2 northeast Gainesville churches join to celebrate the New Year during Watch Night service

The new year was welcomed in with prayer and praise as DaySpring and Emanuel Baptist churches held a joint Watch Night service on New Year's Eve.

Dozens of parishioners gathered to usher in the presence of the Lord into the new year during the service held Saturday night at DaySpring Baptist Church, 1945 NE Eighth Ave. Emanuel Baptist Church is located at 1203 NE Eight Ave., about a mile west of DaySpring.

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Deacon Sam Means of DaySpring presided over the service and welcomed parishioners tp the last service of 2022.

“We’re closing out 2022 and welcoming 2023,” Means said. “He has brought us a mighty long way.”

Deacons from both churches read a scripture from the Bible and sung hymns.

One of the scriptures read came from Isaiah 40:27-31, which was read by Deacon Michael Perkins of DaySpring. The scripture reads as such: “Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”

Jonell Mann, a deacon at DaySpring, sung two songs during the deacon devotion, and Michael Powers, a deacon at Emanuel, said a prayer.

“Thank you for the fellowship, waking us up in the morning and blessing us to see another day,” Powers said. “Thank you for helping us to see another year. Continue to bless our pastor, Keith Smith, and continue to lead and guide (DaySpring) Pastor Marie Herring.”

Powers continued to pray for healing and showed gratitude to what God has done.

“You can heal anyone, Lord,” Powers said. “You’re in the healing business. We want to say thank you for what you’ve done, what you are doing and what you will do.”

The service also included singing by the DaySpring Baptist Church Choir.

Annie Roberts, of DaySpring, gave a brief history about the origins of Watch Night services in the Black church.

Roberts said the gathering on New Year’s Eve in churches grew in popularity on the night that is commonly known as Freedom’s Eve, which was when enslaved Africans in America anxiously awaited the news of the Emancipation Proclamation on Dec. 31, 1862.

President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on Jan. 1, 1863, declaring those who were enslaved in confederate states were now free.

“Black people have gathered on New Year’s Eve ever since, thanking God for bringing us through the year,” Roberts said. “Tradition still brings us together to celebrate how we got over. God bless you and have a happy new year.”

The Rev. Dr. Marie Herring, pastor of DaySpring, gave a sermon titled “Let it go in 2023.”

She began the sermon giving thanks to God for keeping us for another year.

“The Lord has brought us from 2022 and he has kept us,” Herring said. “Aren’t you glad he’s a keeper? Many didn’t make it but we were chosen to see another year. Thank you to the Lord who saw it fit to see another day.”

Herring read Philippians 3:13-14 which reads: “Forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”

“There’s things we need to let go of and not carry in 2023,” Herring said.

Herring urged parishioners to let go of past guilt, mistakes, people who don’t mean us any good, unforgiveness, anxiety, impatience, worry and complacency.

“What are you willing to give up to reach your goal,” she asked. “What changes and sacrifices are you willing to make to become a better you?”

She also read Ephesians 2:8 which reads: “For by grace, you have been saved through faith and this is not from you; it is the gift of God.”

“When someone gives you a gift, you have to say thank you,” Herring said. “Respond to gifts with gratitude, praise and joy.”

Herring said once someone is saved by faith, they have an obligation to put action behind their faith.

“Saving faith is a faith that moves you to do good works,” Herring said. “If your faith in Christ has not changed you, you need to check yourself.”

Herring encouraged parishioners to stop procrastinating and accomplish their goals whether it be getting healthier, starting a business or enrolling in school.

“Develop a prayer life,” Herring said. “Be more active in church and in your community.”

Herring shared when dining at a high-end restaurant, the waiter knows when you are finished eating by noticing the customer placing a napkin over their plate of food.

“Everything you’ve been going through in 2022 is done,” Herring said. “Put your napkin over your plate. The Holy Ghost will come and remove all the hell that you’ve been through. Let the spirit realm know that you’re done. Stop digging in your plate. It’s over. Let it go.”

The lights in the church dimmed as parishioners knelt and prayed in the new year as the clock struck midnight.

This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: 2 Black churches in NE Gainesville held joint Watch Night service