First Baptist Church Pastor David Breckenridge (left) and Union University professor and church member Bobby Rogers drive AIDS memorial markers into the church's front lawn following the morning worship service Nov. 22. (First Baptist Church/Skip Howard)
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MEMPHIS, Tenn (ABP) — Two Baptist churches on a prominent corner in Memphis, Tenn., marked 10 years of observing World AIDS Day Dec. 1 with evocative reminders of the AIDS pandemic’s terrible toll on their community.
The First Baptist Church of Memphis and Greater Lewis Street Missionary Baptist Church — predominantly white and predominantly African-American congregations, respectively — hosted their 10th annual observance of the day with a highly public ceremony. For four-plus hours, civic officials, journalists, clergypersons and others read the names of the 2,911 residents of Memphis and Shelby County who have died of AIDS-related illnesses since 1985, when county officials began keeping records of the disease.
In addition, a gong sounded every 9 1/2 minutes throughout the ceremony to symbolize each new American who contracts the AIDS-causing HIV virus.
The reading ceremony — which featured Memphis Mayor A.C. Wharton, Memphis Commercial Appeal newspaper columnist Wendi Thomas and other local leaders — was a first for the churches’ World AIDS Day observance, and took place in front of the First Baptist sanctuary.
This year, as in previous AIDS Day observances, both churches’ large front lawns were covered in thousands of white stakes with red ribbons attached to them. The markers also symbolize Memphians who have succumbed to AIDS, and are a visible reminder of the pandemic to the thousands of commuters who pass the busy intersection of Poplar Avenue and East Parkway every day.
A Friends for Life volunteer keeps a tally of new U.S. residents infected with HIV during a World AIDS Day observance Dec. 1 at the First Baptist Church of Memphis, Tenn. (First Baptist Church/Ben Young)
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“I think it’s great for us to have this kind of visibility,” said David Breckenridge, First Baptist’s pastor. “For us, I think this is about sharing the compassion of Christ and coming alongside of those who are sick — alongside of those who are grieving — and offering them the love of Christ. For us, this is an opportunity.”
The project is co-sponsored by the churches and Friends For Life, a local organization that provides care for those living with AIDS and advocacy and education about the disease, HIV infection and prevention.
The marker project has gained significant visibility in local media outlets in past years, and the name-reading ceremony brought more attention this year, with newspapers and television stations covering the event.
“If publicity will better serve Friends for Life and those who are working closely with the AIDS community and bring to light those who died — which is really what today is about — and also helps to bring resources and energy to the fight, the more the better,” Breckenridge said.
The Memphis metropolitan area has one of the highest HIV infection rates in the South, and the disease is spreading quickly among the area’s large African-American population. Skip Howard, a lifelong First Baptist member who has planned the World AIDS Day event for the past five years, said Greater Lewis Street’s involvement in the project is key to raising the issue’s visibility in the black community — where AIDS and sexuality often remain taboo topics.
Calloway Rogers (left) and First Baptist Associate Pastor Carol McCall Richardson place AIDS markers Nov. 22. (First Baptist Church/Skip Howard)
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“It’s very important [that Greater Lewis Street is involved], because there is so much incidence of HIV and AIDS in the African-American community,” he said. “So, for an African-American church to stand up and say, ‘This is how we do mission, this is how we minister, this is how we show compassion … I think it speaks volumes.
“I think it speaks volumes that you have a predominantly African-American church and a predominantly white church joining hands across the street” as well, Howard added. “In Memphis, Tenn., for any black and white churches to join hands across any project, it’s still kind of like, ‘Wow!’”
Breckenridge echoed that sentiment. “The symbol of the predominantly African-American church coming together with the predominantly Caucasian church around anything in Memphis carries some weight,” he said.
The pastor — who participated in the reading ceremony along with the rest of the First Baptist ministerial staff and Howard — said he was affected in unexpected ways by the experience of actually reading the names of those who had succumbed to the virus.
“When you put up the markers, that’s a very powerful experience itself — because every marker represents a life,” Breckenridge said. “And not only the life of the individual, but the family members and friends who grieve their loss.
“But then when you read names, that just brings it together at, I think, an even deeper personal level. Because the markers mean less, you know — it’s anonymous. When you start saying someone’s name, you really stop and consider that life. And when you read your own name — first names — or when you read the name that’s also the name of a family member and someone you know and someone you love, a face comes to mind, and it really brings to mind the depth of this tragedy and struggle.”
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Robert Marus is managing editor and Washington bureau chief for Associated Baptist Press.
Previous ABP story:
Black, white Memphis congregations confront barriers on World AIDS Day (11/30/2004)