"Domestic Partners"

Honestly, I didn’t want to be there. In fact, I purposely arrived late to sign up to speak hoping my turn would come after the news media had long departed. I wasn’t interested in making the local news casts or the local paper. I simply wanted to speak to the school board about a decision I questioned. But alas, my desire to keep a low profile wasn’t to be. I was among the first to be called upon to speak at the PISD board meeting on October 18. So I stood up and shared with the school board my view of the superintendent’s decision to extend health benefits to “domestic partners”. Consequently my name and face and comments made the local news-cast of KXAN and the Austin American-Statesman. Several members of my church read the quote in the paper or saw me on the news cast. I had 3 minutes to speak at the board meeting, of which the media used only a snippet. I want the members of the church I pastor, and anyone else interested, to get a more complete picture of my perspective of the issue. Here’s what I want you to know about my views.

I want you to know that I was deeply dismayed at the way this decision was made. Many of the pastors in this community know the superintendent, Dr. Dupree, personally, and have a deep appreciation for the outstanding work he has done for PISD over the past 7 years. But I was shocked at the utter lack of communication regarding what the superintendent surely knew would be a controversial decision. The fourth “strategic goal” on the district website states: “PISD will develop and promote positive community relations through effective communication, the involvement of stakeholders…” There was absolutely no effort to involve the faith community, or any other part of the tax-paying citizens of PISD in this decision. As a 30 year tax-paying resident with 3 daughters, 2 nieces, and 1 nephew that went from kindergarten to graduation from PHS, and 2 nephews currently in middle school, I think I’m a stakeholder. It feels like this decision was made quietly, almost secretly behind closed doors, and then imposed on the community. The way this decision was made compromised my trust and confidence in the superintendent and the school board.

I want you to know that I see the issue as a complicated one. I don’t see it as an obvious black-and-white, right-or-wrong issue. I’ve experienced no small amount of inner turmoil and conflicting feelings and thoughts about the decision since it was announced. I’ve asked myself, “Would Jesus be against certain people receiving health benefits because they didn’t live up to biblical moral standards?” Surely there must have been a few “domestic partners” of one sort or another in the crowd of 5000 Jesus fed with 5 loaves and 2 fish. On the other hand, Jesus never approves of immorality and unequivocally upholds the sanctity of marriage (Matthew 19:3-9). So while on the one hand, I don’t want people denied health benefits based on biblical moral standards (after all, who among us lives up to those standards perfectly?). On the other hand, I don’t want the sanctity of marriage to be undermined or the public stamp of approval for immoral lifestyles to be forced on the entire community. It’s complicated.

I want you to know that I believe the decision in question does undermine the sanctity of marriage and that, in turn, is harmful to children. That’s not a biblical or religious view, it’s a well-documented fact. Numerous studies show that it’s the children that suffer most when marriage is compromised. One such non-partisan study done by the University of Virginia (no connection to any faith-based organization) demonstrates this with sobering statistical evidence. My point is that while the decision to extend insurance benefits to “domestic partners” will immediately benefit a few, it may in fact undermine the long-term welfare of many. Here’s the link to the UV study: http://nationalmarriageproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Union_11_12_10.pdf

While I do not believe the intent of the decision is to compromise the widely held value of marriage, I also believe that it will appear to give the school district’s “stamp of approval” on all types of “domestic partner” relationships equating them with marriage. That open approval will, in fact, undercut a dearly held value in this community. I believe the consequences on the community, and especially on children, will far outweigh the benefit.

Finally, I want you to know that I believe authentic Christians can, and often do, disagree on non-essentials of the faith. For me, this is one of those non-essentials. I know that some of my Christian brothers and sisters will disagree with me on this issue. I’m certain some in my own church members will disagree with my position. I want to be the kind of pastor that loves people whether they agree with me or not. I want to pastor a church that keeps “the main thing”, the main thing. And the “main thing” for Pflugerville Community Church is to proclaim the life-changing gospel of Jesus Christ. The gospel is not advice on how to live a moral life so we can be loved and accepted by God, but the announcement of good news… Jesus Christ, the Son of God, came from God to demonstrate His love for us and to make possible our forgiveness (and we all need forgiveness) and reconciliation with God through his cross. Advocating for good moral values is not the same thing as advocating for the gospel. I am for both.

Paige Benton Brown Article

Paige Benton Brown Article

The link posted above will take you to the article I quoted in the message this morning. I highly recommend it to all single Christians, and married Christians who want to better understand our single brothers and sisters.

Fort Mergard

Jim Mergard

 

PCC moved into our first building at 1214 Pfennig Lane 11 years ago this month the sanctuary looked very clean, very white, and very plain. The beautiful wood cross that now hangs over the baptistery wasn’t there yet. There were no banners, no wall-hangings, no blinds in the windows, and no sound booth in the back. Our sound guys ran the sound mixer and pc from a table in the back of the sanctuary. Jim Mergard, drummer, high-tech guru, first building committee chair, and the ultimate “git-r-done” guy assured me that he and his brother-in-law, Tim, would soon replace the raggedy table with a nice sound booth. Tim was a carpenter who lived in Phoenix, AZ. When his family visited the Mergards he was always eager to take on a project with Jim. Jim was originally an electrician, so he and Tim formed quite an efficient construction team. On one visit to Pflugerville Tim and Jim Construction Co. turned my garage into a playroom giving my family much needed additional living space. I’m sitting in that room now, under the ceiling fan Jim Mergard installed. I had no doubt they could handle the sound booth project.

On Tim’s subsequent visit Jim let me know they were ready to go to work on the sound booth project. It took them only one day to rough in the sound booth. After my strenuous work day of turning pages in my Greek Lexicon and tapping out sermon notes on my laptop I made my way from my office to the sanctuary to see how the guys were doing. The look on my face must have been humorous, because Jim immediately asked, “Is it bigger than you expected?”

“It’s a little bigger than I thought it would be,” I lied. Actually I was thinking, “Are you kidding? We just lost seating for 60 people for a sound booth? What the heck are you guys going to put in that thing? We needed a sound booth, not an apartment.” I can’t remember who coined the name “Fort Mergard”, but it stuck. And, as with all of Jim’s projects, he knew exactly what he was doing. Peak into Fort Mergard some Sunday and you’ll see that it’s packed with audio-visual equipment and pcs we use every Sunday.

Jim Mergard is a man of vision. Whether it be the sound booth, the audio-visual equipment, the church office phone system, the worship team, or the over-all direction of the church, Jim Mergard always had a visionary perspective. And, if Jim had an idea he was going to lead the work to get it done… often that meant doing the entire job alone. It wasn’t unusual for me to catch Jim working on something at the church after midnight… pulling wire for something or installing something. For the first few years Jim and his sons Brandon and Keith set up every chair in the sanctuary every Sunday. He designed the set-up pattern and printed a guide-book for later set-up teams to follow. For many years Jim was the glue that held our worship team together. For years Jim was the first person at the church every Sunday to unlock the doors and turn on the lights. And that barely scratches the surface of what Jim has meant to PCC for the last 16 years. No one has given more of himself to PCC than Jim Mergard.

 

Jim and his wife Annette are moving to California where I am certain they will continue to serve the Lord well. But I will miss them both and will always think of them as dear friends and co-workers in Christ. As long as Fort Mergard stands in our sanctuary I’ll remember Jim and Annette with a thankful heart .