On Eve of War, O.C. Residents Turn to Prayer : Reaction: People have peace on their lips, but in their hearts, they fear that its time has passed and that fighting is inevitable.

With a grim acknowledgment that war is all but inevitable, both supporters and opponents of U.S. military intervention in the Persian Gulf found common ground in prayer in Orange County on Tuesday.

Just hours before the United Nations’ deadline for Iraqi troops to withdraw from Kuwait, about 30 men, women and children gathered on the sidewalk in front of the federal building in Santa Ana Civic Center.

“We think the debate is over. It’s time for us to pray,” said the Rev. Craig K. Miller, pastor of Santiago Hills Community Church, who favored giving economic sanctions more time to work rather than resorting to war.

“Rather than an anti-war demonstration, this is more praying for our country and praying for peace,” said Miller, who organized the prayer and candlelight vigil, inviting members of the congregations of 50 United Methodist churches in the Santa Ana District.

But Miller was not optimistic about the chances of peace.

“I think we’re probably going to go to war,” he said.

Sentiments within the United Methodist Church differ according to age, Miller said.

“The difference is between people who have had the Vietnam experience and those who have had the World War II experience,” he said. Those who lived through World War II “see more need to use force to . . . answer the situation.”

As the small group prayed, two girls held up signs for passing motorists.

“God Works Miracles, Pray for Peace” read the placard held by Kim McCallum, 17, of Whittier.

“It is the only way that I think peace is going to come,” she said.

Standing next to her was Scott McDougle, a 31-year-old Irvine real estate broker, whose placard carried a different point of view: “No Less Than Unconditional Surrender and Democracy in Iraq.”

“I really support the President’s policy,” McDougle said. “But I don’t think he needs my support down here in Orange County.”

As for those praying just a few feet from him, McDougle said: “I’m all for them. I’m praying myself. But I think it’s beyond hopes and prayers.”

Among those praying was Cliff Churn, district director of the United Methodist Church’s Peace With Justice Committee.

“I’ve been through . . . World War II, the Korean War and Vietnam, and I’ve never seen anything quite like this,” Churn said. “It’s unique. We had the opportunity to contemplate the act of starting a war. . . . Usually wars come in the night . . . all of a sudden,” he said.

Churn said that while he believes that the leadership of the United Methodist Church is “very strong anti-war, pro-peace,” that most of the church’s congregations are probably more inclined to support military action against Iraq. But Churn said once the fighting starts, anti-war sentiment will mushroom.

“Those who are wait and see, those who have been wishy-washy, are going to firm up in a hurry,” he predicted.

In La Habra, most of the 475 students at Our Lady of Guadalupe School in La Habra--ranging from kindergarten to eighth grade--support using military force against Iraq, according to seventh-grade teacher Deanna O’Keefe.

Nevertheless, all of the children joined in an afternoon prayer and song vigil for peace, which O’Keefe organized Tuesday.

The children filed into the adjoining church with the song “Give Peace a Chance” playing on the loudspeaker, then recited a “prayer for Saddam Hussein and George Bush,” according to a program for the vigil.

“We at school have been very, very aware of the crisis and have been praying and letter-writing (to servicemen) the entire time,” O’Keefe said. “A lot of kids have received letters back. They know the costs of war. We don’t want to frighten them, but we want them to know their prayers help.”

The children have been affected by the crisis, she said. “When writing a letter a couple weeks ago, one of the little girls cried and said, ‘What if my soldier dies?’ They are concerned.”

Most of the students believe that war is inevitable, O’Keefe said.

“The majority feel that yes, we should go to war,” O’Keefe said. “We are praying for peace until the very last minute.”

Eighth-grader Kevin Fremgen, 13, said he is among the minority on campus who still believes that war will be averted. But if the United States were to back off without Iraqi forces withdrawing from Kuwait, Kevin said, “all those little countries would probably lose faith in us. So we have to do something.”

Another eighth-grader, Damon Tomeo, 14, said he strongly supports military action.

“We should go to war,” Damon said. “We should just blow them away. It shouldn’t be like Vietnam. . . . I would like to have peace, but if we go to war, we support them.”

Both boys agreed that unless Iraqi forces withdraw from Kuwait, war is inevitable.

“Saddam would have to get out (to avoid war),” Damon said. “But it’s kind of hard for him to get out in the position he is in.”

The school’s vigil concluded with the children standing hand-in-hand and swaying as they sang along to a recording of “We Are the World.”

Earlier in the day in Laguna Hills, about 30 people gathered for a peace demonstration organized by Concerned Citizens for Peace, a Leisure World club, at the intersection of El Toro Road and Moulton Parkway.

Several demonstrators held a 20-foot banner that read: “The people are speaking, Mr. President: No war.”

Rhea Schanben, 67, held aloft an American flag in front of another sign proclaiming “Peace Is Patriotic.”

As military aircraft from the nearby El Toro Marine Corps Air Station zoomed overhead, the demonstrators urged motorists to honk their horns if they support a peaceful resolution to the crisis in the Persian Gulf.

Concerned Citizens Co-Chairman Bernard Feldman said the Leisure World peace club had distributed 12,000 postcards asking Orange County residents to urge President Bush to “give sanctions a chance.”

At the Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove, the doors were open until midnight for communal candlelight prayer. Pastor Robert K. Schuller and seven other pastors were available for personal counseling.

And exactly at 9 p.m. PST Tuesday, as the U.N.-imposed deadline passed, the bells in the carillon of Immanuel Lutheran Church in Orange rang out “God Bless America.”

Times staff writer Davan Maharaj contributed to this story.