By Jeff Whitten
Special to the Herald
SPRINGFIELD – Gerry Rowland and her husband Doug were among the 35 or so people gathered May 1 at Springfield Veterans’ Park for the National Day of Prayer Service, and she called what took place there an inspiration.
“I was blessed and encouraged by the program,” Rowland said, afterward. “I just wish more people could have been there. Clergy from four different churches across the north end of Effingham County coming together to pray for our nation and for each other as Christians with hope and responsibility was an inspiration to me.”
The service was organized by Morgan Phillips and her family, who decided in 2021 to create a local version of the National Day of Prayer, which has been observed annually since an act of Congress in 1952.
“Since Effingham County did not have someone organizing a service each year, God laid it on our hearts to do it,” Phillips said. ‘We love encouraging our community to come together to focus on God’s Word and pray for our country.”
With the 2025 theme, “Pour out to the God of Hope and be filled,” inspired by Romans 15:13, the service began with a welcome from Isaac Phillips, and the reading of Psalm 119:89-105 by Pastor Jay Williams of Mizpah Church, who also offered the opening prayer.
Springfield Mayor Barton Alderman read a proclamation marking May 1 as National Day of Prayer in the city.
Isaac Phillips read the call for fasting and prayer issued March 16, 1776, by the Continental Congress. Hurst Baptist Church Pastor Greg Davis preached the sermon.
Davis spoke at length on the ills facing society and what he called, “times of great uncertainties, when really the morals of our society have moved so far from Scripture it is hard to recognize what we have become.”
Macedonia Missionary Baptist Church Pastor Lon Harden conducted the Call to Prayer.
“It is necessary,” he said, “to pray for our country each and every day. When we pray for everything else pray for our country. Pray for those at Veterans Park, those that gave their lives, those that are serving. Those that are currently in offices, those that are strangers, friends. No matter what political party or what race, we’re all creations of God and we should all pray for one another.
“We lift our country, we lift the President of the United States, we lift up the cabinet, God, we lift up every governor of every state,” Harden continued, “we lift up municipalities all over this country … we ask you to look over the education system, look over those first responders and those that are serving our communities, our police officers. We pray for the moral fabric of this country. We pray that man turn from his wicked ways and turn to you. We pray for our country each and every day, from the rising of the sun until the going down of the same.”
After a musical performance of “Our Hope is Alive” by the Phillips family, Centerpoint Community Church Minister Kerry Smith gave the closing remarks, saying “Hope is more than just a word. It’s a lifeline, a promise, and a responsibility.”
Smith continued, “The prayers we’ve shared today awaken in us a renewed sense of purpose to be a source of hope in our families, in our neighborhoods and in our world.”
Morgan Phillips said her family is grateful for “Our country’s Christian heritage and the Christian foundation here in Effingham County.
“We deeply appreciate the Board of the Veterans’ Park, all of the people who participated in the service and everyone who came,” Phillips added. “God blessed us with a beautiful evening and a wonderful gathering.”
