December 1999

Forward in Faith Program Set

conference logoYour chance is coming to celebrate your AIDS ministry, share your experiences with colleagues from around the world, learn about new programs, and renew your soul with worship! Forward in Faith: Celebrating the Past, Building the Future, the Year 2000 Conference of the National Episcopal AIDS Coalition, will be held on March 23–25, 2000, at Grace Cathedral and the Holiday Inn Golden Gateway, San Francisco.

These are among the featured speakers you can look forward to:

  • The Rev. Gwen Hall, pastor, Sojourner Truth Unity Fellowship, Seattle, who told the National HIV/AIDS Committee of the Episcopal Church that “Racism must be addressed or we’ll never get to AIDS because of the walls of mistrust.”
  • Christian de la Huerte of San Francisco, who has recently published Coming Out Spiritually
  • Pamela Chinnis, president of the House of Deputies of the Episcopal Church and strong support of AIDS ministries
  • Sandra Thurman, director, White House Office of National AIDS Policy and long-time NEAC board member

Jesse Milan, Jr., J.D., director of the CDC’s National AIDS Prevention Network and former chair of NEAC The Rt. Rev. William Swing, Bishop of California, who called together the first national Episcopal AIDS conference in 1985, will open the conference as officiant of the Festal Evensong at Grace Cathedral at 5:15 p.m. on March 23. The Very Rev. Alan Jones, Dean of Grace Cathedral, will close the conference as officiant of the Festal Eucharist and Healing Service, 5:00 p.m., March 25, at the Cathedral.

Between the two services will be full opportunity for you to pray and celebrate, learn and do, listen and share. The conference has three tracks, Prevention and Education, chaired by Elizabethe Payne of Houston, Social Justice, chaired by Hart Roussel of Pasadena and Randy Kimmler of Los Angeles, and Spirituality, chaired by the Rev. Richard Younge of Seattle. All chairs are members of the NEAC board.

In the Prevention and Education Track:

  • Jack Plimpton and Mario Gauna of the Diocese of Los Angeles will discuss the Latino AIDS Prevention Project there
  • E. John Watson-Williams, M.D., Diocese of El Camino Real, former consultant to the AIDS Task Force of the European Commission, will take The Global Perspective, talking about HIV/AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa
  • Donna Rochon of the University of Texas School of Public Health will give us an HIV/AIDS Treatment Update
  • Elizabethe Payne, Donna Rochon, and the Rev. James Straukamp, chair of the Diocese of Northern California HIV/AIDS Task Force, with the youth of Sacramento will demonstrate the Teen AIDS Prevention program
  • The challenges of AIDS for the Over-50 Crowd will be discussed by a panel
  • Todd Ferguson, doctoral student in philosophy at Purdue University, will talk about HIV/AIDS on campus

In the Social Justice Track:

  • Members of the Episcopal Church’s Committee on HIV/AIDS will discuss their experience conducting hearings on The Impact of Race on the HIV/AIDS Epidemic
  • Members of the Episcopal Public Policy Network and Herb Schultz, director of government affairs for AIDS Project Los Angeles will provide a Public Policy and Advocacy Update, talking about Acting Locally for National and Global Impact
  • Representatives from faith-based organizations will consider Matthew 25: Feeding the Hungry and Caring for the Sick, sharing their expertise and their struggles
  • Larry Biddle, who chaired five National AIDS Fund-Raising Conferences, will lead a two-part workshop on Grant-Writing Basics

In the Spirituality Track:

  • Jerry Dickinson and Steve McCormack, Diocese of California, and Peter Lee of Boston, a former NEAC board member, will share their experiences in Retreats for Persons Living with HIV/AIDS: A Practicum
  • Trudy James, Diocese of Olympia HIV/AIDS Commission and nationwide consultant on care-team formation, will lead a workshop, I’m Going to Live: Now What? Ministering to the Living and the Dying
  • Bruce Garner of Atlanta, Episcopal Church Committee on HIV/AIDS, and Paul Borja of San Francisco will share their stories and invite others to join them in Wrestling with God: A Spiritual Journey in the Midst of HIV/AIDS
  • David Smith, Interfaith Care Alliance of Austin, and representatives of San Francisco Catholic Charities and the Buddhist AIDS Project of San Francisco will speak of Many Gifts: Ecumenical and Interfaith HIV/AIDS Ministries

The conference will also offer times for affinity groups and caucuses to meet and for all to review the exhibits. There will be a small chapel open for meditation near the conference registration area.

All conference sessions will be held at the Holiday Inn Golden Gateway, which has rooms equipped for computer operation as well as an on-site fitness center and an outdoor heated swimming pool. American Airlines is the designated official airline of the Forward in Faith Conference.

A limited number of partial scholarships are available for registration only.

For further information, please call 614.527.7275.