Hapeville Parish Hosts World AIDS Day Event

Published: December 11, 2003

HAPEVILLE—On the day before World AIDS Day, federal health officials and community leaders from faith and civic organizations around Atlanta gathered at St. John the Evangelist Church for an Interfaith Prayer Breakfast to discuss how HIV/AIDS is affecting their communities and how they can help each other fight the epidemic.

HIV/AIDS is having a devastating effect on the South, where it strikes disproportionately in communities of color. As of December 2000, Georgia ranked eighth in cumulative AIDS cases and seventh in the number of individuals living with AIDS. An estimated 8,200–15,300 adult and adolescent Georgians have HIV, and 12,948 died from AIDS by the end of 2001. AIDS strikes African-Americans the hardest, with the proportion of reported AIDS cases among African-Americans increasing from 37 percent in 1987 to 77 percent in 2001. Of the 11,395 people living with AIDS in Georgia now, 68 percent are African-Americans.

The Nov. 30 prayer breakfast featured remarks from Christopher Bates, the acting director of the Office of HIV/AIDS Policy in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; Alan Hallman, the mayor of Hapeville; Rev. Edwin C. Sanders II, pastor of Metropolitan Interdenominational Church in Nashville, Tenn.; Irene Miranda, coordinator of the HIV/AIDS ministry for the Archdiocese of Atlanta, and Tangy Major, a woman living with HIV. The speakers talked about the effects of HIV/AIDS and the role faith and civic groups can play in prevention outreach efforts.

“After working in HIV/AIDS ministry since 1986, it is both disheartening and gratifying that we are still talking about this epidemic. There are so many who still do not understand the serious ramifications of this disease, yet there are so many who still care enough to continue ministering to the people,” said Father Glenn D. Parker, CSsR, pastor of St. John the Evangelist Church.

St. John the Evangelist Church has been ministering to the Catholic community of south Atlanta for 50 years and includes a multinational congregation of 625 families. In addition to the parish, a parochial school teaches pre-kindergarten through eighth-grade students. The Redemptorist order of priests has been at St. John’s since 1996. Father Parker’s involvement in the HIV/AIDS ministry led to the invitation for the parish to host the prayer breakfast.