Following Hillary Clinton’s stunning election loss to Donald Trump, the former secretary of state and first lady is praying and reading scriptures every day, according to a preacher who has close ties to her family.
The Rev. Bill Shillady, executive director of the United Methodist City Society in New York City, told the Daily Mail that he began sending Clinton — a lifelong Methodist — morning devotionals in 2015 when he learned that she would be running for president.
“My team of writers and I used passages of scripture, a reflection on that passage, and a prayer to support her depending on the events that were taking place,” he told the Daily Mail.'”I would write the devotional after reading the headlines of the day.”
Shillady added, “Secretary Clinton found strength from these devotionals that I sent to her each day at 5 a.m.”
And Clinton has reportedly relied upon her faith in the wake of the election as well. In fact, since her November loss, Shillady said that she “reads her scripture and prays each and every day” in an effort to process and help cope with all that unfolded.
Some of those devotions have been about “being strong in the midst of unpredictability” — a topic that would surely resonate with any Christian. And her prayers have reportedly focused on “encouragement” as she seeks “strength and hope.”
Shillady said that Clinton urged him to publish the devotions after the election and he has plans to do just that, as he’s slated to release a book titled, “Strong For A Moment Like This: The Daily Devotionals of Hillary Rodham Clinton” in August.
These revelations are intriguing, as Faithwire previously reported that a team of female clergy were also sending Clinton devotionals during the campaign. It is unclear if these individuals were part of Shillady’s writing team, though we reported back in February that the aim of those daily devotions was to try and encourage the then-candidate in her faith.
What started as a small group of clergywomen ended up expanding into a 116-person project featuring female pastors, deacons and elders under the age of 40 — individuals who came together to acknowledge Clinton and other women who “have broken both glass ceilings and stained-glass ceilings,” according to the United Methodist News Service.
After the campaign ended, some of the contributors met with Clinton at a New York City luncheon on Jan. 31 that was organized by Shillady. Those devotions also reportedly didn’t stop when the election ended, with the focus later shifting to the Christmas season. Clinton told some of the contributors during the luncheon that their contributions truly made an impact on her.
“It was the first thing I would read in the morning,” she said. “You kept me going. You gave me a lot of strength.”
As Faithwire extensively highlighted during the 2016 presidential campaign, faith was a point of contention during the electoral race, with most of the American public not seeing Clinton or her rival Donald Trump as being “authentically Christian.”
Just consider a Barna Group survey conducted last year around which of the candidates is the most “authentically Christian.” Only 18 percent selected Clinton and 12 percent selected Trump, while 38 percent said “neither” and an additional 26 percent said they didn’t know; both candidates had consistently said they are Christians.