy was dying in a hospital and the family refused to accept the reason for his death, she said. 

“My religion is what helped this family, because they were in denial,” said Mack. “What I said to them is ‘He is dying of AIDS. He wants to go, let him go to God.’ In six hours, he was gone.” 

Churchmembers lit the candle of hope, honoring both the beginning of Advent and honoring World AIDS Day. Reverend Mark Wilson’s reading from Jeremiah spoke of keeping hope while waiting for a “new day” when the global epidemic will be defeated. 

“That new day is dependent upon economics and wealth,” he said, noting the complacency in wealthy nations like the United States. “That day has not come in Vietnam and Asia, that day has not come for those living with HIV/AIDS in war-torn and starving lands in Africa.” 

One in four women in South Africa suffers from AIDS and twenty percent of the population is infected, according to last week’s United Nations report on AIDS. 

Wilson seeks not only to encourage his own church to join the worldwide fight against AIDS, but to band together many black churches which, because of homophobia, are slow to join the fight. 

I’ve been waiting for hope,” Wilson said, wiping sweat from his brow. “Waiting for churches to stop condemning and to start caring, to stop loathing and to start loving, to stop hating and to start holding and healing,” he said, clapping and stomping as he delivered his sermon. 

Not content to just preach forgiveness and compassion, Wilson also roused people to talk openly about preventing the spread of HIV and AIDS among teenagers. 

“Sixty percent of new cases in Alameda County are teenagers and youth, from our families, high schools, and churches,” he said, citing a recent county study. 

“We need to be holding workshops at the church and having discussions with them about substance abuse and addiction. We need to help them understand sex and sexuality,” he said. 

But it’s not only the young who need prevention education, Wilson said.  

Senior citizens, often widowed, are still sexually active with new partners, he said.  

As single, older people remain sexually active and have new partners, Wilson said they need to learn prevention. 

“A whole lot of senior citizens need some counseling around HIV as well,” said Wilson.  

Counseling and testing are available at the church, thanks to funding from the city’s HIV/AIDS program. The church also hosts a food program and houses an AIDS information library.  

The city has partnered with McGee for three years through the Faith Project to reach out to the African-American community, which is disproportionately infected, said Leroy Blea, program director. 

The project goal is to support groups of color with strong AIDS education programs already in place, he said. That way, the message is delivered in a culturally appropriate manner, which means the message is more likely to stick. 

“Talking to kids, working it into the fabric of who the congregation is — as they push those boundaries, they make it possible for other churches to talk about this subject,” he added of McGee’s innovation. 

All the services yesterday tied in this AIDS message. From Sunday school to communion, the church taught lessons about tolerance in the community and stressed that AIDS affects everyone. 

“When you think about World AIDS Day, you can’t blame anyone,” said Reverend Frankie Moore in a Sunday school class. “You can’t turn your nose up at anybody. There’s no good reason you’re not in those shoes. And it’s by the grace of God that you’re not.” 

Newcomers to the church, were invigorated by the service’s fervor in advocacy and hope. 

“I was extremely inspired and energized by the message and commitment of this church,” said Trena Cleland, an HIV testing counselor. “It truly is a pioneering congregation.”