Convert leads Los Altos LDS congregation

When he was released as Bishop of the Heritage Oaks Ward on April 21, Richard Bassett described his successor, Chris MacAskill, a convert to the Mormon faith, as "an enthusiastic, genuine man of immense good judgment. And he lives his religion."

The 42-year-old MacAskill was ordained by Larry Hansen, president of the Los Altos Stake of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Bishop MacAskill has set three goals for his 580-member, ethnically diverse congregation.

First, "we encourage attendance at Sacrament Meeting so both members and non-members can have a warm, spiritual experience."

Second, "We want the programs for our young people -- Scouting and the young men and young women's organizations -- to be superior."

Third, he said, "a vibrant missionary program is important."

Having been a convert himself 20 years ago, he welcomes visitors and investigators from all walks of life and ethnic backgrounds.

He and his wife Toni are co-partners in C-books Express, an on-line Internet bookstore. The company sells advanced computer books to software professionals, not only in the United States, but in 25 other countries. Their textbooks are even used in Moscow.

MacAskill grew up in Oakland, attended the University of Utah and earned a master's degree at Stanford. Then, as a geophysicist, he traveled all over the world.

"We had as good a marriage as we've ever seen," he said. "But it was hard with me traveling all the time. Now that we work together every day, we understand one another's concerns. It's brought us closer than ever before. We love it."

MacAskill started PSI which made high tech geophysical instruments. It is now a division of Litton Industries. He has also worked with Steve Jobs at NeXT Computers.

MacAskill and Toni Johnson, a graduate of Brigham Young University in Utah, met 23 years ago on horseback. Both were working as counselors at a youth camp in the Canyonlands of southern Utah.

"I didn't grow up religious at the time," he grins. "I thought the Mormon temple in Oakland belonged to an eastern religion."

The members are what brought him to the LDS church, he said. "And how can one discuss the Book of Mormon?"

The best part of his calling, he said, is "I love to see people investigate the church. I can understand how they feel. Almost weekly, people come just to meet us -- and we welcome them."

Because an LDS bishop receives no salary from the church but is also a family provider, he faces extraordinary demands on his time. Two counselors will assist him: Lt. Col. John Passey, the mission support squadron commander at Onizuka Air Force Base, and Phil Taylor, director of marketing for Sobrato Development Companies.

The MacAskills have four children. Don, 19, is a software engineer. Ben and Mark, 17 and 15, attend Mountain View High School. And Anne, 12, is a sixth grader at Oak School in Los Altos.

The Heritage Oaks Chapel is located at 1300 Grant Road in Los Altos. Sacrament meeting on Sunday is at 1 p.m. Sunday school is at 2:20 p.m.

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