Methodists Say The Body of Christ has AIDS

The Methodist Church in Britain has launched a bold new poster campaign carrying the stark message ‘The Body of Christ has AIDS’. Religious and faith-based organisations are, in many countries, the main support for people affected by HIV. Some religious leaders are leading the fight against stigma and discrimination. Others, however, associate HIV with sin and make it more difficult for members of the faith community living with HIV to be open about their status and feel welcomed and accepted rather than alone and rejected. The Methodist initiative follows calls by figures such as Archbishop Desmond Tutu for religious leaders to speak out more over AIDS and HIV. It's part of a broader effort among faith-based organizations that have signed The Code of Good Practice to ensure accountability and quality programming in response to the expanding involvement of a diverse number of churches in prevention and treatment of HIV and AIDS. Other that have signed the code are the World Council of Churches, Action by Churches Together (ACT) International, Bread for the World, Christian Aid, Church of Sweden, the Conference of European Churches, DanChurchAid, Diakonie Emergency Aid, Difaem - German Institute for Medical Mission, Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance, Ecumenical Coalition on Tourism, Hope for Eastern Europe, the Lutheran World Federation (LWF), Lutheran World Relief, Norwegian Church Aid, the World Alliance of Reformed Churches (WARC), the World Alliance of YMCAs, the World Council of Churches (WCC), the World Student Christian Federation, the World YWCA.