"That's when the coalition saw the handwriting on the wall, that this would make it all the way up to the (California) Supreme Court," said Ron Prentice, founding director of the California Family Council, an organization for the protection and promotion of Judeo-Christian principles in California culture.

Prentice described the Protect Marriage Coalition as a cooperative effort headed by leaders and members of the state's Evangelical Protestants, Catholics and Latter-day Saints, with other religious and community groups throughout the state participating.

The coalition benefitted from established relations between the LDS Church and two of California's prominent leaders, Archbishop George Niederauer of the San Francisco Archdiocese and Archbishop William Weigand of the Sacramento Archdiocese. Both had previously lived and worked in Salt Lake City and had worked closely with LDS Church leaders in past projects.

"It just jump-started the level of trust that needed to be built," said Prentice of the cooperative efforts.

"That was either providential or fortuitous, depending on your faith," said Ned Dolejsi, executive directory of the California Catholic Conference, the Sacramento-based public-policy arm of the Catholic Church in the state.

The coalition needed to regroup quickly after the California Supreme Court ruled last May to allow same-sex marriages in the state and the issue was then put before the public as a constitutional amendment on the November ballot.

"Certainly coming out of the blocks was the LDS Church, proving that they were organized," said Dolejsi, adding it provided "an early boost."

He said the LDS Church's announced involvement of more members "is a reflection on the passion and conviction of the LDS Church members here."

And like the LDS Church, the Catholic Church is receiving large and small donations and offers to help from out-of-state Catholics and Catholic-aligned organizations.

"It's an issue that obviously affects more than just California," Dolejsi said.

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E-mail: taylor@desnews.com