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News & Reporting
There's been lots of confusion and questions about Sarah Palin's faith life since John McCain picked her as his running mate last Friday. God-o-Meter caught up with Kaylene Johnson, author of the new book Sarah: How a Hockey Mom Turned Alaska's Political Establishment on Its Earto set the record straight. An important note: Johnson's book covers the period up to Palin's 2006 election as governor of Alaska, so she didn't have much information about the role that religion or religious groups has played in her role as her state's chief executive.
Sarah Palin was baptized as a Catholic but became active in the Pentecostal Assemblies of God church while still young. How did she go from one tradition to the other?
It was through her mother, Sally. Sarah was baptized as an infant in the Catholic Church. And her mom discovered a more meaningful experience at an Assemblies of God Church in Wasilla, where Pastor Paul Riley had really formed a community. And Sally enrolled her kids in church camps and Bible school. This was when Sarah was about 12. She asked to be re-baptized. The whole family was baptized at the same time, at a lake right here in Wasilla called Beaver Lake. I don't know that her father was baptized–it was a mom and the kids. It was a milestone that Sarah never really forgot. She knew she claimed a moral compass that would stay with her.
Was that pastor–Pastor Riley–a major influence in her life? Can you talk about him?
Pastor Riley and his wife became lifelong family friends to Sarah because she grew up in that church. Now he is retired and serves as a chaplain in jails. They are known for taking people in, including–sometimes–prisoners that Pastor Riley ministers to. He was at Wasilla Assemblies of God for 44 years.
How active did Palin become in the Assemblies of God once she was re-baptized?
She was active in high school. She used to sign her yearbook with Bible verses. She was the leader of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes at her high school. She was a basketball ...
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