9: AIDS Energy | When We All Get to Heaven

Dec 3, 2025

Reverend Jim Mitolsky, former Pastor of the Metropolitan Community Church in San Francisco, shares stories from the AIDS crisis and its aftermath. He discusses the transformative impact of antiretroviral treatments, which shifted the community from despair to hope. Jim highlights the church's bold activism, including medical marijuana distribution and addressing homelessness. He reflects on the challenges of balancing faith and social justice amid community backlash and personal sacrifices, ultimately revealing the complex legacy of AIDS energy in activism.

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INSIGHT

Medical Breakthrough Reshaped Community Life

The 1995 protease inhibitor (the 'AIDS cocktail') transformed AIDS from a death sentence into a survivable condition for many people.
That medical shift created a complex emotional aftermath of relief, delayed grief, survivor's guilt, and renewed possibility for activism.

ANECDOTE

Hospice Unready For Recovery

Justin Tannis recounts hospice staff unprepared to discharge people who suddenly became well after treatment.
That scene symbolized how hope was hard to accept after repeated disappointments during the epidemic.

INSIGHT

Diverse Faith Built A Queer Christianity

MCC San Francisco attracted diverse believers and created a queer Christianity rooted in inclusion and shared experience.
That theological openness let people from wide backgrounds learn from each other and build authentic community.

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In 1996 everything changed. With the introduction of antiretroviral medications called the “AIDS cocktail,” people started getting better – some dramatically – and surviving AIDS became a real possibility. In the wake of these changes, MCC found itself taking stock of what they lost to AIDS and using what they learned to address larger social issues– from medical marijuana to homelessness. Sometimes these political stances felt heroic and a way to use that collective energy, and other times it made the church very unpopular with the changing Castro neighborhood.

“Freedom is Coming” is by Anders Nyberg.

“All Things New” is by Rory Cooney.

“Blessed Assurance” is by Franny Crosby.

“Gloria (Angels We Have Heard on High” is a traditional Christmas hymn.

“The Potter’s House” is by V. Michael McKay.

For images and links about this episode visit https://www.heavenpodcast.org/episode-9.

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Production credits:

When We All Get to Heaven is produced by Eureka Street Productions. It is co-created by Lynne Gerber, Siri Colom, and Ariana Nedelman. Our story editor is Sayre Quevedo. Our sound designer is David Herman. Our managing producer is Krissy Clark. Tim Dillinger is our consulting producer and Betsy Towner Levine is our fact-checker. We had additional story editing help from Sarah Ventre, Arwen Nicks, Allison Behringer, and Krissy Clark. For a complete list of credits, please visit https://www.heavenpodcast.org/credits.

This project received generous support from individual donors, the Henry Luce Foundation (www.hluce.org), the E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Foundation, and California Humanities, a non-profit partner of the National Endowment for the Humanities (www.CalHum.org).

Eureka Street Productions has 501c3 status through our fiscal sponsor FJC: A Foundation of Philanthropic Funds.

The music for this episode is from the Metropolitan Community Church of San Francisco’s archive. It was performed by MCC-SF’s musicians and members with Bob Crocker and Jack Hoggatt-St.John as music directors. Additional music is by Domestic BGM.

Special thanks to Tom Ammiano, Tommi Avicolli-Mecca, Stuart Gaffney, John Lewis, Dr. Jen Reck, Matt Sharp, and Dana Van Gorder for their help with this episode.

Great thanks, as always, to the members and clergy of the Metropolitan Community Church of San Francisco who made this project possible.