It is said that one day not long after the action at Fort Henry, Foote attended services at a church where the minister failed to show up. Accustomed to conducting his own services aboard ship, Foote took the pulpit and delivered a sermon using the text, "Let not your heart be troubled; ye believe in God, believe also in me." According to the reminiscences of James B. Eads published in Century Magazine (and later collected in Battles & Leaders), his niece, upon hearing of it, said that he ought to have said, "ye believe in God, believe also in the gun-boats." (This quote is sometimes wrongly attributed to Foote himself; but as a devout believer, it would have been entirely out of character for him to say it.)
Another story related in Century/B&L by Foote's brother John was that soon after his religious awakening, Foote became troubled by the thought that the profession of naval officer was incompatible with the tenets of Christianity. He talked to his father about it; his father asked, is a navy necessary? Of course, said Foote, 'the seas must be policed.' Well then, asked his father, should the Navy be in the charge of good men or of bad men? 'Of good men,' the son responded, and never doubted it afterward.