PRC Welcomes New CEO

By Jim Day

On September 20th of 2004 a changing of the guard took place which didn’t make front page headlines in the Post-Dispatch…but should have. The Pregnancy Resource Centers of Greater St. Louis (PRC) welcomed their new President and CEO, Mark Dungan and his wife Judy. Mark and his wife attend First Evangelical Free Church on Carman Rd. in Manchester MO where Mark also serves as an elder of the church.

The son of a Baptist pastor, Mark grew up in rural Wisconsin. After graduating from Taylor University in Indiana with a BA in Political Science (where, incidentally, he met his wife Judy) he went on to obtain a law degree from George Mason University in Washington, D.C.

Early in his career, Mark became politically active serving from 1981 to 1993 as a Senior Research Analyst for the U.S. House of Representatives Republican Research Committee, Associate Minority Counsel for the House Committee on Agriculture, Legislative Director and Counsel for Republican Congressman Edward Madigan and Executive Assistant to the Secretary of Agriculture.

In 1993 Mark and Judy moved to St. Louis where he accepted the position of President and CEO of the New Uses Council, a 501c3 organization which promotes the development and commercialization of industrial uses of agricultural resources. After serving two years with the Council, Mark accepted a position with SmithBucklin, Inc., the world’s largest provider of management services to associations and other not-for-profit organizations. At SmithBucklin he served as the New Uses Program Manager for the United Soybean Board and left the company as the General Manager of the United Soybean Board’s Domestic Programs.

In reviewing Mark’s resume, it’s not hard to see that PRC has been blessed with a man who has a lot to offer for the future growth of the ministry.

During our interview Mark related that he had always been pro-life but hadn’t been what many would term a “pro-life activist.” Being the son of a pastor gave him a unique view of the Church and prompted him to start examining how the Church was impacting the community and the world at large. I asked Mark to explain how he saw the Church’s role in reaching out and making an impact on the culture. “I’ve always been a proponent of the Church’s responsibility to reach out beyond the narrow core value aspects of our faith and challenge the world around us with biblical truth, not just in the areas of business, economics or science, but in all areas of a Christian world view.” (To that I said “Amen.”)

Mark continued, “Sadly, the Evangelical church in America has, over the past 75 years, basically turned inward and, for the most part, ignored the culture. We have not had the kind of impact necessary to make a real difference for Christ in our culture and that’s been a driving force for my involvement. How are we to suppose to redeem the culture and make an impact for Christ if all we do is concentrate on internal church programs which focus us inwardly? We can’t.”

Obviously, Mark was energized about leading PRC forward and spoke about focusing on developing, as he put it, “a culture of life in the St. Louis area.” I asked him to explain what he meant by ‘a culture of life,’ “I’ve been here in St. Louis for about 11 years and have always heard and read that St. Louis was a great community to raise a family in – and it is! However, as I thought about the fact that we systematically destroy unborn babies to the tune of some 15,000 or more a year right here in the St. Louis area, I had a problem equating the term ‘family friendly’ with St. Louis. When you stop to think about it, there really isn’t a culture of life here. It’s more like a culture of death.”

I continued the questioning by asking him what he planned to do about the situation and he responded, “I’m meeting with the PRC board on the 30th of this month to discuss with them where I think we need to draw the line in the sand. Being a team builder, I believe we need a serious, concerted effort to collaborate with other pro-life organizations in our area to bring about a real change in our culture. There is no doubt in my mind that by working together, our combined efforts could replace St. Louis’ culture of death with a culture of life. The axiom ‘There is strength in numbers’ is true, and I know for a fact that there are many pro-life organizations such as Birthright and the Vitae Society along with thousands of caring, pro-life people here in our area with a sincere desire to turn this town around. The real strength however is in the Church and although we have many churches that support us, we need to expand that number dramatically if we are going to make this happen.”

I asked Mark whether or not affecting public policy would play a role in his plans. “Affecting public policy certainly must be part of the equation, he stated. “As far as the PRC’s involvement is concerned, we can be a source of information, coordinate with others, and be as supportive as we can of those who are involved in those areas, but we can’t actively lobby in accordance with our charter and mission as a 501c3 organization. Having spent as much time as I have in Washington, I know that elected officials must respond to their grass roots constituents if they want to stay in office. We intend to do everything we can to extend those roots as far as possible.”

In changing the subject, I asked Mark how he viewed PRC’s role within the community in relation to the Church. Without hesitation he responded, “I see PRC as an extension of the local church. In fact, we’re doing a part of what the local church is called to do. We’re reaching out to people in need, we’re reaching out with the Gospel, with help, with counseling, with loving arms, and to me that’s what the local church does and should be doing. I want the churches of St. Louis to know that I am going to be emphasizing the fact that as we work with them we will be working as if we were a part of them and that we intend to be perfectly transparent about what we do and how we do it. We want to partner with the churches of St. Louis and want to help them address issues within their bodies related to life issues.”

There was much, much more to this interview but unfortunately I didn’t have the space to relate all that we discussed. However, I intend to follow up with some of the issues Mark and I discussed in later issues of the MetroVoice.

Those interested in learning more about the Pregnancy Resource Centers of Greater St. Louis are encouraged to call them at (314) 783-3040 or visit their web site at www.prcmo.net.