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Churches must mobilize the poor to become politically involved in the fight for low-income housing and shelters for the homeless. The battle must be waged on two fronts: grassroots action to improve the condition of the homeless on a day to day basis, and political lobbying to bring real pressure to bear on politicians, since there is no constituency of voters concerned with housing. These two tactics sometimes undermine one another, as the first engenders righteous self-satisfaction and the other neglects daily compassion for the sake of systemic reform., [EDITOR'S NOTE: George Todd has spent his ministry supporting efforts by the urban poor to organize for power. A Presbyterian minister, his work has ranged from time on the staff [...]

Political activism requires a kind of faith, but not resignation. The AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT UP) organized a protest in which the ashes of people who had died of AIDS were brought to the White House, and distributed bumper stickers and T-shirts urging voters to reject President Bush. Grief and anger fuse to generate political rage, and it is this rage which sustains activism in the face of crushing personal tragedy for so many of ACT UP's members. Activism, in turn, helps to keep them alive., I will surely gather you, O Jacob, I will gather the survivors of Israel; I will set them together like sheep in a fold, like a flock in its pasture; [...]

The second generation of gay, bisexual and lesbian seminary students are confronting challenges very different from their forbears but no less acute. The personal experiences of the first generation of openly gay and lesbian seminary students reveal a much more difficult struggle coming out of the closet than that faced by students today. The level of shame and isolation described by the first generation is much greater than that experienced by students raised with support groups and psychological, political and spiritual leadership.

The scope and trajectory of the AIDS catastrophe is extremely disheartening yet those with the disease and those who organize support for them find empowerment in political action. The disenfranchised have yet to experience such empowerment. The AIDS National Interfaith Network has approached 22 religious organizations with memberships over one million and can count on support for progressive AIDS policy from only one third of them.