March 2005

Board Meets in New Orleans

by Canon Sue Kuebler

Conferences, curricula, and condoms were all on the agenda when the NEAC board met in January at Trinity Episcopal Church in New Orleans.

Conferences: The crux of the planned regional conferences is “recommitting ourselves to the work of raising up HIV/AIDS ministries within the church by going beyond our comfort zones and reaching out to those outside the church.” The workshops will tie into the theme of “Remember, Renew, and Recommit” by telling stories of hope, healing, and outreach. Presenters are being asked to provide resource materials that conference attendees may take away and use to implement their own AIDS ministries. Binders for the materials will be given out at registration. At each conference there will be a display area where local AIDS service organizations and providers can display information about their organizations.

New Orleans facility photo

Curricula: Outgoing board member and NEAC education adviser Elizabethe Payne reported on the marketing and distribution of the curriculum on Youth Ministry in the Age of AIDS. Requests for the curriculum, which is available without shipping charges until May, were steady through November but have since dropped off; church headquarters (815) has no more funds for marketing the project. For NEAC supporters who would like to help publicize the program, the NEAC office would be happy to provide the article on p. 8, with artwork, by e-mail.

Dr. Payne also reported that she has been asked to do a presentation on HIV and to serve as an adult resource at the Episcopal Youth Event this summer.

A lead writer for the revision of Teen AIDS Prevention, the peer education curriculum, has been chosen and 815, which holds the copyright on the original version, is working on a list of other participants on the writing team. The goal is to hold an initial meeting in early spring with piloting of the new version scheduled for fall.

Condoms: In response to a request from a Dallas medical missionary group led by Dick Kerner, the board passed a motion to buy 4,000 condoms for distribution in Honduras.

AGAPE: The Rev. C. William Frampton III reported that because making the AGAPE Project a reality requires more work on finding funds, on World AIDS Day 2004 he sent out 60 letters to prospective donors and to date has raised $900. He will continue to seek funding before beginning work on creating a resource for educating people at risk who are over 50.

The Rev. Frampton also reported that, among other activities, he has continued to represent NEAC at meetings of NORA (National Organizations Responding to AIDS) and was recently interviewed by KLOVE, a Christian radio station, about AIDS and outreach on the home front.

Other Business: (1) The letter issued by the Presiding Bishop for World AIDS Day can now be found on the NEAC web site. (2) Work has begun on revising the web site. (3) NEAC ended the previous fiscal year in the black and had a remarkably clean audit. (4) The Executive Committee was given responsibility to choose the recipients of the NEAC awards. (5) Honoraria were awarded to NO/AIDS and Trinity Church as thanks for their hospitality.