Awatchnight service (also calledWatchnight Mass) is a late-nightChristianchurch service. In many differentChristian traditions, such as those of Moravians, Methodists, Catholics, Lutherans, Anglicans, Baptists, Adventists and Reformed Christians, watchnight services are held late onNew Year's Eve, which is theseventh day ofChristmastide.[1][2][3][4] This provides the opportunity for Christians to review the year that has passed andmake confession, and then prepare for the year ahead bypraying andresolving.[5] Theservices often include singing, praying, exhorting,preaching, andHoly Communion.[2][6]
Watchnight services can take the form of WatchnightCovenant Renewal Services, WatchnightVespers services, WatchnightVigil services, or WatchnightMasses.[7] As Watchnight services bring in the New Year by glorifying God, they are seen by many Christians as being preferable to "drunken revelry" in popular cultural celebrations that are commonplace in some localities.[6]
In addition to Christian denominational practices, the ethnic customs of Koreans and African Americans have a strong tradition of New Year's Eve watchnight services.[7][8]
TheBible documents that at the time of theExodus from Egypt, God orderedMoses to "set up the tabernacle of the tent of the congregation" on "the first day of the first month" (Exodus 40:2).[9]
In Christianity, since the time of theearly Church, Christians have heldvigils (watchnights) before the celebration of feast days, a practice "inspired by Jesus's example of praying all night before important decisions."[10] At that time, non-Christians of theGreco-Roman world observed the arrival of the New Year with "revelling" and Christians distinguished themselves by instead praying and fasting.[11]
Throughout history, Christian denominations including theCatholic Church,Lutheran Church andAnglican Church have variously observed theeighth day ofChristmastide—New Year's Day—as theFeast of the Circumcision of Christ,Feast of the Holy Name andSolemnity of Mary, Mother of God, with the evening before having the Vigil Mass (Watchnight Mass) for the feast.[12][13]
TheMoravian Church came to hold alovefeast on New Year's Eve, followed by a watchnight service in the evening.[14] These watchnight services last three hours and have been held since they became popular in theCzech Republic in 1733.[13]
After attending a Moravian watchnight service on New Year's Eve in 1738,John Wesley, the father of theMethodist movement, recorded that "as we were continuing instant in prayer, the power of God came mightily upon us, insomuch that many cried for exceeding joy, and many fell to the ground."[15] The Methodist Churches, strongly influenced by theMoravian Church andRadical Pietism in general, herald the practice of the Watchnight Service, with John Wesley having emphasized that it was "customary with the ancient Christians to spend whole nights in prayer".[16][13]
The practice of holding watchnight services on New Year's Eve became common throughoutChristendom, with manyChristian denominations now offering them.[17]
In theMoravian Church, congregations observe a watchnight service on New Year's Eve, which is preceded by the celebration of thelovefeast.[1][18] The three-hour watchnight service of Moravian Christians traces back to at least 1733.[13]
Following the lead of the Moravian Brethren who began having "watch" services in 1733, the founder of theMethodist Church,John Wesley, adopted watch night services in 1740, sometimes calling themCovenant Renewal Services.[6][13][19] The services provided Methodist Christians with a godly alternative to times of drunken revelry, includingNew Year's Eve.[6] A Methodist watchnight service includes singing, spontaneousprayers andtestimonials, as well as scripture readings andHoly Communion; the liturgy for this service, which is held on New Year's Eve, is found in Methodist liturgical books, such asThe United Methodist Book of Worship.[5][20][2] In Britain, this tradition is preserved in theCovenant Service, and the British Methodist Church lists hymns when this is done as a "Watchnight Service into New Year".[21]
In theLutheran Churches, Watchnight Masses are celebrated with the purpose of "welcoming the new year with praises to Almighty God."[3]
In theRoman Rite of theCatholic Church,Mass can be held on New Year's Eve into New Year's Day around midnight; these are sometimes called the "Watch Night Mass" or "Watchnight Mass".[22] TheArchdiocese of Nassau has watchnight services at parishes throughout the ecclesiastical territory.[4]
Many Anglican parishes hold watchnight services, including several cathedrals, among them beingRipon Cathedral,St Andrew's Cathedral, Singapore andCathedral Church of Christ, Lagos.[23][24]
TheProtestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America contains a liturgy for the Watchnight Service inThe Book of Occasional Services.[13] InThe Living Church, Fr. William M. Lawbaugh stated that "Watchnight Services on New Year’s Eve have a lot to offer the Episcopal Church, not only to dispel the ugly notions of alcohol abuse but also to reform ourselves."[13] The Anglican watchnight service includes "lessons, psalms, and collects" as well asHoly Communion.[12]
