Watch Night Service

I have always wanted to go to a Watch Night service. (Churches hold these on New Year's Eve until after midnight.) Last year, we spent New Year's Eve with most of the church folks at our home.

I knew that Watch Night services usually focus on prayer, but I never realized their origin and historical significance until I read this article. Watch Night services began in early Methodism when people kept watch on December 31 and renewed their covenants with God.
The widespread tradition, however, was picked up by African-American churches on New Year's Eve in 1862, when parishioners gathered to pray that President Lincoln would fulfill his promise and enact the Emancipation Proclamation the next day.

Today, Watch Night is mostly celebrated in African-American churches, but I think it's a tradition worth picking up across the churches. It would be an awesome way to start the year.

I reckon it is an awesome way to start a new year.