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This article originally appeared in the August 30, 1974, issue of Christianity Today.

When he assumed the vice-presidency ten months ago, Gerald R. Ford told newspaper reporters that his faith "is a personal thing. It's not something one shouts from the housetops or wears on his sleeve. For me, my religious feeling is a deep personal faith I rely on for guidance from my God." Now that he is President, Ford is still reluctant to publicize his faith—but he's not about to hide it, either.

Faced with uncertainties and conflicting reports about his status in the week preceding Richard Nixon's resignation, Ford continued his regular routine, which included a prayer meeting with two of his close friends in the House of Representatives—Albert Quie, a Minnesota Republican, and John Rhodes, House Republican leader, who is from Arizona (the fourth member of the group, former defense secretary Melvin Laird, was not present). Questioned by reporters who were convinced it was a political strategy session, Ford said the prayer meeting was "a very quiet, much off-the-record group." He reportedly assured his three friends that if he were to become President, the meetings—which have been held at 11 a.m. every Wednesday for several months—would continue.

There were other signs of Ford's quiet faith. At the swearing-in ceremony his left hand rested on a family Bible open at Proverbs 3:5-6, one of the new President's favorite Scripture passages and one that he reportedly repeats nightly as a prayer. On his first Sunday as President, Ford attended Immanuel Church-on-the-Hill (Episcopal), the Fords' family church in the Washington area. (Ford is the nation's tenth Episcopal president.) The Ford family arrived at the Alexandria, Virginia, church shortly before the service started and slipped quietly into a back pew. There they heard prayers for the new President—something he'd asked for at his swearing-in ceremony—and a sermon urging parishioners not to "gloat and glower and grimace" over the events of the week.

Ford's request that he be confirmed as President "by your prayers" was typical of the man, say his congressional colleagues. It was, said his closest friend, Congressman Quie (who was listed by some as a vice-presidential possibility), "the real Jerry Ford." The swearing-in speech plus Ford's address to Congress also impressed Oregon Republican John Dellenback, chairman of the House Prayer Breakfast Committee. "There were such easy references to God," said Dellenback. "They weren't strained or laborious speechwriters' references." In the Senate, Iowa's Harold Hughes, who is leaving the Senate this year for full-time Christian work, said of Ford, "There's no doubt he's with it. He's really committed to God." Senator Jennings Randolph, a West Virginia Democrat, added that Ford brings to the presidency "strength of character, belief in God, and a record of family devotion, regular church attendance, and a reliance on our common Creator." Nebraska's Senator Carl Curtis noted that the intensive investigation of Ford after his nomination to the vice-presidency gave him a clean bill of health for honesty, integrity, and ability. Ford's words, Curtis added, indicate that his thinking "is based on sound Christian doctrine."

But while they are pleased with the new President, many evangelicals in Congress are also cautious. Few are willing to go out on a limb regarding Ford's faith; they'd rather he speak for himself. "Let's not make the same mistake we made with President Nixon," said one congressman, who preferred not to be named. "That is, present him as a born-again Christian without really knowing his true commitment." The congressman said that in several speeches to religiously oriented bodies (Ford spoke to the National Religious Broadcasters in January and the Southern Baptist Convention in June), the President had not mentioned "the name of Christ." Arizona Republican John Conlan agreed that evangelicals should tread lightly on the spiritual side of the President's life. "We should let him speak out for himself about his spiritual commitment and relationship rather than others speaking for him. It's wise for a man to give his own testimony."

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