Civic Engagement Network
The Civic Engagement Network at First Baptist Church of Glenarden is committed to educating, empowering and engaging members of our church community on the importance of civic engagement and voting. Registration and voting deadlines are approaching quickly, so utilize the invaluable information below to ensure you register and have your say in the upcoming Maryland General Election!
MARYLAND VOTER INFORMATION
This website offers a step-by-step guide for Marylanders who want to participate in the presidential elections.
Find your polling place, request a ballot and track your ballot.
GET CONNECTED
Get connected with the FBCG Civic Engagement Network.
Politics and Me
Politics and Me is where the personal meets the political. It’s not just about headlines, debates, or election cycles—it’s about how those decisions ripple into everyday life. Policies shape the cost of groceries, the quality of schools, the safety of neighborhoods, and even the conversations we have at the dinner table. The director of the Civic Engagement Network shares experiences and moments of hope as politics intersects with identity, community, and future. It’s a space for reflecting on how the big picture affects the small moments and how we, in turn, can shape that picture together.
Living the Letter of Jude in Uncertain Times
Issue 3 — February 2026
By Rev. Dr. Thea A. Wilson, Director of Civic Engagement
If there were ever a moment when Scripture felt less like ancient text and more like a live broadcast, this would be it. The book of Jude reads like a dispatch written for believers navigating turbulence, confusion, division, and spiritual fatigue. Jude opens with urgency and closes with hope, and in between, he calls the people of God to stay awake.
We are not merely reading the Bible right now. We are living it.
In our last blog, we reflected on turbulent times as our nation endured a government shutdown. Now, as we approach the potential of yet another shutdown, Jude’s words continue to echo with unsettling relevance. Instability has a way of becoming familiar, and that familiarity can tempt believers toward numbness. Jude refuses to allow that. He calls the people of God to vigilance.
Contend Without Becoming Consumed
Jude 1:3 urges believers to “contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints.” Contending does not mean constant outrage or spiritual exhaustion. It means standing firm without surrendering our character. It means refusing to disengage while also refusing to be shaped by chaos.
For us, this includes paying close attention to legislation that directly impacts the sanctity and dignity of life. Once again, legislation may be being introduced in the Maryland General Assembly to legalize physician-assisted suicide. This is not new ground for the people of God, and it is not unfamiliar territory for this church. In the past, we have successfully organized, written, prayed, and advocated to defeat similar efforts. We must be prepared to do so again.
Details will follow regarding coordinated letter-writing campaigns and other advocacy efforts. This is a moment that calls for informed, faithful resistance rooted in our conviction that life is sacred from beginning to natural end.
Watch and Pray With Intention
Jesus’ command to “watch and pray” echoes loudly through Jude’s letter. Watching requires awareness. Prayer requires dependence. Together, they form a posture of readiness.
Watching means tracking what is happening not only in Washington, but in Annapolis and in our own local jurisdictions. It means monitoring bills, understanding their implications, and recognizing how quickly policies can shift during times of political instability. It also means acknowledging how government shutdowns, threatened or actual, disproportionately affect the most vulnerable among us.
Praying means we do not confuse vigilance with control. We pray for lawmakers, for wisdom, for moral clarity, and for courage to speak when silence would be easier. Prayer keeps our hearts tender and our witness credible.
Election Season Requires Faithful Participation
This season is also an election season, and voter engagement is more important than ever. Jude warns against drifting, and civic disengagement is one of the quiet ways believers drift from their responsibility to influence the world around them.
Voting is not merely a civic duty. It is an act of stewardship. It is one of the most practical ways believers contend for faith-informed values in the public square.
We strongly encourage every congregant to ensure they are registered, informed, and prepared to vote. Visit vote411.org to:
Confirm your voter registration status
Learn about upcoming elections in your city and state
Access nonpartisan information about candidates and ballot initiatives
An informed voter is a prepared believer. Participation matters, especially at the local and state levels where decisions often have immediate and lasting impact.
