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Next week, Kamala Harris could make history if she wins the 2024 presidential election and becomes the first female leader of the United States. But that wouldn’t be the only way his presidency could break down boundaries.

Harris’ husband Doug Emhoff is Jewish and the two have an interfaith relationship. If she wins, he would be the first First Gentleman – and the first Jewish spouse in the White House.

So what religion does Harris practice? Here’s what you need to know about your faith ahead of the 2024 election.

Kamala Harris is Baptist.

The vice president said in an October 2020 interview with Interfaith Youth Core that her “faith journey” began when she was young.

“On Sundays, my mother would dress my sister Maya and me in our Sunday best and send us to the 23rd Avenue Church of God in Oakland, California, where Maya and I sang in the church choir. “children,” Harris told the publication. . “It was there that I formed some of my earliest memories of the teachings of the Bible. This is where I learned that “faith” is a verb and we must live it and show it in action.

During Harris’ 2024 campaign, she visit several Baptist churches.

“I was raised to believe in a loving God, to believe that your faith is a verb,” she said during a CNN town hall in October. “Your life’s work should be to think about how you can serve others in a way that uplifts others, that is, caring for others.”

She grew up in an interfaith family.

Harris’ mother was Hindu and his father was Christian. She grew up attending services at a black Baptist church and a Hindu temple, The United States today reports.

Harris’ mother took her children to a black church “to ensure that we would grow into confident, proud black women,” Harris wrote in her memoir.

Harris’ husband, Douglas Emhoff, is Jewish.

The couple married in 2014. According to America Magazinethe couple broke a glass as part of traditional Jewish custom during their wedding. Harris said Interfaith Youth Core that she shares “Jewish traditions and celebrations” with Emhoff at home.

“Kamala has connected me more deeply to my faith, even though it’s not the same as hers,” Emhoff said during her 2024 DNC speech. “She comes with me to synagogue for services holidays and I go to church with her for Easter. I enjoy her mom’s chili relleno recipe every Christmas, and she makes a mean brisket for Passover.

She took her oath of office in the Senate on her family’s Bible.

There were rumors that Harris refused to take the oath of office in the Senate based on a Bible, but that is inaccurate. She used a family Bible for the occasion, noting that it was “well worn,” according to The United States today. “All right, that’s a good way to go,” Biden, then vice president, said.

She drew on her faith during the election campaign.

In August 2019, Harris used parallels between what she hoped to achieve in politics and her faith.

“Jesus tells us how to define our neighbor,” she said during a speech. “Jesus tells us, your neighbor is not just the person who lives next door, who drives the kind of car you drive, the person shares your zip code. Jesus tells us your neighbor is that man on the side of the road with whom you walk by, who has faced difficulties.

During a recent visit to New Birth Baptist Church in Stonecrest, Georgia, she told a parable from the Gospel of Luke.

“The parable of the Good Samaritan teaches us to love our neighbor as ourselves,” she said. “It is an essential principle and pillar of our faith, and that of so many others. However, we must ask ourselves: do all believers live these words? Do all believers express these words in their actions? Do we have leaders in place who understand that when faced with a stranger, we must see a neighbor?

Harris attends church regularly.

Its base church is the Third Baptist Church of San Francisco. The church’s pastor, Rev. Amos Brown, told the Associated Press that Harris is a “spiritual person” and a “scholar par excellence.”

Harris calls Brown to pray over the phone before major decisions, which Brown says The Washington Post that they prayed together shortly after President Joe Biden told her he was withdrawing from the race.

“Throughout her career, when she has a big decision, she always calls me and says, ‘Pastor, will you pray for me?’ “, he said. “Even before she decided to run, we prayed together. »

Harris said Interfaith Youth Core this church was a place where she “draws strength” and reflects. “I also get something else from it: a sense of community and belonging where we can build lasting relationships and be there for each other in times of need,” she said.

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