'Bible is Palin's professional guide, friends and pastors say'

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WASILLA, Alaska: Shortly after taking office as governor in 2006, Sarah Palin sent an e-mail message to Paul Riley, her former pastor in the Assembly of God Church, which her family began attending when she was a youth. She needed spiritual advice in how to do her new job, said Riley, who is 78 and retired from the church.

"She asked for a biblical example of people who were great leaders and what was the secret of their leadership," Riley said.

He wrote back that she should read again from the Old Testament the story of Esther, a beauty queen who became a real one, gaining the king's ear to avert the slaughter of the Jews and vanquish their enemies. When Esther is called to serve, God grants her a strength she never knew she had.

Riley said he thought that Palin had lived out the advice as governor and would do so again as the Republican Party's vice presidential nominee.

"God has given her the opportunity to serve," he said. "And God has given her the strength to carry out her goals." . . .

In the address at the Assembly of God Church in Wasilla, Palin's ease in talking about the intersection of faith and public life was clear. Among other things, she encouraged the group of young church leaders to pray that "God's will" be done in bringing about the construction of a big pipeline in the state, and she suggested her work as governor would be hampered "if the people of Alaska's heart isn't right with God." . . .

Some Jewish groups have raised concerns since the announcement of Palin's selection to the Republican ticket that discussions in the Wasilla Bible Church might go beyond conservatism. Last month, a leader in the group Jews for Jesus, which advocates converting Jews to Christianity - but which has been accused by some Jews of anti-Semitism - spoke at the church. The speaker, David Brickner, spoke enthusiastically about the "miracle" of conversions in Israel by the group's missionaries.

The church has also come under fire among some gay advocacy groups for promoting an upcoming Focus on the Family conference in Anchorage dealing with the so-called curing of homosexuality.