October 1997

President’s Message

Jesse Milan, Jr., Esq.

Dear Friends and Members of NEAC:

Jessie MilanJanuary will bring important changes in our church. A new triennium will begin. A new Presiding Bishop will be installed. The budget and the many policies adopted at General Convention will be put in place. NEAC will have some important changes too.

Our tireless executive director, the Reverend Ted Karpf will end his tenure in that position after five years of outstanding ministry. I will complete my term as President of the Board of Directors. These changes are seasonal. By-laws require the rotation of leadership, and even the most dedicated and effective executive directors, like Ted, should remain open to new callings and new opportunities. Your board of directors has anticipated these changes and worked hard this past year to prepare for them.

Part of that preparation included our work at General Convention. In this newsletter, you will read of NEAC’s success in keeping our Church in tune with the reality that Our Church Has AIDS. The General Convention not only resoundingly approved financial support for NEAC’s budget for the new triennium, but also among other things expressed the Church’s commitment to HIV prevention among teens and young adults.

As a Deputy to General Convention from the Diocese of Pennsylvania, I was heartened by the tremendous respect NEAC and its members have, and by the importance the Episcopal Church places on AIDS ministry. This became especially clear to me when all five candidates for Presiding Bishop accepted our invitation to participate, win or lose, in NEAC’s Healing Service for HIV/AIDS at General Convention, scheduled for the day after the election. It was touching to have three of them actually with us when the time came. It was demonstrated over and over again at General Convention by the expressions of gratitude and support we received from lay and clergy people from across the country whose lives have been touched by the ministries of NEAC members.

Both before and after General Convention, our Board of Directors convened special strategic planning sessions to plan for the next triennium and the transition in leadership. In this newsletter are key parts of our plans. The Request for Proposals for management services was written by our board with a view of establishing a more streamlined and grassroots approach to administering our organization.

We hope you will pass word of this opportunity to qualified persons or organizations. In addition, our Nominating Committee wants your help in nominating new members for our Board of Directors. Selections for these will be made in January. Please send us your nominations quickly as we will be reviewing them in late December. Thus, in a season of change, NEAC will begin the new triennium with new leadership and renewed commitment.

As a final word, I want to thank Ted on behalf of the entire NEAC membership for his exemplary service to our Church and to people of all denominations effected by HIV/AIDS. I also want to thank you for the opportunity to serve as President of the Board of Directors. As a person living with and effected by HIV/AIDS, I have been ministered to by NEAC in more ways than I can ever count. NEAC is at the Heart of AIDS. But it is there because of people like you.

Thank you and may God bless us all.