Build Yourselves Up Practically and Spiritually
Jude 1:20 gives us a blueprint. “But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit…”
Spiritual preparation looks like consistent Scripture study, fasting, worship, accountability, and discernment. It means strengthening your inner life so the external storm does not hollow you out.
Practical preparation looks like civic engagement. Know your elected officials. Understand how legislation moves. Stay registered. Vote. Participate in advocacy efforts. Write letters. Make calls. Teach the next generation that faith has public consequences and that silence is not neutrality.
Stay Rooted in Love While Standing for Truth
Jude reminds us to keep ourselves in the love of God. Love is not passive. Love acts. Love speaks. Love intervenes. And love refuses to reduce human life to policy language or political convenience.
In polarized times, believers are called to model something increasingly rare: conviction without cruelty, engagement without arrogance, truth without triumphalism.
Hope Is Not Naivety
Jude closes with reassurance that God is able to keep us from falling. That promise does not excuse disengagement. It empowers faithfulness.
So we watch. We pray. We stay informed. We remain civically active. We advocate for life. We vote. We prepare spiritually and practically. We do not retreat.
We are living the Bible. May we live it with courage, clarity, and compassion.
A Prayer for Such a Time as This
Gracious and Sovereign God,
You are our keeper in uncertain times and our anchor when the ground feels unsteady. We thank You for Your Word that speaks clearly even when the world does not.
Give us eyes to watch and hearts to discern.
Give us wisdom as legislation is introduced and decisions are made that affect the dignity of human life.
Give us courage to speak, to write, to vote, to advocate, and to stand when it would be easier to remain silent.
Guard us from fear, fatigue, and division.
Strengthen our faith so that our public witness reflects Your love, Your justice, and Your truth.
As we pray, help us to act. As we act, keep us humble.
And as we wait, remind us that You are still in control.
We place our trust in You, now and always.
In Jesus’ name, Amen.
After the Shutdown — Preparing, Praying, Participating
Grace & Reflection in a Time of Uncertainty
Dear FBCG Family,
We have emerged together from a difficult season. The recent federal government shutdown — the longest in U.S. history — touched countless lives. Agencies closed. Services were disrupted. Many were furloughed. The uncertainty weighed heavily on families across our land.
And yet, God carried us through. Now, as we begin to rebuild and resume normal operations, it’s a moment for us to reflect, to prepare, and to recommit ourselves — as Christians and as citizens — to faithful civic engagement.
We also find ourselves under the shadow of a looming possibility: another funding lapse could emerge before long. And we know 2026 — with its national and local elections — is approaching. This season calls for wisdom, unity, and a renewed commitment to what it means to be salt and light in our society.
What We’ve Learned — And What It Means for Us
1. The Real Cost of a Shutdown
When Congress failed to pass the required appropriations in time, the government entered its shutdown in October 2025.
Hundreds of thousands of federal workers were furloughed or working without pay; services paused, and many families felt anxiety over paychecks, support programs, and national services. Click HERE for a Quantitative Analysis of the Effects of the Government Shutdown (Swagel, 2025).
Programs like nutrition assistance (for low-income families, seniors, and children), services for veterans, agricultural supports, and other critical social safety nets were disrupted or delayed.
The economic ripple effects reached many: from delays and uncertainty in benefits to broader impacts on communities that rely on government services.
As Christians, we’ve seen how such instability affects the most vulnerable among us — the poor, the elderly, the children, the working families. It reminds us: politics and governance are not abstract; they affect real people’s daily lives.
2. Stability Matters — For Families, Communities, Nation
This shutdown has shown us that what happens in Washington doesn't stay in Washington. It touches our neighbors, our friends, our church members. Because of that, civic stability — a functioning government — matters for justice, compassion, and community care.
Now that many agencies have reopened and benefits restored, we have a narrow window before the next potential funding cliff: through January 30, 2026, under the current resolution.
But that also means we must stay alert. The next round of budget battles and funding negotiations could again threaten basic services.
