Imagine how it might have been. African slaves, some free blacks, pensive men, women and children, huddled together, anxiously awaiting the dawn–and their freedom. That first Watch Night was Dec. 31, 1862, as the enslaved, abolitionists and others waited in the safety of the church for word that the Emancipation Proclamation had been issued. And signed by President Lincoln.
Though that signed document didn’t immediately free any slave–the 13th Amendment did that later–those downtrodden people were on watch.
And that original African-American “watch night” continues tonight, 156 years later, as a tradition of the historic black church across the United States and here in Palm Beach County.
Many Christian denominations have watch nights, or vigil services. United Methodists, for example, began observing New Year’s Eve watch nights in this country in 1770, while Catholics “watch” for the coming of the Messiah on Christmas Eve. But for African-Americans, the tradition is inextricably tied to our history in this country–even if we aren’t today huddled together in fear of what the next day, and New Year, might bring.
Rather, as Bishop Thomas A. Masters of New Macedonia Baptist Church, says, our motivations are different. Thankfully.
“I think people get really religious at the end of the year,” said Bishop Masters, who is today also Mayor of Riviera Beach. “They get to thinking about how God has brought them this far, how He has blessed them, and they realize they have to get right with Him. Now, they may go to the bars and clubs afterward, but at 12 o’clock, they’re in church.”
Language for this post was taken from a South Florida Sun-Sentinel article published on December 31, 2000. It was written by Marian Dozier, coco team lead, when she was a reporter there. Read the actual, full story here–including the Mayor’s quote!