Development charity Tearfund is set to hold a conference for churches to promote awareness of the global HIV and Aids pandemic on Saturday 15 March.

The conference is part of a wider awareness programme by Tearfund and is co-hosted with The Kerith Centre, Bracknell.

The event's main speaker will be Kay Warren, Executive Director of the HIV initiative at Saddleback Church, California.

Mrs Warren, the wife of best-selling Purpose Driven author Rick Warren, has said that there will be no end to Aids unless the church responds, describing this as "the greatest opportunity for the church to be the church".

Tearfund has produced a resource for churches seeking to understand the HIV and Aids pandemic, and showing them how they can respond practically.

Tearfund believes the church has a crucial role to play in addressing the need within the local church community in the UK and engaging with the issues globally through partnerships with church programmes in the developing world.

"As you learn about HIV and engage your church, people living with HIV will be touched and changed," said Mrs Warren. "You will be the hands and feet of Jesus in the world.

"This practical resource is biblically based and refreshingly practical. It will guide you and your church through a life-changing endeavour that will leave you seriously disturbed and gloriously ruined. It will require a response to God's call to care."

The conference will draw on global perspectives and biblical truth with the realisms of today's culture, said Tearfund. It will both communicate and challenge, seeking to provide clarity and context for UK churches today and why Christians must not ignore the opportunity.

The booklet resource 'HIV- how your church can respond' lifts the lid on the surrounding issues with practical advice and responses for churches to reach out with care and support.

As well as drawing on the views and experience of church pastors in sub-Saharan Africa - one of the regions where HIV is most prolific, it looks at the rate of UK infections, currently some 73,000, and the increase among ethnic communities and others groups across the country.

The booklet contains a Bible study, a focus for prayer, an ice breaker quiz and further reading.

"It's our vision to stop the spread of HIV by 2015 in the poorest places where we work," says Matthew Frost, Tearfund CEO. "We are convinced that local churches are God's chosen tool for making this happen. The church has to take a stand and bring a message of hope and practical care to those affected. With the right approach HIV is preventable and manageable."

Tearfund has over the last 10 years partnered with churches and Christian organisations worldwide to reduce the spread of Aids.

Their financial support and training for compassionate Christians has been used to bring hope to orphaned and vulnerable children, while overcoming stigma and shame.

The agency said that raising awareness of HIV was essential around the world, and in the UK where new HIV diagnoses have doubled annually since 2000.

"HIV isn't just a problem for communities thousands of miles away - all too often it's a problem on the doorstep of a UK church," said Tearfund.