"The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reports that HIV remains a disproportionate risk to African Americans. More than 290,000 African Americans with stage 3 HIV (AIDS) have died since the start of the epidemic. Of the 1.2M people living with HIV in the U.S. nearly half are Black, with Black people also accounting for half of new infections even though Blacks only make up 13% of the population. Until just 13 years ago HIV was the leading cause of death among Black women of reproductive age, and while we've cut the rate of infection in Black women nearly in half since then, Black women still have the highest rate of HIV infection among women. To put things in further perspective, the CDC estimates that 1 in 2 Black same-gender loving men who have sex with men will be infected in their lifetime if rates remain at their current levels, even though transmission rates among gay and bisexual black men have stabilized over the years. Prevention efforts have led to encouraging decreases in HIV among African Americans, however given the continued impact among Black people, there is still an urgent need to expand access to HIV prevention and treatment, underscoring the importance of the federal initiative ‘Ending the Epidemic: A Plan for America: here"
Our ministry partner “Project Vida” provides free confidential HIV/STI testing at Faith Church every
4th Wednesday of the month from 4PM-8PM CST. Spiritual counseling is also available at your visit.
It’s equally important that as communities of faith we are willing to address HIV and AIDS head-on. According to Pew Research, Black people are the most religious racial/ethnic group in the U.S. That means faith likely plays an outsized role in other areas of daily life for Black Americans, including health, wellness, and identity. In addition to the social barriers that exist, communities of faith must engage in honest conversation about tough subjects like sex and sexuality and the faith community’s failure to embrace the LGBTQIA+ community who live with the greatest burden of HIV in this country.
That’s why our plan for reducing the spread of HIV involves ministry to the total person, mind, body, and soul.
We are an inclusive church which means the sin of homophobia which continues to play a major role in the high rates of HIV in the black community cannot live and grow here.
We are a redemptive community which believes in the power of God to change heart and soul from destruction to construction which you might know as sanctification.
We use a science based approach to HIV education. We believe that HIV is a virus and not a supernatural commentary for God on sin. While we rely on science to inform us we believe that stories transform.
Together we aim to create sacred-space for storytelling, because stories increase awareness, and awareness builds empathy, and empathy is the tie that binds us together.