In thePresbyterian Churches, watchnight services are held on New Year's Eve (Hogmanay); they often include the singing of hymns and the sharing of testimonies by congregants, such as how God has blessed them that year.[17][25]St Cuthbert's Church, Edinburgh, a parish of theChurch of Scotland, is known for its New Year's Eve watchnight service.[citation needed] In the Church of Scotland, a Watchnight service also refers to a popular ceremony marking the beginning ofChristmas Day.[26]
In manyCongregationalist Churches, such as theUnited Church of Christ, watchnight services are held on the night of New Year's Eve.[27]
TheContinental Reformed Churches, such as parishes of theUnited Reformed Church, offer Watchight Services on New Year's Eve.[28]
Watchnight services are held on New Year's Eve in manyBaptist churches, with a focus on "renewed consecration and drawing nearer to the Saviour".[29]
InAdventist churches, watchnight services are celebrated on New Year's Eve with "testimonies, praise songs, [and] psalms" in order to "give God thanks for keeping us through a trying year and asking his guidance as we anticipate the new year and Him leading us in that period".[30]
ManyPentecostal churches hold watchnight services in the late hours of New Year's Eve to pray over the new year.[31]
In most Russian Orthodox churches as well as in other Orthodox churches of Slavic origin, there is a weekly Vigil. This takes place usually on Saturday evening. It is a combination of Vespers and Matins. A similar arrangement is also used on the eve of most feast days. Usually an Intense Litany is added. On Christmas eve, Epiphany eve and Annunciation eve there is also a Vigil, however it is a combination of Great Compline and Matins. Greek Orthodox churches usually have Vespers in the evening and celebrate Matins before the Divine Liturgy. In some Greek monasteries Vigils are held before major feast days, particularly on the eve before the celebration of the patron saint or event after which the monastery is named.
African-American Methodists long celebrated watchnight services asMethodist parishes in theUnited States, such asSt. George's United Methodist Church andMother Bethel A.M.E. Church, held them onNew Year's Eve in accordance with Methodist customs.[32] Watchnight services gained additional significance and history in theBlack churches in the United States, since manyAfrican Americans were said to have gathered in churches on New Year's Eve in 1862, on what was called Freedom's Eve,[33] to await the hour when PresidentAbraham Lincoln'sEmancipation Proclamation was to take effect on 1 January 1863.[8] As such, watchnight services in theBlack Church are widely attended.[34]
Korean Christians have a strong tradition of watchnight services on New Year's Eve.[7]
The Watch Night service is today most often held on New Year's Eve, sometimes concluding at midnight, or on New Year's Day.
At A Watch-Night Service: Methodism has one special institution. Its lovefeasts are old-old as Apostolic times. Its class meetings are the confessional in its simplest and most unobjectionable type, but in the institution of the watch-night it boldly struck out a new path for itself. In publicly setting apart the last fleeting moments of the old year and the first of the new to penitence, and special prayer, and stirring appeal, and fresh resolve, it has set an example which other sects are preparing to follow.
In 1740, Wesley started watch-night services for the coal miners of the Kingswood area, offering this nocturnal worship as a godly alternative to spending their evenings in ale-houses. The watch-night services consisted of singing, praying, exhorting, and preaching for a number of hours. Wesley meant to establish it as a monthly practice, always at full moon to keep the meeting well lit. In America, this service often supplanted times of traditional drunken revelry, like New Year's Eve and Christmas Eve.
Watch Night took on even more significance during the Civil War. When President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, it was to take effect Jan. 1, 1863. Free and enslaved people gathered the night before, waiting for their freedom to arrive at midnight.
Early in church history, Christians held vigils during the evenings before church festivals. These vigils, or watch night services, seem to have been inspired by Jesus's example of praying all night before important decisions.
Methodism founder John Wesley originated Watch Night services in the mid-18th century, sometimes calling them Covenant Renewal services. The original services were spontaneous prayer services designed to deepen the spiritual life of Methodists.
The service is loosely constructed with singing, spontaneous prayers and testimonials, and readings, including the Covenant Renewal service from The United Methodist Book of Worship (pp. 288-294).
On New Year's Eve our atmospheric Watchnight Service takes place at 11.15pm. The short carol service is followed by a candlelit procession to the Market Square where Bishop Helen-Ann will give a blessing just before midnight and the New Year is brought in with fireworks.
New Years' Eve (Watchnight): live Service at 11.30pm on Zoom
The first Methodist Watch night service in the United States probably took place in 1770 at Old St. George's Church in Philadelphia, a church of which Richard Allen, the founder of the African American Episcopal church, was a member. African American Methodists celebrated Watch Night prior to Freedom's Eve because Allen and other African Americans celebrated Watch Night Meeting services at St. George's Church and also at Mother Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Philadelphia.
