World AIDS Day 2025
During the 1980s and 90s, when the AIDS epidemic began, Metropolitan Community Churches became widely known as "the AIDS church." Its direct advocacy, community care, and spiritual support for those affected with AIDS. We officiated at funerals, offered spiritual guidance, cared for the sick, and advocated against the stigma and injustice surrounding AIDS.
Rev. Elder Jim Mitulski presided over nearly 500 AIDS funerals during his time at MCC in San Francisco. In 1988 it was believed that two-thirds of the men in his congregation were HIV positive. We continue to be the church with AIDS. MCC has lost more people than perhaps any other religious organization to AIDS.The World Aids Day theme for 2025 is "Rethink. Rebuild. Rise."
Rev. Elder Mitulski observes that, “World AIDS Day is both political and spiritual. It is a human rights issue. What is happening in the United States today is having a global impact on the spread of HIV/AIDS through the systematic dismantling of health care.
Since the beginning of the epidemic, 91.4 million people have been infected with the HIV virus and about 44.1 million people have died from HIV-related causes. (UN World Health Organization website) Rev. Elder Mitulski points out “if you sprinkle the AIDS virus onto a map it would reveal, where there is stigma, poverty, racism, sexism, lack of access to health care, there is HIV. HIV is more than a disease; it's a marker of human rights violations. It is global. Treating HIV will not bring an end to HIV, though it is an important aspect. Until we work at the root causes that contribute to its spread, we will never eliminate it. HIV loves secrecy and prejudice because these are the conditions in which it spreads and flourishes."
In Jeremiah 30:17 it is told, “For I will restore health to you, and your wounds I will heal, says the Lord, because they have called you an outcast: ‘It is Zion; no one cares for her!’
This is a time for MCC to reflect on our progress, rebuild our response and rise to meet future challenges with renewed commitment. We are committed to “transforming ourselves as we transform the world.”Today on World AIDS day we more than ever, we need MCC, we need to mourn our dead and channel our mourning into human rights action.
A Prayer for World AIDS Day
From the heart of MCC’s radical love and liberation,
Great Spirit, ‘Jehovah Rapha’ - God, Our Healer,
On this day of remembrance and resistance, we gather as queer bodies, beloved and bold, as allies and advocates, as survivors and mourners, as healers and hope-bearers.
We name Grief: for lives lost too soon, for the silence that kills, for stigma that wounds.
We name Resilience: of activists who marched, of lovers who cared, of communities who refused to be erased.
We name Sacred: in every vigil, quilt, and candle, in every whispered prayer and shouted demand, in every communion of care.
God of justice and joy, bless those living with HIV today— with strength, dignity, access to medicine, proper healthcare, and healing.
Bless those who labor for equity—researchers, caregivers, organizers, and truth-tellers.
Bless our churches, whether on-site or online, and our spiritual communities, —that we may be sanctuaries of affirmation, where shame is shattered and love is loud.
May we Remember, Rethink. Rebuild. Rise.
May we rejoice in the fierce beauty of our survival.
In your many names and in the name of Christ, who touched the untouchable,
who broke every barrier, who walks with us still—
Amen, Amém, Aamen, Amina, Amén
In Peace, the MCC Council of Elders:
Elder Hattie Alexander-Key
Rev. Elder Mark Byrd
Rev. Elder Nokuthula Dhladhla
Rev. Elder Cecilia Eggleston
Elder Velma Garcia
Rev. Elder Rich Hendricks
Rev. Elder Aaron Miller
Rev. Elder Elaine Saralegui Caraballo
Rev. Elder Stuart Sutherland
