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In fact, Ashcroft's religious substance is also fairly smooth. As the Assemblies' members became more affluent, the group de-emphasized its more unusual practices, including the once central gift of tongues. Ashcroft has followed suit. Says his longtime friend, Assemblies official George Wood: "I have never in a service observed John expressing one of what we call the charismatic gifts." Nor does he mention them in his book, despite much talk of God and Christ. Instead, he is known as a writer of gospel songs and a punctilious churchgoer who once, while Missouri Governor, surprised a Sunday-school teacher in California by popping up in her classroom for tutelage--a profile that could fit any upstanding Evangelical. The same might be said of the role his faith plays in his politics. "If he's confirmed, the distinction will not be that he's Pentecostal," says Green. "It will be that this is the highest-ranking post a conservative, card-carrying Evangelical has ever had."
--By David Van Biema