A Little Mercy Would Have Gone A Long Way

Before continuing this post, a disclaimer.
I am a Christian. I am not a theologian or a total expert on the nuances of Christian doctrine. What I will write is my best understanding of God through Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost.
In an AOL news article http://news.aol.com, an evangelical church in Arlington, Texas was going to have a memorial service for a former veteran of the Gulf War. The day before as they were preparing for the memorial, the pastor found out something that he did not know. The man was gay. And, according to their understanding because the man lived an immoral lifestyle and having the memorial service would appear to condone the gay lifestyle, the family could not have the service at that church.
There is a lot about this story that is troubling. One, if this pastor, the Rev. Gary Simons, was doing a good pastoral job, he would have met with the family long before church staff found out while preparing a video tribute that Cecil Howard Sinclair was gay. The article does not make that clear. But, while church staff were preparing the video, they noticed men "showing affection, kissing and embracing." So, Rev. Simons should have known this before the staff were preparing for the memorial.
Mr. Sinclair's brother is a janitor at High Point Church. If the brother talked to Rev. Simons at all, there had to be a mention that Mr. Sinclair was gay.
Now, according to Rev. Simons, his church understands that homosexuality is sinful behavior. Many Christians would agree. The sexual act of homosexuality is the sin.
But there is another message of Christianity. And that is mercy.
The Rev. Simons missed an important opportunity to teach about mercy without condoning the act of homosexuality.
As I understand it, God and Jesus Christ do show mercy, even and especially for the worst of sinners. If one believes that homosexuality is a sin, that is fine. But, when one dies, it may not be the right time to turn away a family in grief. It is important to show mercy. The Rev. Simons would have been able to do a memorial service and even talk about the church's view on homosexuality with out compromise but showing the family what relationship with Jesus Christ is about. Not just the rules, which are very important, but how God shows mercy.
What Rev. Simons did was stand on principle. In and of itself there is nothing wrong with that. But, Rev. Simons gave every radical gay rights group a lot of ammo to condemn the Christian faith and especially evangelicals.
I would ask Rev. Simons this. Have you knowingly had memorials and or buried people you knew who were not Christians? Or have been notorious sinners who have not sought repentance? I think I know the answer.
An act of mercy by allowing the service and being able to expand on the doctrine of mercy would have been so much better.
This is why so many non-Christians and liberal Christians have open season on well meaning people like Rev. Simons. He believed so much that having a memorial for one who was gay and did have a "life partner" would have been more grievous and bad to God than showing the mercy of God by having a memorial means Rev. Simons is too tied to doctrine.
The church needs good people. It needs to remind people what sin is all about. But, there is a time and place for it all. This was not one of them.