Churches' Responses to HIV/AIDS in Two South African Communities

Churches have attracted controversy for how they have dealt with AIDS: they have been criticized for moral stigmatism, yet lauded for their charitable works. Our purpose was to examine what churches were doing at the grass-roots level to deal with the impact of AIDS on their communities. This study was conducted in a rural area and an urban area outside of Durban, South Africa, a region with high HIV prevalence rates. We examined 2 indigenous churches (Shembe and Zionist) and one international church (Roman Catholic) in each community. We found that there was a widespread awareness of AIDS among church leaders and community members, and that churches were used as health resources by their members, yet no AIDS programs were run by any of the churches in the study locations. We argue that 4 key characteristics dictated the churches' responses to AIDS: resources, organizational structure, cultural appeal, and discipline. There are distinct advantages to partnering with churches for AIDS programming, yet significant complexities to navigating a meaningful dialogue with them also exist.