May 5, 2004

By Kathy L. Gilbert*

PITTSBURGH (UMNS)—A special United Methodist Global AIDS Fund gained approval May 5 from the 2004 General Conference.

The plan calls for $3 million to be raised through apportionments and a matching fund of $5 million to be raised through Advance gifts.

In a news briefing on April 30, the Rev. Donald Messer, Denver, Colo., said it was time for the church “to put its money where its mouth is” to help awaken the world to the horrors of the global HIV/AIDS pandemic. Messer is author of Breaking the Conspiracy of Silence: Christian Churches and the Global AIDS Crisis,

Messer said the Global AIDS Fund will help strengthen programs already in place in the church and to expand those programs to include partner churches and agencies.

*Gilbert is a staff writer for United Methodist News Service.

News media contact: (412) 325-6080 during General Conference, April 27-May 7. After May 10: (615) 742-5470.