New Book Offers Uncommon Hope In Midst of HIV/AIDS Pandemic

Author Joshua Love, whose workshops are underwritten by the Elton John AIDS Foundation, has penned "Uncommon Hope" an HIV/AIDS curriculum for use by community groups, PWAs, non-profits and faith organizations. End Quote

San Francisco, CA (1888PressRelease) December 18, 2009 - "HIV and AIDS have never been about the body alone. They are conditions of the body, mind, and spirit. They cross the depths of despair, soar on clouds of uncommon hope, and sit in hushed silence while time passes and no cure is forthcoming," says Joshua L. Love, a survivor of HIV/AIDS and drug addiction.

Love's new book, Uncommon Hope, which became available on December 1, 2009 (World AIDS Day), is inspired by people whose lives are affected by HIV and AIDS.

Love found a journey to emotional and spiritual healing through faith, which led him to his current position as director of the Metropolitan Community Churches (MCC) Global HIV/AIDS Ministry and to oversee MCC's Drug and Addictions Literacy Program.

Love says, "Uncommon Hope unveils a strategy to end the silence and inaction by community groups, PWAs, activists, people of faith both in and out of organized religious communities, and nonprofit agencies who feel called to partner in the work of bringing an end to HIV and AIDS. This step-by-step curriculum allows them to engage volunteers and employees in advocacy, public action, and social support of people living with and affected by HIV and AIDS.

"We can do a lot to diminish the suffering of people living with HIV and AIDS and the unnecessary deaths caused by limited access to healthcare and support services. Community groups, non-profits, local churches and faith-based organizations are often the support system of last resort for vulnerable people. We need to be equipped to act," says Love.

Dr. Donald E. Messer, author of Breaking the Conspiracy of Silence, said, “Metropolitan Community Churches was addressing the HIV and AIDS crisis before most other denominations were. While others were silent or condemning, MCC was on the forefront of offering Christ's inclusive love and compassion. Those of us in other denominations need to listen to and learn from MCC, as well as express our gratitude for their selfless ministry over the years."

Executive Director of the Center for Church and Global AIDS, Dr. Messer added, "In Joshua Love, MCC has an articulate and winsome spokesperson and leader. This superb curriculum, Uncommon Hope, will bless your life and your faith-based and community organizations, and your communities in which they serve."

Joshua L. Love is a survivor of HIV and drug addiction, an activist in the Gay Men's Health Movement, and is committed to serving people where HIV/AIDS and addiction support services are unavailable or limited by extreme poverty and religious oppression. Love presented at the American Sociological Association 2009 Annual Conference, was published in IAPAC+, a publication of the International Association of Physicians in AIDS Care (Spring 2007), and produced the documentary We Who Are One Body: A Spiritual Walk with AIDS. He is a clergy candidate with Metropolitan Community Churches and is completing his Master of Divinity at Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

In 2010, he will release a second book, Deconstructing Meth, funded by the Elton John AIDS Foundation. Love travels the world to share a message of hope and spiritual renewal through preaching, workshops, and retreats.

About Uncommon Hope
Uncommon Hope offers a dynamic, small-group curriculum designed to support people of in answering the call to end the silence and inaction magnifying the human suffering and death wrought by HIV and AIDS. Whether your community group or faith-based organization is just beginning to engage in HIV/AIDS service or has a long history in the work, Uncommon Hope provides tools and experiences to foster the development of spiritual responses that are authentic to your community, consistent with the core teachings of all major faith traditions, and respectful of the rich diversity reflected in the lives most impacted by the HIV/AIDS pandemic.

Uncommon Hope is open to and inclusive of all people living with HIV and AIDS, whether they are infected in the body or affected as concerned and caring community members. The program is a progressive, multi-unit curriculum packaged in six chapters, each comprising a combination of educational tools, engaged learning, public action, and social support. Participants are afforded the opportunity to acquire new skills and insight at each stage of the process: Awareness, Truths, Radical Change, and Inspiration.

If you hunger to minister at the true intersection of justice, mercy, compassion and hope, then read the pages of Uncommon Hope.

Please contact 1-866-HOPE MCC (4673-622) or email FranklinCalvin ( @ ) MCCchurch dot net for more information dot

To arrange media interviews with author Joshua Love, or to request a media review copy of Uncommon Hope, e-mail LGBTmediagroup ( @ ) aol dot com or contact Jim Birkitt at (310) 272-3046 dot

About Metropolitan Community Churches (MCC)
Metropolitan Community Churches, founded in 1968, is a human-rights movement and ministry operating as a Christian denomination in 25 countries around the world. MCC has often been and continues to be a leading advocate for vulnerable people in places where religious orthodoxy, sexism, and homophobia can result in violence and death. MCC's promise is stated in its tagline "Tearing Down Walls. Building Up Hope."

For more information about MCC visit: http://www.MCCchurch.org.

For more about MCC’s Global HIV/AIDS Ministry visit: http://www.MCCgham.org/.

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