In contrast to the common belief that...

In contrast to the common belief that all fundamentalist Christians fully support anti-abortion protests, the Rev. John MacArthur of the large Grace Community Church in Sun Valley presents a significant counter-influence in conservative evangelical circles.

MacArthur--known for books and broadcasts sharply criticizing, among other things, Pentecostal churches and marketing gimmicks to attract people to church--has been quietly opposing the arrest-courting tactics of Operation Rescue, which include blocking abortion clinic entrances.

The battle against abortion is a spiritual one, says the pastor, who preaches to nearly 8,000 people each Sunday and is president of The Master’s College in Newhall.

“Violent and illegal acts only benefit the enemy,” MacArthur wrote in the foreword to a recently published book by Beaumont, Tex., physician James L. Holly, “A Matter of Life and Death.”

The book decries, with arguments from the Bible, the violence in the anti-abortion movement and “should be required reading for all Christians active in the pro-life movement,” MacArthur wrote.

“Public protests, sit-ins, demonstrations and other forms of media exploitation cannot ultimately overturn the spiritual malaise that has made society tolerant of abortions,” MacArthur wrote. “Only a widespread revival will achieve that.

“Political victories are too short-lived. . . . Even legislation outlawing abortion--as desirable as that is--is only a partial solution.”

MacArthur recommended that Christians open their homes to unwed mothers, provide financial assistance for women with unwanted pregnancies, work with organizations that find families willing to adopt and support evangelical-based crisis pregnancy centers.

Those centers are “already making a real difference, even though their efforts are not highly publicized,” he said. “We must also with one voice condemn illegal violence and renounce those who want us to employ carnal weapons in this intensely spiritual battle.”

PEOPLE

* Sister Marie Jeannette Ansberry, director of four Orange County homes for abused children, will receive the 1995 Spirituality in Action Award next Saturday given by the Center for Spiritual Development in Orange. A member of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Orange, she was advised by a judge not to “get involved in the seedy side of life” after she was distressed by a battered child in one of her classes. But Ansberry persisted, founding Casita de San Jose in 1987, now consisting of three homes in Santa Ana and one in Orange.

* Sixty years ago, Alfred Wolf and Wolli Kaelter were among five rabbinical students in Berlin brought to Cincinnati to complete their studies and, not incidentally, “plucked out of the growing firestorm in Nazi Germany,” said Lee Bycel, dean of the Hebrew Union College campus near USC. At a private luncheon on campus Wednesday, the two Los Angeles rabbis will share their memories of coming to America in 1935. Kaelter has taught practical rabbinism at Hebrew Union College for the last 27 years. Wolf began in 1949 what would be a 36-year tenure at Wilshire Boulevard Temple--the last two years as successor to Rabbi Edgar F. Magnin, who died in 1984. (213 749-3424).

* Ex-Colorado football coach Bill McCartney, founder of the Promise Keepers men’s movement that has been packing stadiums for Christian rallies, will be honored along with his wife Lyndi at 7 p.m. Friday at the San Diego Convention Center in the annual Impact America Award Banquet, principally sponsored by Point Loma Nazarene College. Tickets are $50. (619 221-2540).

GATHERINGS

* A “Pro-Affirmative Action Summit,” aimed at rallying support for affirmative action programs in employment and education, will be held at 3 and 5 p.m. today at the Southside Christian Palace, 11243 S. Vermont Ave., South-Central Los Angeles. As many as 200 pastors are expected to attend, said Pastor Lowe Barry, vice president of Continental Cable Channel 56 of Compton and moderator for the televised summit. Two other pastors spearheading the summit meetings are the Rev. Alvin Hawkins of Bowen Memorial United Methodist Church and the Rev. Arthur Jupiter of Morning Star Missionary Baptist Church.

HIGH HOLIDAYS

* Two workshops on Jewish spirituality, designed as precursors to the High Holy Days by institutional sponsors, are featuring Rabbis Mordechai Finley and Judith HaLevy in coming weeks.

