When Ashmore helped his friend Kirby J. Hensley to found the Universal Life Church in Modesto, California (1959-1962), they were both freelance southern ministers who had migrated to California. A Mississippi native, he ran a church in Tehachapi, California.
During this period, Ashmore collaborated with Kirby J. Hensley in founding the Universal Life Church in Modesto, California (1959-1962). Both men were independent southern ministers who had moved to California from their home state of Mississippi. He later established a church in Tehachapi, California.