Recent surveys of Seventh-day Adventist church members in North America report that one member in eight has a relative or close friend with AIDS—acquired immune deficiency syndrome. Anecdotal evidence from some Southern Hemisphere nations indicates that the incidence there is higher. A book like this one is a necessity on the library shelf of every Adventist pastor who desires to respond effectively to the needs of his or her congregation.
This concise book gets right to the point without being simplistic or incomplete. It gives a clear statement of the known medical facts about AIDS, graphically describes the reality of the disease as it is encountered in hospitals and in homes of sufferers, and then covers the key elements of a Christlike and professional response on the part of clergy caregivers.
Forthright discussion of the fear associated with AIDS is necessary if anyone is to deal with it, yet clergy often find it difficult to admit their fears and hear the fears of those to whom they minister. "The pastor or chaplain must choose whether to be open to the patient's pain," write Sunderland and Shelp. "It may be tempting to remain aloof, since to be present is to become vulnerable."
The authors give a practical and theological discussion of five fears—fear of infection, uncertainty, ostracism, sexuality, and death. Not all of the book's theology lines up with Adventist under standing, but each statement and Bible story provides a starting point for a Bible study with an individual or family in need, or a series of sermons or seminars.
The authors give one of the best summaries of the grief stages I have read. The diagrams are useful in individual and pastoral care conversations and group work.
The authors could have said more about the pastoral care of the families of AIDS victims. They hint at the explosive issues, but do not go far enough in suggesting pastoral responses. "Parents may learn at the same time that their son is gay and that he has AIDS. . . . Parents may learn that their son-in-law is bisexual or has slept with a prostitute and that their daughter has been infected by him . . . [and] denial and confusion will often be replaced quickly by a sense of helpless rage. Such anger may be vented toward the 'guilty' one."
An experienced Adventist pastor can imagine the graphic reality stated so coolly in this quote. In the typical small, family-like Adventist congregation the kind and degree of implicit anger can rip apart generations of faith and relation ships. If one in eight Adventists in North America currently reports a relative or friend with AIDS, then there are almost absolute odds that any given pastor will face this situation at some time in the next five years of his or her ministry.
