Judges' Comments
2008 Interview with Steve Haas and Lisa Hartman
1. Did you notice any significant changes in the applications between this year and last year?
Lisa: Steve and I had no idea what to expect this year. When Bill Hybels stood up at the Leadership Summit last year and invited hundreds of churches to apply for the 2008 award and announced that the prize money had been doubled, we honestly expected to be buried in applications. As the deadline came and went, we found that we had gotten significantly fewer applications than we had the year before. In addition to that, over half of them were international churches, most of which were located in Africa. While we were admittedly disappointed with the number of applications, as we began to read through them, we realized that the bar had been raised and that the work we were reading about this year was significant and more holistic in nature. Both the Working Committee and the Selection Committee evaluating the applications were incredibly encouraged by what local churches are doing and in many cases, were challenged by the creativity and commitment that those churches had dedicated to fighting AIDS. As We post the stories of the winning churches on the CLA website, our hope is that lots of churches will be inspired by what they read and that they will see that no matter what their size or amount of resources available, they can still have an impact, and God calls them to do so.
2. What did this year’s applications tell you about the current involvement of local churches in the fight against AIDS?
Steve: The fight is growing and the Church is becoming savvier in its tactics. So many worthy choices this year are a signal to us that churches are taking the responsibility outlined in James 1:27 to serve the orphan and widow seriously. We saw churches that were finding their compassionate nitch and really bearing down on a critical part of the AIDS battle, be it working with orphans, doing prevention education or raising up caregivers to assist with those infected and affected with the HIV virus.
There is less “Lone Ranger: Do it yourself—go it alone” mentality and more community cohesion as the ignorance and stigma is replaced by education and Spirit-led inspiration. We read of a number of churches whose strategy has been to creatively widen the circle of those involved on the AIDS front in their own region and this gave the judges tremendous hope as AIDS overwhelms the efforts of a single church or institution. As one might expect the community impact of churches drawing near to one another and other community institutions has created a whole level of Christian responsiveness to issues that reaches far beyond the reasons that brought them together in the first place.
As always we were deeply moved by the plight of churches where the AIDS pandemic has created a deadly toll on their own doorstep. The calamity of this disease creates a clarion call to the Church to be alert and responsive.
3. What was the most difficult part about choosing the winners this year?
Lisa: That question has a very easy answer ... Originally, the CLA was created to honor what we referred to as “resourcing” churches—churches that were releasing resources to churches or organizations that were working on the front lines of the AIDS pandemic. Our hope was to inspire other local churches to move massive amounts of resources to the front lines, empowering those engaged in the day-to-day battle. What we found this year is that a large number of “front line” churches applied and it made it very difficult to evaluate resourcing and front line churches next to each other. We weren’t comparing apples to apples.
Steve: The amazing thing was recognizing that these are the many faces of the Church. We are one body and that as a global community we celebrate each other’s victories and feel real sadness when our members are impacted as they are currently with the toll taken due to the AIDS virus.
4. Will there be a CLA 2009?
Lisa: There will most definitely be a CLA 2009 and there will most likely be some significant changes. One idea that is being discussed is the possibility of having two winners; one from a resourcing church and one from a front line church. In addition, we would also continue to have two runners up and honorable mention churches. We’re also hoping to raise more money so that we can honor more churches and move more resources to the front lines.
Steve: I was told by so many church leaders that they didn’t respond due to who were the winners last season. I had to agree the bar was set high, but this wasn’t due to the size of a church, its budget, or the location God had placed them. Any church was in the running for this coveted prize and the only limiting factor was filling out an application and sending it in.
I have a distinct sense there will be congregations across the country that will second guess their reasons for not entering and realize that an application is another opportunity to tell the story of the greatest army of compassionate response moving against the greatest humanitarian threat of our time. As one church leader went to great effort to communicate to me, “it’s not about the prize ... it’s about the Church being the Church!”
It’s our hope that we overwhelm the judges for this award with churches, large and small listening to the drumbeat of God’s love and compassion, reaching out to those who have found themselves engaged with this deadly virus. We’re just getting started!
