Watchnight service

[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.

"[10] At that time, non-Christians of the Greco-Roman world observed the arrival of the New Year with "revelling" and Christians distinguished themselves by instead praying and fasting.

[13] After attending a Moravian watchnight service on New Year's Eve in 1738, John Wesley, the father of the Methodist Churches, 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.

[16][13] The practice of holding watchnight services on New Year's Eve became common throughout Christendom, with many Christian denominations now offering them.

[6][13][19] The services provided Methodist Christians with a godly alternative to times of drunken revelry, including New Year's Eve.

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.

[citation needed] In the Church of Scotland, a Watchnight service also refers to a popular ceremony marking the beginning of Christmas Day.

[28] Watchnight services are held on New Year's Eve in many Baptist churches, with a focus on "renewed consecration and drawing nearer to the Saviour".

[32] Watchnight services gained additional significance and history in the Black churches in the United States, since many African 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 President Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation was to take effect on January 1, 1863.