Evangelicals spread the word of AIDS victims at home

''The evangelical church has pretty much had fingers in our ears, hands over our eyes, and mouths shut completely," said Kay Warren, whose interest in HIV and AIDS led her husband to sponsor the conference.

''We're not comfortable talking about sex in general," she added, ''and certainly not comfortable about talking about homosexuality -- and you can't talk about HIV without talking about both of those things."

Saddleback, with 22,000 members, is not alone in its newfound domestic focus. A small but growing number of evangelical Christians are focusing on homegrown AIDS ministries.

Churches have realized that AIDS isn't a ''gay disease," and that it cannot be easily labeled, even in the United States, said Doug McConnell, dean of the School of Intercultural Studies at Fuller Theological Seminary, based in California.

Interest in domestic ministries involving the disease has steadily grown in the past five years, McConnell added.

McConnell said some evangelicals began asking, ''We're involved overseas . . . so why aren't we involved here?' This is a relatively recent awareness, and it's come primarily from the devastating effects AIDS has had on Africa," he said.

Harry Knox, director of the religion and faith programs at the Human Rights Campaign Foundation, a leading gay-rights organization, said he welcomed the outreach effort, as long as it was not judgmental about the afflicted.

''For far too long, many radical right pastors have mischaracterized the disease for their own political purposes," he said. ''It is good news that evangelicals are now embracing people with HIV and AIDS to help us get our needs met."

Alan Witchey, executive director of AIDS Services Foundation Orange County, said Saddleback Church helped collect $5,000 in food for HIV and AIDS patients last year, and was doing it again this year. He said the help was welcome because his organization is too small to collect so much food on its own.