Episcopal Press and News
Aids Conference Plans Take Shape
Episcopal News Service. December 12, 1985 [85250]
SAN FRANCISCO (DPS, Dec. 12) -- The national Episcopal conference on the AIDS crisis, announced at the General Convention in Anaheim, has been scheduled for March 5-7 at Grace Cathedral here. Brochures detailing the agenda and conference speakers are being mailed; those wishing to participate are requested to contact their diocesan bishop.
Sponsored by the Episcopal Diocese of California, with participation of the House of Bishops Task Force on the AIDS Crisis and the National AIDS Conference Task Force, the conference is being funded by The Episcopal Church Foundation, the Diocese of California and its Parsonage Ministry, and Integrity, the national organization of gay Episcopalians.
The purpose of the conference, according to its mission statement, is to "make available information from those having first-hand experience with persons with AIDS, their loved ones, and those concerned, in order to inform the Church and to help it prepare appropriate responses within local communities."
Conference goals are to establish a national Episcopal resources/support network on AIDS and to encourage individual dioceses to convene their own conferences on the health, discrimination, prevention, education and spiritual issues of AIDS.
Members of the House of Bishops Task Force on AIDS are the Rt. Rev. William E. Swing, bishop of California, chairman and convenor; the Rt. Rev. Maurice Benitez, bishop of Texas; the Rt. Rev. William Burrill, bishop of Rochester; the Rt. Rev. Oliver Garver, suffragan bishop of Los Angeles; the Rt. Rev. Paul Moore, bishop of New York; and the Rt. Rev. Calvin Schofield, bishop of Southeast Florida.
Funding for a post-conference National AIDS Resource Center has also been secured. The Presiding Bishop's Fund for World Relief has announced a one-year grant of $20,640 for operation of the Center. It will be based at The Parsonage in San Francisco and will offer assistance, current information and a national support network to diocesan AIDS task forces throughout the church.
Principals for the National AIDS Conference in San Francisco include Holly McAlpin, social ministries coordinator, Diocese of California; Tom Tull, chair of The Parsonage; and conference co-chairs Bill Lorton, AIDS resource team member at General Convention, and Marion Cedarblade, General Convention Deputy working with the AIDS legislation, both of the Diocese of California.