Son of a Preacher, a quiet Pentecostal ------------------------------------- by David Van Biema On the day John Ashcroft was sworn into the Senate jan.1995 he met with his ailing father and some friends in a home near the capitol. After hymn singing and words of heartfelt advice, the Rev. J.R. Ashcroft a titan in the Pentecostal Assemblies of God knelt beside his son and anointed his head with some Crisco cooking oil from the kitchen. As Ashcroft notes in his 1998 book, *lessons from a father to his son, King Saul and David were anointed the same way. So are Englands monarchs. Yet the ad hoc ceremony hints at the kind of enthusiastic free-wheeling worship that historically marked ashcrofts branch of evangelical Christianity. It also happens to be a style his denomination has downplayed as it moved into the mainstream, a move that no one exemplifies better than Ashcroft. Pentecostalism first exploded on the American scene in 1906 when a black Holiness preacher named William Seymour conducted a nightly mixed race revival in the humble Azuza Street area of Los Angeles,California. Participants fell into trances, spoke in toungs and otherwise experienced what they said were the gifts of the Holy Spirit, like those bestowed on Jesus Apostles. Separate black and white denominations soon formed but Spirit soaked "experimental" Christianity soon took off. Globally, it is the fastest growing western worship style, with up to 500,000 adherents. Nationally, it's largest white majority denomination id the Assemblies of God based in Springfield,Mo. into which John Ashcroft was born a kind of upwardly mobile prince. In the first half-century, Pentecostalism understood it's self as the faith from accross the tracks. It's members were poor and it's emotiveness put off some other conservative Christians. A millennial faith that believed the second coming was imminent, it frowned on political participation. "Why would someone meddle in this fallen world, which is going to be judged and displaced anyway when the Lord comes soon?" ...says Harvey Cox author of "Fire from Heaven",a study of the faith,paraphraseing their argument. But the faith's isolation decreased as the century progressed, thanks in part to J.R. Ashcroft, a legendary church official who persuaded the denomination to give it's Bible students a full liberal arts education. His son took the next step- into high powered mainstream politics sanding down the pentecostal edges as he went. <*snip> Ashcrofts religious substance is also fairly smooth. As Assemblies of God members became more affluent,the group de-emphasized it's more un-usual practices including the once central gift of toungs. <*snip> "If Ashcroft is confirmed," says Green..:It won't be that his distinction is pentecostal, it will be that it is the highest ranking post a card carrying Evangelical has ever had" *Thoughts? -=A=- _______ To unsubscribe, send "unsubscribe rangernet" to [EMAIL PROTECTED] or visit http://rangernet.org/subscribe.htm http://rangernet.org Autoresponder: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
