Activists seek help from churches in curbing AIDS cases

BALTIMORE – When the Rev. Keron Sadler of the NAACP tried to persuade churches around the country to play a more active role in HIV/AIDS education, she drew some hostile reactions. One pastor said his congregants might think he was gay. Another said AIDS is a curse. Yet another walked out of the room rather than discuss the topic.

Those reactions highlight the challenges facing Baltimore as it enlists church outreach for its ambitious goal of curbing new HIV/AIDS cases by 25 percent in the next four years.

The disease remains a sensitive topic among some ministers, as Sadler found when a similar NAACP initiative took her to churches in 11 cities, including Baltimore. Discussing HIV/AIDS means delving into topics – gay sex, promiscuity and drug use – that churches may not want to be seen as embracing or condoning. Some churches ignore the subject, while others tackle it in a way that passes judgment on lifestyles, leaving some people reluctant to seek help.

Bishop Willard Saunders Jr. of the Created For So Much More Worship Center in the Cherry Hill neighborhood said that he promotes HIV/AIDS education, but does not sacrifice the beliefs of the church in doing so. The church tells members that gay sex, sex with multiple partners and drug use are all unsavory, risky behaviors that lead to bad consequences such as HIV/AIDS.

“If you choose to live an unhealthy lifestyle, it puts you at risk,” Saunders said. “I believe homosexuality is wrong. I believe it’s wrong the same way adultery is wrong. The same way that lying is wrong.”

S. Todd Yeary, the pastor of Douglas Memorial Community Church in West Baltimore, takes a different approach. He knows that in educating about HIV/AIDS, churches may be confronted with issues that go against their beliefs. Churches, he said, need to learn to teach about prevention without passing judgment.

“Part of the challenge of dealing with the dilemma of HIV has been a reluctance to be honest with the fact that our job is not to police what goes on in people’s bedrooms,” Yeary said.

Many AIDS activists say the church has to be a part of the fight against the disease, reaching residents who may already have it or people with behaviors that put them at risk.

Churches are the heart of many neighborhoods in Baltimore, where HIV/AIDS affects more than 13,000 residents. And it is from the pulpit that many residents – especially African-Americans, who make up 85 percent of Baltimore cases – get their messages. To many people, the pastor’s word is sacred.

“The church is a foundation of bringing communities together,” said Baltimore City Health Commissioner Oxiris Barbot. “We need them to help get out the message about AIDS.”

A 2002 survey found that 46 percent of Baltimore injection drug users had attended church in the previous month. A recent survey of 300 clients with HIV who get treatment through the Jacques Initiative health program at the University of Maryland said faith is important in their lives, and 44 percent said faith became even more important after they were diagnosed with the disease.

Churches already do charitable work, such as food drives and homeless outreach, that would complement HIV-prevention efforts, health officials said. Some churches have HIV/AIDS programs that include testing, workshops and education, and city officials hope to have them reach out to peers who may be more hesitant.

In Baltimore, issues that may be controversial to some ministers are at the heart of the AIDS epidemic – particularly homosexuality.

Heterosexual contact was the most common way people contracted the disease, according to a 2009 survey. About 38 percent of people contracted the disease this way.

But a disproportionate number of cases came from men having sex with men; about 36 percent of people contracted the disease this way. While the number of gay men in the city is not known, they make up about 2 percent of the national population.