At Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, preparing for the November election continued after Sunday worship. Organizers shared voting information, helped congregants address registration concerns, and encouraged them to bring another voter to the polls on Election Day.
For John Maina, founder of the Black Voter Outreach Network, those post-worship conversations represent something larger than an election-season registration drive. They connect the organizing strength of Lancaster’s Black churches to their communities’ political power.
“We have the bones for some strong organizing,” Maina said. “We just haven’t always connected the dots together.”
Now, his network and local pastors are strengthening those connections through a hometown version of “Souls to the Polls,” the church-based mobilization effort that links faith, civic participation and voting access.
Seven churches in the Inner City Progressive Pastors Coalition signed on to the initiative. Organizers are scheduling Sunday outreach through Oct. 18, the day before Pennsylvania’s voter registration deadline for the Nov. 3 election.
The campaign launched at Bethel AME, where state Rep. Ismail Smith-Wade-El, a Democrat who represents the Lancaster area, spoke during the service, Maina said. Outreach is scheduled for Bright Side Baptist Church and Ebenezer Baptist Church on Oct. 11.
If there was no reason for you to vote, no one would tell you that.
John Maina, founder, the Black Voter Outreach Network
The goal extends beyond adding names to voter rolls. Many congregants organizers encountered were already registered to vote, Maina said. That gave volunteers an opportunity to explain voting rights, address administrative concerns, distribute information, and encourage voters to reach beyond their own households.
“We were able to encourage people to grab a person [to take] with you on November 3rd,” he said.
Building on Trusted Relationships
Maina founded the outreach network in 2024, inspired by the enthusiasm surrounding then-Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential candidacy. Early efforts included visiting barbershops and offering voter education.
Church leaders were involved from the beginning, alongside other community stakeholders.
“Didn’t know what to ask of them at that point in time, but knew that they had to be there,” Maina said.
The network then moved into organizing, advocacy, and media work, and later engaged in Pennsylvania’s 2025 municipal elections.
A turning point in the network’s relationship with churches came during a 2025 candlelight remembrance honoring the late Rep. John Lewis, the Georgia congressman and civil rights leader. Maina said the Rev. Stephanie M. Atkins, pastor of Bethel AME, led the downtown ceremony.
That collaboration helped establish the relationships now supporting this fall’s campaign. When organizers approached Atkins about presenting their action plan to the pastors’ coalition, Maina said she quickly helped make it happen.
For Maina, the effort also challenges the tendency for political organizers to overlook Black communities outside Pennsylvania’s largest cities. He sees opportunities for stronger connections among Black communities in Lancaster, Harrisburg, York and Reading.
Making the Voting Process Clear
Lancaster’s campaign adapts Souls to the Polls to Pennsylvania’s voting system. Rather than taking congregants directly from Sunday services to early voting sites, organizers are emphasizing registration, preparation and mail-ballot education.
Pennsylvania allows voters to apply for, complete and return a mail ballot at county election offices or other designated locations before Election Day. The deadline to request a mail ballot is 5 p.m. Oct. 27. Completed ballots must reach county election offices by 8 p.m. Nov. 3; a timely postmark is insufficient.
Maina believes outreach about mail voting too often overlooks Black voters. “I think that’s untapped potential,” he said.
Organizers also want voters to check their registration before arriving at the polls and to understand their options if problems arise.
One distinction matters for people who request mail ballots but decide to vote in person: They can surrender their unused ballot and outer return envelope at their polling place and complete the required declaration to vote a regular ballot. Those without the materials to surrender may vote provisionally, subject to verification.
Explaining those procedures is only part of Maina’s work. Another is confronting messages that tell Black people voting cannot improve their lives.
He described encountering discouraging social media content aimed at Black men, including messages suggesting there is no reason to participate.
His response is direct: “If there was no reason for you to vote, no one would tell you that,” Maina said.
The churches provide a place to answer that discouragement with personal conversations, practical information, and an invitation to act together.
In Lancaster, Maina is counting on those relationships to carry the work from the sanctuary to the polls — and to remind Black voters that their voices belong in both places.
