O.C.’s Faith Is Strong, Ties to Churches Weak : Beliefs: Despite strong convictions, people here are less likely to belong to an organized group, poll finds.

Before most meals, Margaret Kittell and her daughter, Carolyn, hold hands, bow their heads and thank God for their blessings.

“I’m trying to teach her Christian virtues,” the 39-year-old graduate student said. However, for Kittell, religion and church are two different matters. .

“I don’t go (to church) because I really have a hard time with the philosophy that if you don’t accept Jesus Christ as your savior, son of God, that you’re not getting in the gates,” said Kittell, who is Protestant. “That leaves out Jews, Buddhists and everybody else.”

She is not alone.

In the most sweeping examination of religious beliefs and practices ever undertaken in Orange County, The Times found that religion is an integral part of everyday life, although it is slightly less important to people here than in the nation as a whole. People in the county are also less likely than those elsewhere to belong to a church or organized religious group--although attendance at churches and synagogues is about the same as the national rate.

People here are also significantly more likely to celebrate their God in the privacy of their own homes, rather than in a church or temple, according to the Times Orange County Poll on religion and beliefs.

The poll, conducted by Mark Baldassare & Associates of Irvine, found that religion colors everything from residents’ political views to how they raise their children to whether they believe in extraterrestrial life. For some, it even influences their choice of a spouse.

And the county is as God-fearing as the rest of the country: Nine in 10 people said they believe in God or a universal spirit. Furthermore, seven in 10 residents pray for spiritual guidance at least once a week, and half regularly pray before meals--a barometer of their religious fervor.

Furthermore, the county’s churchgoers tend to be a staunch, politically active, conservative group more prone to oppose abortion and the hiring of gay clergy than Americans elsewhere.

When it comes to public schools, churchgoers and the county as a whole favor allowing prayer and the teaching of creationism.

The relatively low percentage of church members is due to several factors: the somewhat transient nature of the county, the multitude of spiritual beliefs in the area and a growing disillusionment with the caretakers of religious traditions.

“There is dismay over the failure to succeed in the quest for the perfect church,” said Carl George, director of the Charles E. Fuller Institute in Pasadena, which monitors church growth. “The church is a very human organization and sometimes has a smaller vision than what an individual would hope for.”

For some, however, the decision not to join a church is more a question of priorities and finances than philosophical concerns.

“The last time I investigated, I was thinking about starting my son with bar mitzvah training, and it was $400 for the year,” said Dee Cohen, 33, who is Jewish.

“It was also really time-consuming, with Saturday services, Sunday school and Hebrew school two or three times a week,” said Cohen, a Garden Grove resident who runs a clothing business.

For reasons such as these, many residents are turning away from organized religion in favor of a more individualized, flexible relationship with their God.

“I have tried to come up with my own definition of what religion is,” said Tom Sullivan, 22, of La Palma, a night auditor for a hotel who says he has “rebelled” against his strict Roman Catholic upbringing. “The way religion affects my life is in my everyday treatment of other human beings. I try to treat them as equals in a moral sense--not out of fear of God or retribution.”

The poll questioned 600 adult residents of the county and has a 4% margin of error. Not surprisingly, it found that Protestants make up the largest identifiable local religious group--one of every two residents. The percentage of mainstream Protestants, however, is smaller than the percentage in the nation as a whole.

Catholics are the second-largest county religious group, 28%. Members of the third-largest group, 13%, said they have no religious preference. The remaining 10% were Mormons, Jews, Eastern Orthodox or members of other religions.

Among those who practice their beliefs in a church or temple, nearly three in 10 residents belong to sprawling congregations with 2,000 members or more. Many of these of these are the so-called “super-churches” which offer messages ranging from the emphasis on upbeat thinking at the Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove to the Bible-based faith-healing at Vineyard Christian Fellowship Church of Anaheim to the new-age teachings of the Church of Religious Science in Huntington Beach.

“The mega-churches are the regional shopping centers of the church market,” said George of Pasadena’s Fuller Institute. “Many people find that their dreams are at least partially realized in these larger churches.”

Margaret Lynn, 32, and her husband, James, 34, rarely miss a service at South Coast Community Church in Irvine, where average weekend attendance is about 5,000 people, according to church officials.

Like three in 10 county residents, the Lynns--both Costa Mesa architects--are “born-again” Christians.

