E-Mail This Article to a Friend GAY MARRIAGE Preaching politics BY DEIRDRE FULTON

If you listen to its leaders, "Protect Marriage Sunday," a statewide concept cooked up by the folks at VoteOnMarriage.org to collect signatures for an anti-gay-marriage ballot initiative, was a success.

Last Sunday, gay-marriage opponents collected signatures before, during, and after mass, and some pastors preached against same-sex marriage in their sermons.

"I think we had a very productive weekend across the state," said Massachusetts Family Institute president Kris Mineau, who estimated that about 900 churches participated in collecting tens of thousands of signatures. Gay-marriage foes have until November 23 to collect more than 66,000 names to send the initiative to the legislature in 2006; they’re hoping to gather double that amount to stave off signature challenges from their opponents (though they will not be opening the program to other days, such as "Spread Hate Tuesday" or "Waste Parishioners’ Time Friday").

Already, the legislature’s Committee on Election Laws has announced a hearing on October 18 to evaluate reports that signature gatherers are using "bait-and-switch tactics" — getting voters to sign the petition under the impression that they’re supporting selling wine in grocery stores.

At the St. Thomas Aquinas Roman Catholic Church in Jamaica Plain on Sunday, MassEquality used somewhat different tactics. It organized a handful of local equal-marriage supporters, who stood quietly outside the church, holding signs and engaging in conversations with parishioners. Married JP couple Margaret Williams and Wendy Loveland distributed a letter to churchgoers.

"We are talking about the right of marriage under law, not the rite of marriage under the church," the letter read. "Please, think about the difference."

Most people took the letter, and many had encouraging words. Perhaps the most satisfying response of the day came from a man who arrived with his wife and child. Right before he entered the church, he turned to face the MassEquality activists, smiled mischievously, and bellowed: "We recognize that Jesus wasn’t a bigot!"