By Mehgan Sellers and Emily Kim

The community leaders at Antioch Missionary Baptist Church don’t tell their congregation who to vote for; but they do tell them to vote.

Antioch, the first African-American Baptist church in Houston, has run announcements in their newsletters and even has an example voting machine near the entrance where people can learn how to cast their ballot.

Members of the congregation socialized yesterday after Sunday service.

Church member Thelma May said “with out a doubt” the congregation at Antioch has become more involved in the political process.

Deacon James Burton agreed, saying “The influx [of new voters] and the energy in this election, I’ve never seen before.”

The difference between this election and past is like day and night, he said, “Interest has sky rocketed.” When asked why, he replied without hesitation, “Obama!”

Another member said she remembered the youth excitement for Kennedy in 1960, saying “in a lot of ways Obama’s similar because there are so many young people involved.” However she said there is a major difference in how the two candidates inspired the nation’s youth. This time around, it’s not just black and white, she said, “people of all races [are] coming together.”

Church member Martha Anne Goddard welcomes the youth involvement. “It’s always somebody young that has to lead the way,” she said. “We’ve all had our chance so it’s time for another generation.”

Burton believes that even if Obama doesn’t win the nomination, African-Americans, especially younger voters, will still show up at the polls in November.

“I think that we have found that Blacks are something to think about; we’ve found out that our vote does count,” Burton said. “We’ve finally realized that we could have had a whole lot of changes in a whole lot of ways if we had gotten out before now. We see what can happen.”

Fellow Deacon Kenneth Cole also recognizes this shift in thinking. “Right now [people] know the candidates through the debates,” he said. “People are coming out and getting involved because they really want to know.”

This interest spans through all generations. Even an 11-year-old girl practicing her long-division on a church black board could name both the Democratic candidates.

Deacon Nathaniel Stover, however, is skeptical about whether the congregation will actually go out and caucus after pre-voting last week. “I think we know about it,” he said, “the question is how it is going to be at 7:15 on Tuesday. It’s going to be interesting how many of us will return.”

Stover didn’t pre-vote because he still has questions about the two-step primary-then caucus-system.

“The people who did the early voting may not know where to go [to caucus],” said Stover. “And so hopefully I’m going to be able to get my answers when I go.”