Congregants leave Second Baptist Church on a recent Sunday. Willie Davis, the church's pastor, is under indictment. Photo by Craig L. Moran.

Just west of downtown Las Vegas, where presidential names and letters make up a large swath of street names, dozens of churches appear alongside empty lots dotted with sparkling pieces of glass.

Each Sunday in what locals call West Las Vegas, faith transcends the workaday life with a contagious call and response of soul that emanates from the buildings.

Although a census report shows Las Vegas has one of the most integrated black populations of major U.S. cities, the roughly 40 churches of West Las Vegas are predominantly black.

"There was a time when 95 percent of blacks lived in West Las Vegas," said Clark County Commissioner Lynette Boggs McDonald. "That is not the case today, but it is on Sunday."

However, it's not just the power of prayer that brings out the faithful. "There is," Las Vegas City Councilman Lawrence Weekly notes, "political power in the pulpit."

Whether it's bringing in a high-profile speaker such as Illinois Sen. Barack Obama or sending a message to get out and vote, West Las Vegas churches are not afraid to tread into political ground.

Democratic politicians view this as prime real estate, courting voters from the pews and preaching their policies when invited to speak. And Republicans increasingly see a large opportunity under the national push for faith-based initiatives, a way to draw nontraditional voters into their party.

"Church is kind of like the microphone of the community," said Weekly, who worships at Victory Missionary Baptist Church on Monroe Avenue. "In our faiths, we just believe that God instills the message through a man or woman to address our plight."

Recently, however, the combination has led to the type of headlines usually reserved for politicians.

Last year's indictments of Second Baptist Church pastor Willie Davis, his wife, Emma, and associate pastor McTheron Jones focused attention on the political connections between the black churches and the Democratic Party. The indictment alleges the Davises and Jones pocketed a $330,000 federal grant secured by Sen. Harry Reid for a halfway house. Each has pleaded innocent.

Hundreds of worshipers still fill Second Baptist at 500 Madison Ave. every Sunday. The congregation has neither rallied to support Willie Davis, nor have they tossed him out.

"As far as I'm concerned, he's innocent until they prove him guilty," church member Gary Stevens said.

On a Sunday in November, congregants arriving early at Second Baptist for the 8 a.m. services found two men handing out leaflets urging Davis to step down as pastor.

"I really think he should," Mary Brown said outside of the church. "Even if he's completely innocent as he has told us he is, he shouldn't be up there with that cloud over him."

Weekly sums up the mixed feelings: "A lot of people respect him, love him and adore him. A lot of people are hurt. A lot of people are hurt by what's going on."

Second Baptist, although a relatively small congregation by Las Vegas standards with about 3,000 members, has become central to Democratic Party politicking because Davis, a Democrat, is so friendly to the party.

Congresswoman Shelley Berkley regularly brings black congressional members to services at the church, which is in her district. Reid has visited several times during the years and has made several financial contributions to the church.

Davis, a registered Democrat, has garnered respect from both sides of the aisle.

Boggs McDonald said that when she ran for Congress in 2002, she was in the audience at Second Baptist when Davis preached that everyone had to vote his own conscience in the election. Boggs McDonald, a Republican, was running against Berkley, the Democratic incumbent.

"That's what he said from the pulpit," Boggs McDonald recalled. "He said, 'I may be a registered Democrat, but that doesn't mean I don't vote for Republicans when I can.' "

Boggs McDonald, who is on the board of Catholic Charities and worships at St. James The Apostle Catholic Church on Martin Luther King Boulevard, said she has helped facilitate teleconferences for churches in West Las Vegas with the White House's Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives. The area is generally bordered by Carey Avenue on the north, Bonanza Road on the south, Interstate 15 on the east and Rancho Drive on the west.

"The office of faith-based initiatives is just coming to the realization that nonprofits are more successful at some things than government programs," she said.

The office has issued about $1 billion in grants, with about $55 million of that going specifically to black congregations, according to a report by The Associated Press.

A $1 million grant went to Greater Exodus Baptist Church in Philadelphia, whose pastor, Herbert H. Lusk II is a supporter of President Bush.

As for the opportunities the GOP sees in black congregations, Boggs McDonald said that prayer in school, small business development and school choice are traditional Republican issues that black churchgoers in Las Vegas tend to support. When the Question 2 initiative banning gay marriage in Nevada went before voters, it received greater support in Democratic West Las Vegas precincts than it did statewide.

"The Republican Party has to take its message to the black neighborhoods," Boggs McDonald said.

Weekly said, though, that the Democratic Party is the "norm for black people."

"This is the party that looks out for black people's needs and this is where you vote," he said.

Weekly said he loves when Berkley or Reid bring in someone to speak in West Las Vegas.

"It gives you a better perspective on the person who's asking for your support," Weekly said.

The main reason Democratic politicians work the churches, Weekly said, is to get black voters to the polls.

Late in the past presidential election cycle, Weekly was concerned about turnout in West Las Vegas. "I called Harry Reid on the phone and I spoke to him while he was on the Senate floor," Weekly said.

The city councilman asked Reid whether he could bring in Obama, who at the time was a candidate for the U.S. Senate in Illinois and had become a rising national star because of his speech at the Democratic National Convention.

"Harry Reid said, 'Lawrence, is that what you'd like to see? Let me work on it.' "

Obama came to Las Vegas at the start of early voting for the presidential election and spoke at a public rally outside a community center in West Las Vegas. He also spoke at a fundraiser for his Senate race.

The political world might view its ties to the churches simply in terms of getting out the vote. But some churchgoers believe the connections have helped create opportunity for corruption.

"West Las Vegas is not a wealthy area," Marcus Johnson said as he picked up his aunt at Second Baptist Church on a recent Sunday after services. "People do look twice when they see the preacher in a new suit.

"If suddenly these churches are getting hundreds of thousands of dollars and nobody's teaching them how to use it right, they're going to make mistakes," Johnson said. "And it's really easy to hide behind mistakes when the money goes missing."

Reid helped the Alliance Collegiums Association of Nevada, or ACAN, Davis' faith-based group, secure a Justice Department grant in 2002. That $423,000 one-year grant is central to the indictment.

The indictment states the grant was approved in September 2002 and that funding began in December 2002, at about the same time Willie and Emma Davis, the executive director, "were experiencing financial difficulties" and filed for personal bankruptcy.

In June 2003, the Justice Department's office of justice programs froze the grant funds amid allegations of misconduct. By then, ACAN had withdrawn $330,000 from the grant fund.

The indictment alleges the money was spent on things the grant did not permit, such as raises for Emma Davis and Jones. All three defendants face charges of conspiracy, wire fraud, mail fraud, theft of government property, making false statements to a government agency and obstruction of justice. Emma Davis also faces charges of bank fraud, bankruptcy fraud and misuse of a Social Security number.

Numerous attempts to contact Willie and Emma Davis and Jones for this story were unsuccessful. Other officials at the church declined comment until the case is resolved in court. Davis also serves as president of the Ministers' Alliance of Southern Nevada, the group that launched ACAN. Pastors of several other churches associated with the Minister's Alliance declined comment for this article.

Weekly said Willie Davis' influence transcends Second Baptist Church.

"He has traveled and he has many relationships outside of Las Vegas," Weekly said, adding that Davis is a leader in interfaith discussions and takes part in community events such as the annual Martin Luther King Jr. parade.

His sermons are aired each Sunday on KCEP-FM, 88.1, a station owned and operated by the federally funded Economic Opportunity Board of Clark County.

The indictment, congregant Adele Graham said after Davis preached on a recent Sunday, "may be true, but it don't matter."

"I come for God's word. Davis is just a man."