PRNewswire - December 1, 2006

LAKE FOREST, Calif., Dec. 1 /PRNewswire/ -- Dr. Rick Warren, pastor of Saddleback Valley Community Church and author of The Purpose Driven Life, and his wife Kay today launched their second annual Global Summit on AIDS and the Church: Race Against Time on the Saddleback campus.

"AIDS isn't a gay disease, a man's disease or a woman's disease -- it is a disease of the immune system," said Kay Warren in an opening session. "The goal is to end HIV, which humanly speaking is impossible. But when God enters a problem, suddenly all things become possible."

More than 2,000 pastors, lay leaders, social workers and medical professionals from 165 organizations and 178 churches representing 39 states and 18 countries attended the two-day event, which concludes on World AIDS Day, December 1.

"For 20 years, I was so wrong about AIDS," Rick Warren confessed to attendees. "Not that I was judgmental - it is not a sin to be sick - I just didn't care; I was busy doing good, building a church and other things. Jesus spent one-third of his ministry in health care healing the sick. He cared about people's bodies. If we want to be like Him, we have to care, too."

According to Dr. Warren, HIV is a terrible pandemic, but it is also the greatest opportunity for the Church to show compassion to the world. He emphasized that the Church is essential to the solution for HIV and to the broader healthcare inequities that plague our planet.

The second annual Global Summit on AIDS and the Church: Race Against Time is a one-of-a-kind, two-day conference that brings together more than 65 leading authorities from health and relief organizations; government entities; international agencies; and Christian ministries to address how to work together in response to HIV. Virtually all of the speakers affirmed the critical role of the Church in prevention and treatment of HIV around the world.

"We are here today looking at the long road ahead and what it's going to take to beat this pandemic," said rock star Bono in video greetings from Tokyo. "More than 5,500 Africans dying every day of a preventable disease is not a cause, it's an emergency."

According to Dr. Robert Redfield, a pioneer in clinical and human viral research who was the first to demonstrate heterosexual transmission of HIV-1, many in the field of HIV think the Church needs to get out of the way. "I think the Church needs to become the global health cornerstone," he said.

Ambassador Mark R. Dybul, M.D., who serves as the United States Global AIDS coordinator, shared that the theme for World AIDS Day is, 'The Promise of Partnership.' "We cannot succeed in the global struggle against HIV without deep involvement of the faith community and the faith-based organizations," he said. "In remote areas, almost always you will find a faith community, even when there is no other healthcare."

Dr. Robert Feacham, executive director of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria noted there are three things the Church does very well in the response to HIV. "These include care and support of orphans; prevention, primarily in changing behavior and attitudes - of older men towards young girls and of society toward women; and testing and treatment," he said.

Edward Green, senior research scientist at Harvard University School of Public Health, who championed prevention in Uganda, said, "We can't treat our way out of this disease; we need to have effective prevention. The fundamental paradigm in the Western approach (in the response to HIV) is that we've only worked for risk reduction - we haven't addressed the behavioral aspects of this pandemic."

According to Rick Warren, unlike business or government, the Church has the moral authority to address the behavioral dimension of HIV and other important issues. "The two great tragedies in my lifetime are that 40 million babies have been aborted and 40 million individuals have been infected with HIV worldwide," he said.

"As anyone who has read my book knows, I am staunchly pro-life and care deeply about preserving life at both ends of the spectrum," Dr. Warren added. "I also believe it's going to take all of us -- government; business; the medical community; and the Church, mobilizing millions of congregations around the world -- to prevent, treat and eventually eliminate HIV/AIDS."

FOR INFORMATION, CONTACT:

Larry Ross 469/774-6362

Kristin Cole 615/289-6701

SOURCE Saddleback Valley Community Church

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