Services a Blend of Faith, Hope and Patriotism : Religion: The war is the topic of sermons and tributes at churches throughout the Valley, as relatives and friends of those serving in the Persian Gulf pray for their loved ones’ safety.

Before Mass began at Santa Rosa Catholic Church in San Fernando on Sunday, parishioners gathered before the altar to read the names of 97 young men and women whose photos are pasted and taped to a black slab of poster board affixed to a six-foot cross.

The photos--of soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines in service uniforms--were posted by relatives of young men and women now half a world away.

Some parishioners pointed out people they knew--such as Jose L. Torres, Ruben Carranza, Jess Cruz and Francisco Diaz--while others muttered silent prayers and made the sign of the cross.

From the barrios of San Fernando to the neatly trimmed lawns of Chatsworth, churchgoers across the San Fernando Valley on Sunday prayed for the safe return of their sons and daughters, husbands and wives.

At a church in Pacoima, the walls shook with the joyous songs of gospel music, belying the anxiety and fear of those who rocked and swayed to the beat. In Chatsworth, religious hymns were preempted by the national anthem and “America the Beautiful.” And in Sun Valley, a Bible scholar dissected the war, examining the conflict in academic terms.

But at Santa Rosa Catholic Church, which has sent more than 100 young men and women to war, parishioners looked not for explanations or justifications. They just wanted their children to come home safely.

Written in Spanish on the beam of the six-foot cross was the phrase, “Pray for our youth in the Persian Gulf.” At the top was a dove along with the word paz , Spanish for peace.

At one point in the service, parishioners Lino Murillo and Rosalie Castillo stood before the cross and read each name aloud:

“Tony Delgadillo . . . Jose De La Cruz . . . Juan Franco . . . Carlos Gonzalez. . . .”

After each name, the congregation responded: “Lord, protect them.”

At Grace Community Church of the Valley in Sun Valley, Pastor John MacArthur sought to explain the Gulf War within a biblical framework to the 3,000 parishioners gathered in the cavernous meeting hall.

The sand dunes where troops are poised for battle are the places of history and prophecy. The Garden of Eden, the birthplace of man, is said to have flourished in the Tigris-Euphrates Valley in what is now Iraq.

From Joshua forcefully taking the promised land from the Canaanites to Moses ordering the Levites to slaughter the disbelievers, the Bible teaches that war is sometimes necessary to destroy evil in the world, MacArthur said.

“War is God’s ultimate, but reluctant, weapon,” MacArthur said.

Across the Valley at Shepherd of the Hills Church in Chatsworth, Pastor Jess Moody served up equal helpings of faith and apple-pie patriotism in his sermon at the church’s temporary quarters, a community center gymnasium.

“We’re talking God and country today,” he said as the congregation recited the Pledge of Allegiance before diving into “The Star-Spangled Banner.” Later, the choir belted out “God Bless the U.S.A.,” written for Ronald Reagan’s 1984 presidential reelection campaign.

Moody, who protested the Vietnam War two decades ago, said the Persian Gulf conflict is different from Vietnam because Saddam Hussein poses a clear-cut threat to the stability of the Middle East and the world. “If this war is ended today, we’ve delayed Saddam Hussein 15 years.”

At Moody’s request, two dozen congregants with relatives or friends stationed in the Persian Gulf stood. Then veterans, many with gray hair and expanding paunches, joined those standing and prayed silently in clusters of four or five. Women cried. Men stood stoically. Children too young to understand looked around the gymnasium.

Elizabeth Tucker, whose 20-year-old son and 37-year-old brother shipped out to the gulf in September, said she found solace in her faith. “It is only through prayer that I am able to make it,” she said. “It’s hard to accept that this is reality, that they can get killed.”

In Pacoima at Christ Memorial Church of God in Christ, the service began with joyous gospel music--the congregants clapping, swaying and waving their outstretched arms. But the mood changed when Bishop Benjamin J. Crouch called forward those with relatives in the Persian Gulf.

About 40 people streamed to the front of the church and put their arms around one another as the congregation joined hands. Crouch, the 75-year-old patriarch of the church, led a prayer. “Some of you here who are in the service will be going over soon,” he said.

Cassandra Young, an Army sergeant who oversees equipment delivery to the Middle East, is one of those who knows she could go at any time. “If things get too far out of hand, there’s a possibility we could still go out,” she said, glancing at her 13-year-old son, Marcus.

“Coming to church gives me a sense of peace because every day and at my job, all we talk about is the war,” Young said. “And going up to altar prayer, I feel like I get a special blessing and I feel comforted.”

But as the congregation prayed, it was Young who did the comforting, putting her arm around a sobbing Cathy Purdom, whose sister is an Army warrant officer stationed in the Middle East.