People of many backgrounds gather to remember loved ones lost. •

your feelings of love in a creative
way," said Peter Cooper, who
served on the Candlelight Pro-
grarii Committee. 'The quilt rep-
resents not only people who have
died, but people who cared for
them."
The Rev. Jane Adams Spahr
of the Downtown United Pres-
byterian Church in Rochester,
N.Y., delivered the sermon. She
spoke of characters from the
Book ofDaniel — Shadrach, Me-
shach and Nabednego — whom
King Nebuchadnezzar ordered
thrown into a fiery furnace as
punishment for not bowing to a
golden image. In their final mo-
ments the men were delivered by
an angel sent from God.
"God will be with you in the
fiery furnaces," Rev. Spahr told
the congregants. "We will define
who we are. We will live as who
we are. And we will live for as
long as we can."
This year's vigil is the third
held at a religious institution. In
1991, the event took place at
Temple Emanu-El, but prior to

that, organizers found
synagogues and churches
leery about the idea, said
Marilyn Bergt, executive
director of the AIDS In-
terfaith Network.
"It was a real fight in
the beginning to find a
place," she said. 'The reli-
gious community has been
the slowest in responding
to AIDS, but it has been
the first to condemn and
judge."
"The key issue," said
Ms. Bergt, "is that people
are sick. A virus causes it.
If a religious institution
condemns the person with
AIDS, then it has to con-
demn the person with
lung cancer ...
"The whole purpose of
this vigil is for all people
to be together in a sup-
portive environment
where they won't be
judged, where they can safely
talk and cry about a loved one
who has died." 0

--N:gg.%Nqz,T7z7,

Ron Tioran and Debi
Lamb sing in hope for
a cure for AIDS.

01

Vigil participants
unroll a section of the
AIDS quilt.

LLJ

33

