Cross Purposes? The Black Church Struggles with AIDS

For a long time, the AIDS battle was fought primarily in the public health arena. But activists and educators, wanting to reach the black community, have pointed to a crucial role for black churches. It is a role that churches are now assuming, but with a complicated mix of messages and moral values.

The Rev. Marvin McMickle reflects the new mode of black church ministry. His Antioch Baptist Church in Cleveland, Ohio, has a program that provides services to HIV-infected women and their families. What began as services for church members grew to include "the infected and the affected," even if they aren't church members.

Earl Pike, executive director of the AIDS Taskforce of Greater Cleveland, said it is difficult for churches to put moral issues aside, especially when it comes to sex. While the public health arena accepts that people will have sex and that you can reduce the risk by getting people to use condoms, "the church approach -- total abstinence until marriage -- assumes that two people have never had intercourse before marriage and will never have intercourse with anyone outside of that marriage," he said. "What percentage of the population fits that profile of virgins getting together for lifelong monogamy?" Pike asked. "It's an ideal."

McMickle is convinced that the church can step up and reconcile its differences with people needing help. "I don't think we saw [our program] as condoning behavior," he said. But, "the epidemic isn't going to be resolved by ignoring it." This is a stance that others agree with wholeheartedly, even in the face of behavior that many are uncomfortable with, like homosexuality and drug use.

Pernessa Seele, founding director and CEO of the Balm in Gilead, an organization that mobilizes African-American churches to become centers for education and compassion, goes one step further. Seele believes churches have an obligation to "become a community for AIDS education," she said. "HIV is killing us. At the end of the day, it's about the Christian's responsibility toward the suffering," she said.

Earl Pike remains optimistic about the black church and its ministry to women and children. "If African-American churches were to take an honest look at the community they serve, they would find that it would be women and children. The church plays a large role in women's lives," he noted. Besides, "if you can keep people alive, then you have the opportunity to struggle with different religious interpretations of sexuality," he said.

Back to other CDC news for October 8, 2001

Previous Updates