“It’s not like, ‘Woo woo, someone coming out of the sky!’ ” Margaret Lynn said. “It’s hard to put my finger on it, but it’s like a shot in the arm being around a bunch of other people who believe.”

The poll found that Orange County people are somewhat less likely than Americans nationwide to say that religion plays a “very important” or “fairly important” role in their lives, 87% nationally versus 79% locally. And just 51% of people here identify themselves as church or temple members--18% below the national rate.

Still, in the past seven days, 42% of county residents went to church; the national figure is 43%.

“We have fewer church members, but those who are members are much more serious about attending,” said Baldassare, whose firm conducted the poll. “I think this is the most telling in terms of what distinguishes our community from the nation in general.”

As people get older, their religious fervor apparently intensifies. Of people 55 and older, 63% described religion as “very important” in their lives, in contrast with 45% of those ages 18 to 34 and 51% for the adult population at large. A similar pattern was shown in church attendance.

In assaying political views, the poll found 74% of churchgoers in the county favor an amendment to the Constitution to allow prayer in the public schools; the national figure for Americans as a whole is 68%. (There are no comparable figures for churchgoers nationally.)

Nearly as large a percentage of county churchgoers--72%--think that teachers should be allowed to teach the biblical version of man’s origins in public schools; 62% do not think that abortion should be legal, in contrast with 44% of Americans as a whole; 56% oppose hiring gays for the clergy compared to 41% nationwide; 45% support their religious leaders speaking out against homosexuality, and 49% support them being active in the anti-abortion movement.

“We have a group of very conservative churchgoers,” Baldassare said. “The county has a core of true believers who align themselves with the religious right.”

However, the county as a whole (not its churchgoers) is less conservative than the nation on the same issues, according to the poll. For example, county residents tend to have a more liberal view of abortion than the nation, with 58% saying abortion should be legal.

The poll also offered a glimpse at some of the more unconventional beliefs held by county residents.

Notably, 36% believe that it is possible to contact ghosts and spirits of the dead. Similarly, 22% believe in reincarnation.

“I think that maybe there is communication with souls that has not been put to rest,” said Jason Cohn, 19, a computer analyst in Huntington Beach. “Maybe they have unfinished business left here on Earth, so people contact them.”

Residents are even stronger in their belief that there is life on other planets. One out of two said they believe that there are other life forms in the universe--about the same as the national average.

Jefferson Sickles, 23, a hospital corpsman in the Navy who describes himself as a “big ‘Star Trek’ fan,” said he has no doubt that this is the case.

“I truly believe that once we get out there into space exploration, we’re going to turn up all kinds of weird things,” said Sickles, who lives in El Toro. “I think there are so many species out there that we will be amazed and humbled.”

The poll also revealed the depth of traditional religious beliefs in God, heaven and hell, and life after death.

Orange County people are more likely to believe in a heaven where people who have lived good lives are rewarded (67%) than in a hell where wrongdoers are sent for eternal damnation (49%). Among churchgoers, 83% believe in heaven, while just 67% believe in hell.

Gerardo Lucio, 39, a Fullerton resident, said he envisions heaven as “a happy place where there is no sickness, and people feel like brothers and sisters.

“I think we already live in hell, and there’s no other hell up there,” said Lucio, who is Catholic. “I think that before you die, you have to pay for all the bad things you do, but you don’t have to pay any more after you die.”

Belief in the apocalypse is one of the traditional biblical teachings that holds sway in the county; 52% of residents believe in variations of the Bible’s prediction that the world will one day come to a fiery end. Among churchgoers, the numbers of people who believe that God will eventually destroy the Earth are much higher--71% of those surveyed.

“I’m not a Jesus freak, but I do think the Lord is going to crush us somehow, the way things are going,” said Jay Muir, 58, a Mormon carpenter in Dana Point. “Whether it’s by fire or not, I’m not sure. But I believe in a lot of stuff in the Bible, and I believe the Lord is going to punish us.”

One out of three residents professes to have had a spiritual experience akin to being in touch with God. For some residents, these experiences ranged from strange feelings of deja vu to unexplainable visions.

Gabriela Hebin, 29, who is Catholic, said she believes that she had one such experience with her husband, Jim, before they were married. She describes the 1980 incident as a “simultaneous hallucination” and believes that it was divinely inspired.

“We both had the same vision when we were looking at each other’s face,” said Hebin, a jeweler who lives in Orange. “We saw a symbol that started at the temples, and then it came down over the cheeks and mouth like a branch . . . and that’s when I realized that my husband was my life mate.”

