To: San Antonio Pastors & Ministry

From: Pastor Gerald Ripley

Subject: I am blowing the trumpet!

                                                     updated 8/24/11

Dear Esteemed Colleague:

I am blowing the trumpet. I am sounding the alarm. This is a summons to battle.

The proposed San Antonio budget for 2012 includes for the first time some $300,000 to extend medical benefits to about 50 same-gender domestic partners ( which means homosexuals).

This, in its moral essence, amounts to an attack on the sacred institution of marriage.

If we can unite in being voices for marriage, and each of us can successfully motivate a number of our congregation members to contact their District Council Member, we may be able to defeat this proposed action and repulse this attack on marriage.

If we become voices for marriage and the funding is included anyway, at least it will be registered in eternity that we did speak up.

The dots got connected for me after 4:00 Monday afternoon (Aug. 15) and my District 10 Budget Hearing was being held at 6:30 that same night. I really didn’t want to go. I had tentative plans to spend some recreation time with my adult son.

After I somewhat grumpily admitted to myself that my excuse for not going was insufficient to quell my nonperformance of responsibility, I decided to go and I spoke against the inclusion of benefits for unmarried partners. A copy of my hastily prepared remarks is available on the website www.gathering-sa.org

If we don’t speak up now and register our moral disapproval, it seems very unlikely that we would be able to reverse the action in the future.

Crunch time is already here. Districts 3 and 5 will also have their Budget Hearings this week (August 17&18). Districts 1, 2, 6, 7, 8, and 9 meet next week. District 4 has the last meeting on August 29th.

I am asking you to do four things if at all possible.

1. Attend and speak at the Budget Hearing in your City Council District or send someone authorized to speak on your behalf. A list of meeting dates is attached. The usual time allotted is 3 minutes per speaker.
2. Attend the public hearing on Wednesday, August 31st at 6:00 p.m. at Municipal Plaza Building (114 W. Commerce) or authorize someone to represent you. Kindly e-mail me that you plan to attend and put Aug. 31 and your District # in the subject line and your name and congregation in the message.
   • email to "nmadvocate @ yahoo.com" (take out the space before and after the @)
   • For example: Aug. 31 – District 10
   • Pastor Gerald Ripley – Abundant Life Church
   • (Is it merely a coincidence this meeting is on a Wednesday night? If you can't use a guest speaker, please have someone attend and be your representative at this key meeting.)
3. Get commitments from at least 5 to 10 of your members to contact their District Council Member by e-mail or letter. A page of talking/writing points is attached. This is especially critical in Districts 1-7.
4. Forward this page to your circles of influence – pastoral and congregational. A follow-up phone call to two of them would be great.

Thank you very much for everything you are able to do!

Your Fellow Servant in God’s Kingdom in San Antonio,

Gerald Ripley

Revision 8/22/11