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The Joy of ‘Watch Night’ in African American Churches
A New Year’s Eve tradition thrives — even if the pandemic requires livestreamed worship services
“Watch Night” church services on New Year’s Eve are a vibrant part of African American worship in my swath of the Deep South — or were, until Covid-19 forced the cancellation or livestreaming of many of them.
The tradition began on Dec. 31, 1862, the day before Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation. That night enslaved and free black Americans gathered — some secretly — to await confirmation that Jan. 1 had arrived and all of them were free.
Why does the tradition remain strong, not just in the South but elsewhere? Esau McCaulley, an assistant professor of New Testament at Wheaton College in Illinois, wrote in the New York Times:
“What does this celebration mean for Black Americans some 160 years later? What, to the descendants of the enslaved, is New Year’s Eve? Watch Night argues that God has answered our prayers for liberation both spiritual and material. To the cynic who asks what has God done for Black people, we reply on Watch Night: He has freed the slaves and changed our lives.”
Also known as “Freedom’s Eve,” the celebrations have such a rich history that they are sure to…