Faith-Driven Civic Stewardship: What This Means for Us
As believers, we are called to be salt and light in the world. This means not withdrawing in fear or cynicism — but stepping forward with faith, wisdom, and civic responsibility.
Here’s how we can respond together as the FBCG family:
Pray for our leaders and our nation. Ask God for wisdom for those in positions of authority — that they would legislate with compassion, integrity, and wisdom.
Care for those harmed by instability. Reach out to families and individuals whose income, benefits, or stability might have been disrupted, even as government services return.
Stay informed — not fearful. Keep track of upcoming legislative deadlines and election cycles, so we’re not caught unawares.
Engage with humility and unity. Within our congregation, we may hold differing political views — but our shared faith calls us to treat one another with love, respect, and humility, even in disagreement.
A Prayer for This Season
Heavenly Father,
You are God of order, peace, and compassion. In a time when our nation has faced uncertainty, we thank You for carrying us through. As we move forward — through reopened doors and fragile promises — grant us wisdom, courage, and unity.
Help us to love our neighbors as ourselves, to stand with the vulnerable, to speak with grace, to vote with conscience, and to serve You in all we do. May our lives reflect Your justice, mercy, and hope. In Jesus’ name — Amen.
Issue 2
By Rev. Dr. Thea A. Wilson, Director of Civic Engagement
A Word from the Heart
Inaugural Post | July 2025
By Rev. Dr. Thea A. Wilson, Director
Civic Engagement Network, First Baptist Church of Glenarden International
Scripture Focus:
“He has shown you, O man, what is good;
And what does the Lord require of you
But to do justly,
To love mercy,
And to walk humbly with your God?”
— Micah 6:8 (NKJV)
Welcome, FBCGI family! I’m so excited (and a little nervous!) to introduce you to Politics and Me, a new blog from the FBCGI Civic Engagement Network.
Can I be honest? When I first sat down to write this, I hesitated. I found myself asking, “Is this too political for our church? Will people even want to read this?” “What will they think if they did read it?” However, after prayer, reflection, and time in the Word, I came to a clear conclusion: disengaging from politics is not holiness—it’s avoidance.
At first, I believed that staying anonymous and out of the public eye with my thoughts was somehow more spiritual. I thought that if I focused solely on my faith and avoided the messiness of public issues, I would be honoring God by not putting myself out there in these judgmental and cruel streets. But the more I prayed, the more I felt a tension in my spirit. So I turned to Scripture, and what I discovered was not a call to comfort, but a charge to engage. Passages like Micah 6:8 confronted me: “He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?” That isn’t passive. That’s action. That’s presence. That’s compassion with a spine!
I looked at the lives of biblical leaders like Esther, Joseph, Daniel, and Nehemiah—people who didn’t opt out of political systems but stepped into them with courage and conviction. Jesus Himself didn’t shy away from speaking truth to power or defending the dignity of the poor and marginalized. The Bible doesn’t tell us to retreat from the world; it commissions us to be salt and light in it.
So when I watch the news or hear about policies that harm the vulnerable—be it students burdened by crushing debt, families separated by harsh immigration laws, or communities impacted by racial injustice—I no longer see politics as a distraction from faith. I see it as one of the places where faith must show up.
Our silence in the face of injustice is not neutrality—it’s complicity.
Faith that does justice is faith that reflects the heart of God. And that clarity didn’t come from pundits or platforms. It came from the pages of Scripture, spoken gently but firmly through prayer.
Here at Politics and Me, we won’t be pushing parties or promoting candidates. Instead, we’ll delve into how our faith influences our politics and how our political choices reflect our beliefs. We’ll cover everything from voter education to biblical perspectives on justice and leadership. My prayer is that this space will help us grow together as informed, compassionate, and faithful public witnesses of Christ.
So, let’s break this down into a few key truths that guide how we show up as believers in the public square. Since I am a preacher and my audience is usually made up of members of FBCGI, who are very familiar with outlines and points, I will present my thoughts in that format. I hope to hear a few thousand or at least our Pastor’s faithful 17 “Amens!” echoing from the virtual pews. I invite you to join us on this journey.