<P> A watchnight service is a late - night Christian church service . In many different Christian traditions, such as those of Baptists, Methodists and Pentecostals, watchnight services are held late on New Year's Eve, and ends after midnight . This provides the opportunity for Christians to review the year that has passed and make confession, and then prepare for the year ahead by praying and resolving . The services often include singing, praying, exhorting, and preaching . </P> <P> Following the lead of a small Christian denomination called the Moravians in what is now the Czech Republic that began having "watch" services in 1733, the founder of the Methodist Church, John Wesley, originated watch night services in 1740, sometimes calling them Covenant Renewal Services . The services provided Methodist Christians with a godly alternative to times of drunken revelry, such as Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve . Today, a Methodist watchnight service includes singing, spontaneous prayers and testimonials, as well as scripture readings; the liturgy for this service is found in The United Methodist Book of Worship . </P>

What's the meaning of watch night service