Methodists Ring in New Year Focused on Family, Spiritual Growth By Amy Green  (UMCom) -- The members of the Boston Avenue United Methodist Church in Tulsa, Okla., mark New Year's not with aspirations for better workout routines and thinner waistlines, but with prayer.
In a ceremony similar to those carried out by United Methodist congregations across the country, church members scribble on pieces of paper what they’re thankful for as well as items they believe they need guidance with in their lives. The pieces of paper are then tossed into a small fire as they venture forward for communion.
“It's kept just between them and God,” says Shari Goodwin, communications director for the church, which draws about 2,000 on an average Sunday. “I guess it's something a little deeper than making a New Year's resolution. We ask people to take their dreams and hopes for the new year to God.”
Putting aside bubbling drinks and frivolous resolutions, many United Methodists are ringing in New Year's with a contemplative ceremony or quiet prayer as they take stock of their blessings and resolve to strengthen their spiritual commitment.
New Year's holds a unique place in the United Methodist Church. Boston Avenue's service is patterned after one developed by John Wesley, whose ministry in the 1700s is the root of Methodism. That service now is used by churches across the country to mark the new year. It often is called a Watch Night Service or Covenant Service.
| “We build on the lessons of the past, and we walk stronger into the new year. For me, that's sanctification. That's sacred ground.” |
“As United Methodists, we believe in sanctification, we're moving toward perfection,” says Julia Kuhn Wallace, director of small church and shared ministries for the denomination's General Board of Discipleship. “We build on the lessons of the past, and we walk stronger into the new year. For me, that's sanctification. That's sacred ground.”
This time of self-reflection is perhaps most important now, as the country begins the new year still embroiled in international tensions, says Larry Hygh Jr., director of communications for the denomination's California-Pacific conference.
“The world is in turmoil, but I hope people would realize in their resolutions God is still God, and God is still in control of their daily lives,” he says.
Some want simply to bring families together on a holiday that they say too often is steeped in parties and alcohol. Rick Ryther, lay leader of the 1,000-member First United Methodist Church in Delmar, N.Y., is planning a party for his church with pizza, games and movies, culminating with a Night Watch Service.
“There's all kinds of drinking parties, but there isn't a real good opportunity for families to do things,” he says. “I just wanted to do something that would be fun for people of all ages.”
Others concentrate on personal growth. Bill Bouknight, senior minister of Christ United Methodist Church in Memphis, Tenn., which draws some 2,000 on an average Sunday, challenges his members to add the following five resolutions to any others they may establish for themselves:
- Spend the first 20 minutes of each day with God, in Scripture or prayer.
- Worship every weekend, unless prevented by an illness or major commitment.
- Tithe out of gratitude and obedience.
- Send a thank-you note each month to someone special.
- Introduce one person each year to Christ.
Making resolutions is easy. Keeping them throughout the year is harder. Bouknight encourages members to write them down and keep them somewhere handy, such as on their family refrigerator or office desk.
Wallace suggests United Methodists record their resolutions in journals or share them with prayer groups that can keep them motivated. Churches could post members' resolutions on a prayer board or, to keep them private, ask members to write them down and later mail them to their homes, to serve as a reminder. Only those who make resolutions that are positive, and realistic, will keep them, she says.
| “Usually it's a loss, I'll stop eating chocolate. For me (New Year's), it's a time of gain, building on something I've learned.” |
“Usually it's a loss, I'll stop eating chocolate,” Wallace says. “For me, it's a time of gain, building on something I've learned.”
The Boston Avenue United Methodist Church has been celebrating its Covenant Service on the first Sunday of each year for the past five years. Goodwin believes the motivation for keeping the resolutions made during the service should be simple, “the spiritual benefit that comes from making those resolutions.”
“When we really seek to hear God's will and do it, then we grow in our awareness of God's presence in our lives,'' she says. “Certainly that knowledge is a blessing.” Amy Green is a freelance writer living in Nashville, Tenn. This article was developed by United Methodist Communications.
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