FIRST OFF . . .

The evangelical picketers were out, 200 strong, on Saturday to help intensify a conservative Christian protest against Universal Pictures’ planned release of the film “The Last Temptation of Christ.” Christians on the picket line, set up around Universal’s studio and headquarters in the San Fernando Valley, called for Lew Wasserman--chairman of MCA Inc., Universal’s parent corporation--to keep “Last Temptation” in the can, calling the picture an affront to Christian beliefs and a strain in Jewish-Christian relations. “These Jewish producers with a lot of money are taking a swipe at our religion. Of course it’s going to cause a backlash,” warned protest organizer R. L. Hymers Jr., pastor of the Fundamentalist Baptist Tabernacle of Los Angeles. Hymers said Universal should accept an offer made Friday by Bill Bright, founder-president of San Bernardino-based Campus Crusade for Christ, to reimburse the studio’s estimated $10-million expenditure on the movie if Universal turns over all copies of the film so they can be destroyed. Wasserman and other executives at Universal could not be reached for comment Sunday.