Crosses

AIDS Statement


The following was adopted at the January 1998 Annual Meeting:

THE COMMUNITY CHURCH OF CALIFORNIA CITY (UCC) CALIFORNIA CITY, CALIFORNIA

We, the congregation of The Community Church of California City, (UCC), California City, Ca., as a response to the concern that people with HIV/AIDS and their families and friends receive the same opportunity for support from churches and community as anyone else with a life threatening illness, issue this statement:

We are united in our belief that our church can be a place of welcome, worship, ministry, prayer and a place of health, hope and healing for any person infected with or affected by HIV/AIDS.

We recognize and affirm their need and desire for human dignity, respect and compassionate concern as people created and loved by God.

We expect all persons to be guided by sound moral, ethical and spiritual values that acknowledge the right of people with HIV/AIDS to privacy, confidentiality and personal autonomy within the caring community of our church.

We believe that infection with the Human Immunodeficiency Virus is a medical condition. We believe that physical, emotional and spiritual healing are possible through unconditional love.

Therefore, we the congregation of The Community Church of California City (UCC), California City, CA are committed to sharing our spiritual resources with people with HIV/AIDS. We will:

1. Welcome people with HIV/AIDS into the fellowship of our church.
2. Be available to provide spiritual counsel and support and offer our ministry unconditionally.
3. Affirm the need for legal and legislative protection for those who face discrimination and financial hardship due to their HIV infection.
4. Encourage and support educational efforts to allay unreasonable fear and to reduce risk behaviors that lead to infection.
5. Seek to offer assistance during times of illness.
6. Support ministries that allow death with peace and dignity during the natural course of the illness.


Last Updated by Robin Kittredge on
Saturday, 26 December, 1998 at 12:31 PM.