Analysis of information sources in references of the Wikipedia article "Watchnight service" in English language version.
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.
New Years' Eve (Watchnight): live Service at 11.30pm on Zoom
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.
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).
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.
The Watch Night service is today most often held on New Year's Eve, sometimes concluding at midnight, or on New Year's Day.
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.
