The congregation at First Baptist of Sugar Hill knew protesters from Operation Rescue America — an anti-abortion group — would visit their church Sunday. The Gwinnett Police Department had notified Pastor Richard Lee the group would be on the public right-of-way.

How did the church members respond to people shouting into bullhorns and waving signs?

Janet Silver/Special (ENLARGE)

Pastor Richard Lee of Sugar Hill First Baptist was the target of a protest Sunday.

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"We took them coffee and doughnuts, and we welcomed them in love," Lee said. "But we didn't engage them."

Lee believes the protesters were angry with him for a March sermon, in which he apologized for a variety of things, including any hurt he caused by having participated in anti-abortion demonstrations.

"I'm not passing judgment," Lee said. "I've never met a woman who was proud of having an abortion. Why cast further pain on her? Why not love her and help her make better choices in the future?"

Operation Rescue/Operation Save America is holding its national convention in metro Atlanta this week. The supporters protested at three area churches on Sunday, said Tom Raddell, 51, a staff leader for the organization. He's a 51-year-old meat processor from Cleveland, Ohio.

"We went to Sugar Hill specifically, because the pastor apologized for what he did to oppose abortion by taking it to the streets," said Raddell. "He didn't need to do that. We need to be standing for the innocent; we need to be speaking for them."

Other churches that were targeted by Operation Rescue America were Hillside Presbyterian in Decatur and Victory Church in Stone Mountain, for offending the group's beliefs on abortions and homosexuality. "Because judgment begins in the Church, repentance must begin there also," the group's Web site says.

The Web site also says members will protest at abortion clinics in metro Atlanta this week.

"I'm pro-life; I'm just not mad about it," Lee said.

"Operation Rescue America illustrates the very reason I apologized. It's that type of group that prevents people from coming to the Lord."