Pastor's Pen: Watch Night

Back in the early 18th Century, the Moravians, a Protestant group before the Protestants, had a tradition of gathering on New Year’s Eve to welcome the new year with worship and prayer. They were called Watch Night Services. Charles Wesley, the founder of Methodism, adopted the practice. During those services, believers would renew their commitment to God and seek divine guidance for the new year. The Baptist preacher, Charles Spurgeon, defended the practice, saying, “I have preached at all hours the gospel of Jesus Christ, and I see no reason why I may not preach at midnight.”

On January 1, 1863, the Watch Night Service took on special significance to the African-American community. In September 1862, Abraham Lincoln warned that if the Confederate States did not end their hostilities, all slaves in those territories would be free on New Year's Day. Both freed and enslaved Blacks gathered in churches and slave quarters on “Freedom’s Eve” to pray, sing, shout, and praise God. To this day, many Black churches continue to worship on New Year's Eve as a dual celebration of spiritual renewal and freedom.

Freedom has been an essential part of the Jewish and Christian faiths. The defining story in the Old Testament is the Exodus, where God liberates the Hebrew slaves in Egypt. The concept of Jubilee, which declared slaves to be released and debts to be forgiven every 50 years, was part of the Jewish Law. In Leviticus 25:10, as part of the Jubilee, "Proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof." These words are inscribed on the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia, which became a symbol of the American Revolution. In the New Testament, Jesus’ ministry was partly defined as “to set the oppressed free” (Luke 4:18). The life, death, and resurrection of Jesus set us free from the bondage of sin. During the Abolitionist as well as the Civil Rights Movements, the church has often stood against both the slavery of sin and the sin of slavery.

One thing that we can learn from the Watch Night is that freedom doesn’t happen equally for all people. For example, the last state to hear about the Emancipation Proclamation was Texas on June 19, not January 1, 1863. (That’s the origin of the Juneteenth celebration.) Even then, freedom isn’t always free, as the struggle for Civil Rights showed. This New Year’s Eve, we might consider those who still struggle for freedom, whether it is spiritual, material, physical, or political. Who do you know who is enslaved to sin, to illness, to addiction, or to debt? How can we bring comfort and announce God’s liberation into the lives of our friends, family, and neighbors?

In 2026, we will celebrate the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution. I pray that as it begins, we will be “on watch,” giving thanks to God for the love we have received and “proclaiming liberty throughout the land.”

Grace & Peace,

Pastor James