520 Clinton Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11238
718.857.9445
800.588.6628
neac@neac.org
February 1999
Checking In
Harriet Langfeldt
Dear Friends:
Before each Board meeting, the NEAC directors take time to tell each other just where we are in our personal lives. I found this a little strange at first, but as over a few meetings we become more and more connected, I realize that this check-in time may be among the more valuable hours of each meeting.
Check-in is when I become acutely aware of the presence of Christ in others, in their joys and sorrows, in their pain and in their renewed vigor as they move beyond pain. This is when I learn how others are groping to understand their own ministry, and their place in their community.
In my own Diocese of Eastern Oregon, we struggle with the complexities of empowering the laity, helping members live out their baptismal covenant, helping each to identify a unique ministry. What we call this varies; “mutual ministry” best describes my understanding. We are supporting each other. This is HIV/AIDS ministry at its best. Check-in time at NEAC board meetings capitalizes on this team effort.
A highlight of our meeting in Atlanta was a presentation to the Georgia Task Force on AIDS by our board member Elizabethe Payne of Houston. Elizabethe is NEAC’s lead spokesperson for the TAP program (Teens for AIDS Prevention). We are convinced that prevention education is a primary method of stemming the disease. TAP is a teaching resource of the Episcopal Church for use in parishes across the country that has been proved to greatly increase awareness and build positive self-esteem. The crux of the program is peer to peer teaching.
An ideal team for training young people to become peer teachers is a youth worker or minister and a health-care worker, supporting younger parish leaders. This group takes an intensive training and then goes out and trains others. Based on a mandate from General Convention, the NEAC Board has pledged to offer more trainings.
We urge all of you to live out your baptismal covenant by helping to improve the health of your community. If you would be willing to help host a TAP training in your diocese, call and let us know. This is how a network works.
