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The General Commission on UM Men will post a one-hour international Watch Night service on Facebook and You Tube.
Participants in the service will include leaders of UM Men from Kenya, India, Philippians, Estonia, Germany, and the United States.
Mississippi Area Bishop James Swanson, president of the commission, and Arkansas Area Bishop Gary Mueller, vice-president of the commission, will join their international colleagues and leaders of African-American Methodist denominations in offering prayers and meditations as we venture into 2021.
The history
Watch Night services in the early Methodist Church were based on the Covenant Renewal Service, an adaptation of a Moravian service created by John Wesley in 1740.
Although Wesley's early covenant services could be held at any time of year, British Methodists frequently held covenant services near the beginning of the New Year.
Today Watch Night services are held late on New Year’s Eve. They provide an opportunity for United Methodists to review the year that has passed and prepare for the year ahead by praying and resolving.
A Covenant Prayer in the Wesley Tradition is found on page 607 in the UM Hymnal, and the Covenant Renewal Service is on page 288 in the UM Book of Worship
Service in African-American churches
Watch Night service has added significance and history in African-American communities, since many slaves were said to have gathered in churches on New Year's Eve, in 1862, to await news and confirmation of the enactment of the Emancipation Proclamation by President Abraham Lincoln, on January 1, 1863.
Click here or here after Christmas to view the one-hour Watch Night service.