At the University of Judaism (310 476-9777), Finley, who is rabbi of Congregation Ohr HaTorah and co-rabbi of Makom Ohr Shalom, will teach a course on three Wednesday evenings starting next week. In a separate course on forgiveness, Rabbi Jane Litman, who teaches at Cal State Northridge, and HaLevy, associate director of Metivta, a Center for Jewish Wisdom, will teach on Tuesday and Sept. 19, respectively.

At Kehillat Ma’Arav, 1715 21st St., Santa Monica, under sponsorship of the western region of the Jewish Federation Council (310 828-9521), Finley and HaLevy will jointly lead the workshop at 7:30 p.m. on Sept. 21.

* The 36th annual Christmas Eve holiday program in the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion is far off, but the deadline to apply for grants to participate from Los Angeles County is Sept. 15. Choirs, orchestras and dance companies performed in 1994 for more than 4,000 patrons and additional thousands watching KCET’s live broadcast. Applications to perform must be received by Friday by the county’s Music & Performing Arts Commission, 374 Hall of Administration, 500 W. Temple St., Los Angeles, CA 90012. Phone (213 974-1343) or fax (213 625-1765).

DATES

* The controversial issue of same-sex, marriage-like ceremonies--a practice officially discouraged in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America--will be discussed by a bishop and two ministers on the next three Sundays at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church of Palos Verdes, 1290 Palos Verdes Drive West. New Testament professor Robert H. Smith of Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary, Berkeley, will launch the series at 1:30 p.m. Sunday. The Rev. Paul Mees, pastor of Palisades Lutheran Church, will follow at 1:30 p.m. Sept. 17. Bishop Paul Egertson, elected last year to head the denomination’s Southern California West Synod, will conclude the series at 5:30 p.m. Sept. 24. (310 377-6806).

* Author Frank Peretti, whose bestseller “This Present Darkness” has sold 2 million copies, will sign his new Christian-oriented suspense novel, “The Oath,” from 7 to 8 p.m. today at Super Crown Bookstore, 1281 E. Los Angeles Ave., Simi Valley.

* Jelil Roman, organist for St. Vibiana Roman Catholic Cathedral in Downtown Los Angeles, will open an organ concert series at Hollywood United Methodist Church, 6817 Franklin Ave., at 4 p.m. Sunday. Admission is by donation. The co-sponsor is the Organ Institute of America (213 776-4023).

* “The Truth About the Great Pyramid and the Sphinx” is the topic of Zahi Hawass, an Egyptian government archeologist who oversees all major excavation sites in the Nile Valley, at 1 p.m. Sunday at the Pasadena Church of Truth, 690 E. Orange Grove Blvd. Donation is $15. (818 795-6905).

* Andrea King of Los Angeles, author of “If I’m Jewish and You’re Christian, What Are the Kids?” will speak during the 8 p.m. service Friday at the Ventura County Jewish Council-Temple Beth Torah, 7620 Foothill Blvd., Ventura. (805 647-4181).

* The Rev. Sun Myung Moon, founder of the Unification Church, will speak 1 p.m. next Saturday at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Long Beach on “The True Family and I.” Moon married a reported 360,000 couples Aug. 25 by international satellite hookup. Admission is free. (213 681-5291).

* The Ukrainian Youth Chorus, accompanied by the Salvation Army’s regional officer from Kiev, will sing, dance and play timbrels (similar to a tambourine) in a 7 p.m. performance next Saturday at the Army’s Pasadena Community Center, 960 E. Walnut St., Pasadena. Tickets are $5. (818 795-8639).

FINALLY

* Homeowners still struggling with damage caused by the Northridge earthquake may be able to obtain a free architectural assessment of damage to their homes, courtesy of the United Methodist Church.

The denomination’s regional center in Pasadena recently announced the resumption of the project.

Marion Avakian, who heads the Methodist Center’s disaster response committee, said the Glendale firm of Allan York & Associates was retained to help homeowners make informed decisions about needed repairs.

Information on the program is available from any United Methodist pastor or by contacting coordinator John Dieken at (818) 568-7309.