Hebin insisted that the brief appearance of the symbol was a sign from God and dismissed suggestions that it could have been anything else.

“It’s hard to explain it, but we both just knew,” Hebin said.

For others, a belief in a life after death is what keeps them going.

“When my youngest son, Danny, was killed in an auto accident five years ago, my faith was shaken,” said the Rev. James Barta, 61. “It took about 2 1/2 years to get over the depression, but it was our faith in Christ that brought us through.”

Barta is a father of 10 and the pastor at Foothill Baptist Church in Garden Grove. He and his family said they find solace in their knowledge that they will eventually be reunited with Danny, who was 22 when he was killed.

“We know that we’ll see Danny one of these days because of Jesus’ speaking about immortality,” Barta said. “It would be a terrific loss if there was no hope in eternity.”

How the Poll Was Conducted

The Times Orange County Poll, the most comprehensive poll ever taken on religious beliefs and practices in Orange County, was conducted by Mark Baldassare & Associates. The telephone survey of 600 Orange County adult residents was conducted Oct. 4-7 on weekend days and weekday nights using a computer-generated random sample of telephone numbers. The margin of error is plus or minus 4%. For subgroups, such as church members, the margin would be larger.

Religion As a Way of Life

IMPORTANCE OF RELIGION

“How important would you say religion is in your own life?”

Very Fairly Not Important Important Important Orange County 51% 28% 21% U.S. (1991) 57% 30% 13%

RELIGIOUS PREFERENCES

“What is your religious preference?”

Orange County U.S. (1989) Protestant 49% 56% Catholic 28% 27% Mormon 3% 2% Orthodox 1% 1% Jewish 2% 2% Other religions 4% 2% None 13% 10%

Religious Beliefs, Practices

BORN-AGAIN CHRISTIANS

“Would you describe yourself as a ‘Born-again’ or Evangelical Christian, or not?”

Orange County U.S. (1988) Yes 29% 33% No 67% 63% Don’t know 4% 4%

RELIGION AT HOME IN O.C.

“A few questions about your religious practices at home. How often do you....”

Less than Several Times Once a Once a a week week week Never Pray alone for help 58% 10% 14% 18% or guidance Family says grace or 44 7 18 31 prays before meals Read the Bible 22 11 27 40 Watch religious 6 11 20 63 television programs

BELIEVE IN GOD

“Do you believe in God or a universal spirit?”

Orange County O.C. Church-goers U.S. (1986) Yes 91% 99% 94% No 6% 1% 5% Don’t know 3% 0% 1%

SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES

“Have you ever had a religious experience, such as hearing divine voices, or seeing a religious vision, or feeling the presence of God?”

Orange County O.C. Church-goers Yes 33% 45% No 67% 55%

FAITH HEALING

“Do you believe in faith healing through miracles?”

Orange County O.C. Church-goers Yes 48% 61% No 47% 32% Don’t Know 5% 7%

MEMBERSHIP

“Do you happen to be a member of a church or synagogue?”

Yes No Orange County 51% 49% U.S. (1991) 69% 31%

O.C. Breakdown Yes No 18 to 34 49% 51% 35 to 54 48 52 55 and older 59 41 Not married 42 58 Married 57 43 No children 46 54 Children at home 58 42

ATTENDANCE

“Did you happen to attend church or synagogue in the last seven days, or not?”

Yes No Orange County 42% 58% U.S. (1991) 43% 57%

O.C. Breakdown Yes No 18 to 34 37% 63% 35 to 54 41 59 55 and older 50 50 Married 46 54 Not married 35 65 No children 38 62 Children at home 48 52

THE APOCALYPSE

“Do you believe in the apocalypse, that is, that the world will come to an end as described in the Bible?”

Orange County O.C. Church-goers Yes 52% 71% No 40% 21% Don’t Know 8% 8%

PROTESTANT DENOMINATION

(Asked of those who said their religious preference is Protestant):

“What specific denomination is that?”

Orange County U.S. (1989) Baptist 6% 20% Methodist 6 10 Lutheran 6 6 Presbyterian 6 4 Episcopal 3 2 All others 22* 14

* Includes nondenominationals (15%), evangelical Christians, fundamentalist denominations, others and unspecified (7%).

Source: Times Orange County Poll, Gallup Polls