We,
the Anglican Communion across Africa,
pledge ourselves to
The promise that future generations will
be born and live in a world
Free from AIDS.
God’s
call to transformation
We are living
with AIDS. As the body of Christ, confronted by a disaster unprecedented
in human history, we share the pain of all who suffer as a result
of AIDS. Faced by this crisis, we hear God’s call to be
transformed. We confess our sins of judgement, ignorance, silence,
indifference and denial.
Repenting
of our sin, we commit ourselves to:
• Breaking
the silence in order to end all new infections
• Educating ourselves at every level within the Church
• Confronting poverty, conflict and gender inequalities
• Ending stigma and judgement, and
• Holding ourselves accountable before God and the world.
Only then
can we live out the Good News of the all-embracing love of Christ.
1. Our
Mission
2. Our commission in the context of AIDS
3. Our Response
1.
Our Mission
Our
mission is to respect the dignity of all people by:
• Securing
the human rights of those infected by HIV/AIDS, and giving unconditional
support
• Improving the health and prolonging the lives of infected
people
• Accompanying the dying, those who mourn and those who
live on
• Celebrating life
• Nurturing community, and
• Advocating for justice.
We acknowledge
that we cannot do this alone. We are sustained by the love of
God and emboldened by the Holy Spirit. We are inspired by the
compassionate efforts of the faithful in attending to those affected
by HIV/AIDS. We accept the responsibility of our leadership. We
invite the wider community into creative, life-giving partnership.
2.
Our commission in the context of AIDS
We believe
we are created, in the image of God, as physical and spiritual
beings. We are created to be in relationship to God, the community
and ourselves. We believe that we are given the freedom to make
choices, to love, to celebrate, to live in dignity and to delight
in God’s creation. We believe that suffering and death are
neither punishment from God nor the end of life and that we are
called to an eternal union with God.
Stigma is
a denial that we are created in the image of God. It destroys
self-esteem, decimates families, disrupts communities and annihilates
hope for future generations. We commit in all our efforts -
personal and corporate, programmatic and liturgical - to
confront it as sin and work for its end.
Given who
we are, and who we are called to be by God, we have defined and
embraced a six-fold commission of ministry in response to AIDS.
These
calls in our commission are:
2.1
Prevention
The Church’s commitment to prevention recognises that all
life is sacred. Because we love our children, we speak and act
to protect them from infection. Sex is a gift from God. We are
accountable to God and one another for our sexual behaviour. Christian
communities have a special responsibility and capacity for encouraging
and supporting loving, just, honest relationships.
2.2
Pastoral Care
Pastoral care supports spiritual growth with the aim of sustaining
whole and holy relationships with God, each other and community.
This is achieved by affirming the dignity and worth of each human
being and making clear the claim of God in our lives.
2.3
Counselling
Christian counselling equips people to live into God’s invitation
to wholeness, freed of the burdens of the past, and capable of
moving in freedom toward the perfection promised in Christ’s
example with confidence and determination.
2.4
Care
In caring for all who suffer, we fulfill God’s purpose by
restoring dignity and purpose to people’s lives. Christian
care, therefore, seeks the fullness of life, in the context of
the community, by restoration of body, mind and spirit.
2.5
Death and dying
Death is a rite of passage in our spiritual journey and into eternal
life. The call of all Christians is to uphold the dying by our
love, as well as those who live on and those who mourn.
While death
brings suffering and loss, our faith can make it a time of enhanced
relationship and growth for individuals and communities. We are
a resurrection people and our relationship with God does not end
with the death of physical bodies.
2.6
Leadership
All authority is accountable before God. All people of the church
are stewards of God’s creation. We have a unique responsibility
to speak truth to power, to act without fear, and to embody Christian
values of love, compassion and justice.
3.
Our Response
3.1
Prevention
Out of love for our children, one another and our communities,
we commit to speak openly and with moral authority about responsible
sexual behaviour, and to support one another, embracing and adopting
behaviours that avoid the transmission of HIV.
3.2
Pastoral Care
As the embodiment of the merciful Christ in a suffering world,
we commit to equip our clergy and laity to support all people,
especially those living with HIV, in life sustaining relationships
with their God and their community.
3.3
Counselling
We commit to promote voluntary counselling and testing for HIV
by our own examples and as a ministry of the Church. We call for
the establishment of support groups and other counselling services
for those who are orphaned, ill, afraid, dying or bereaved.
3.4
HIV Care
We commit to being central to networks of community support, to
meet the health care and basic needs of those who are orphaned,
ill or excluded due to HIV, freeing them to productive life as
long as their health permits.
3.5
Death and Dying
As death transforms the body, AIDS calls us to transform those
traditions and practices, by which we care for the dying and honor
our dead, that consume scarce resources and contribute to denial.
We
commit to:
• Training the Church to provide holistic care for the dying
and prepare families for living on
• Offering rituals that honor the dead and promote the well-being
of those who survive
• Training the clergy to counsel and protect the rights
of those who survive especially women and children.
3.6
Leadership
Silence permits inaction and is the breeding ground of stigma.
We call for bold, compassionate community and institutional leadership
at every level, to prevent infection and care for the ill and
dying. We invite similar leadership by government, and all sections
of society and international partners.
Because leadership
must address power, culture and morality, we call on our government
leaders to be accountable for health expenditures and to declare
an ‘HIV state of emergency’, in order to combat IDS
and mobilize resources. We further declare that all people have
the right to health, which includes access to basic health care.
HIV calls
for bold and creative approaches by our leaders, which recognizes
the reality of power and gender patterns at community levels,
and mobilize resources and facilitate development of new models
of leadership, particularly amount laity and women.
3.7
Education and training
Nothing in our educational systems equips us to deal with this
catastrophe. In achieving the strategies outlined in this document,
it is essential to assess needs and establish education and training
capacity, in order to assure that sufficient numbers of clergy
and laity:
• Have
current and accurate basic information on the science of HIV,
standards of home-based care, and the rudiments of treatment
• Have both the technical information and the interpersonal
communication skills to effectively teach and counsel regarding
human sexuality
• Are knowledgeable of local laws and practices regarding
inheritance and equipped to impart that information
• Receive practical training in community organization and
development, so that they may assist in establishing care and
support which is needed
• Are trained and available to meet exploding demands for
pastoral care necessitated by HIV/AIDS
3.8
Theological reflection
As the Church, it is uniquely our task to gather for study, for
prayer and for worship. Therefore we must engage inconstant theological
reflection, seeking discernment on the issues of sin, guilt, grace,
judgement and forgiveness. To this we commit ourselves, our families
and our friends.
Amen!
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