Ending 2006 With 'Amen'
Many Celebrations Across Region Focus on Religion Rather Than Spirits
By Jacqueline L. Salmon
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, January 1, 2007

Perched in pews instead of on bar stools and singing hymns instead of "Auld Lang Syne," thousands of Washington area residents rang in 2007 last night at Christian-themed celebrations that featured midnight religious conversions rather than champagne-drenched revelry.

"We're thanking God for bringing us through another year," said Dorcas Rodgers, 34, of Stafford County, who with her husband and children joined 2,000 members of her Woodbridge church, New Life Anointed Ministries International, for a six-hour New Year's Eve celebration that featured the church's five choirs, hip-hop performers, Bible readings and a thunderous sermon by church pastor Eugene Reeves. the rest