New Year's Eve: Watch Night for many



John Wesley (Painting by George Romney)

Just as Advent evokes images of a pivotal “Coming” – so, too, does New Year’s Eve.

The turning of the calendar year reminds many of the need for spiritual attentiveness.  Back in 1733, the Moravians (a Protestant denomination that Wikipedia claims “places a high premium on Christian unity, personal piety, missions, and music”) held what is believed to be the first Watch Night gathering.  The African American Lectionary reports that John Wesley, “founder of the Methodist movement,” was so taken

with this Watch Night idea that he “incorporated it into Methodism as a time for Methodists to renew their covenant with God and to contemplate their state of grace in light of the second coming of Christ.”  

Believing that “all Christians should reaffirm their covenant with God annually,” Wesley began holding Watch Night Services every New Year’s Eve.  To keep the momentum going, he also held monthly, four-hour Watch Night services on the Fridays nearest the times of the full-moon.  According to Wikipedia, these Watch Night Services (aka “Covenant Renewal Services”) also “provided Methodist Christians with a godly alternative to times of drunken revelry…”  They remain part of The United Methodist Book of Worship - and today include

“singing, spontaneous prayers and testimonials, as well as scripture readings…”

Snopes.com reports that the first such United States service took place “in 1770 at Old St. George’s Church

in Philadelphia.”  Rev. P. Kimberleigh Jordan writes in The Huffington Post that Richard Allen (who later

founded the African Methodist Episcopal Church denomination) and Absalom Jones (who later founded

the African Episcopal Church of St. Thomas) were both members of that Old St. George’s congregation.

Jordan also reports on two, especially-prominent, African American Watch Night themes.  On New Year’s Eve of 1862, “enslaved Africans gathered to await the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation…”  Since then, Watch Night has been particularly equated with “an act of God resonant with the biblical Exodus.”  An equally-strong African American Watch Night tradition has its roots in the traumatic uncertainty of living in bondage.  Since it was believed that slave owners would want to settle their debts by selling slaves on New Year’s Day, slaves were unsure whether they would fellowship with their loved ones ever again.  Jordan therefore emphasizes that Watch Night “was an opportunity to step faithfully into the unknown…”  as expressed by the well-known spiritual, This May Be the Last Time.    

Resources

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watchnight_service

http://www.snopes.com/holidays/newyears/watchnight.asp

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Wesley

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moravian_Church

http://www.theafricanamericanlectionary.org/PopupCulturalAid.asp?LRID=184

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rev-p-kimberleigh-jordan/why-i-love-watchnight_b_1173079.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1jGF-6bFpI

Copyright December 31, 2011 by Linda Van Slyke   All Rights Reserved