PASTOR CYNTHIA D. BAKER

Pastor Cynthia Douglass Baker is the pastor of Shabach Evangelistic Ministries in Charles County, Maryland, where she leads a congregation known as much for its work in the community as for its worship. Called to ministry in 1977 and ordained in July 2003 by Pastor Calvin Johnson, founder of Lighthouse Baptist Church, she has ministered in churches and at retreats throughout the DMV, North Carolina, and Kenya.

Pastor Cynthia brings to the pulpit three decades of leadership in public education. A retired educator, she served Charles County Public Schools as a high school teacher, middle school vice principal, principal, and district director and hearing officer — earning the Washington Post Distinguished Leadership Award and the distinction of being the county's first Vice Principal of the Year in 2004 and its Principal of the Year in 2010.

Retirement only widened her reach. In May 2026, Charles County Public Schools named her Elementary School Volunteer of the Year at its Be the Difference Awards for her service at Eva Turner Elementary School, where she and her team host a monthly Family Market food pantry, donate turkeys for Thanksgiving baskets, prepare food for Community Day, and support the school's Black History Month celebration and DADvisory Men's Conference.

That same spirit runs through Shabach, which serves its neighbors through the Safe Nights program with Lifestyles of Southern Maryland; the Shepherd's Table team, which feeds the homeless and hungry every Wednesday; and the Royals, a ministerial team providing monthly ministry to residents of Genesis Nursing Home in Waldorf.

Pastor Cynthia holds a bachelor's degree in Sociology from Elizabeth City State University and a master's degree in Administration from Bowie State University.