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"\A7 ATCHNIGHT offers many possibil- * ' ¡ties to a church for holding a service o f a unique and helpful kind. The passing o f the. old year is popularly regarded as a good time for self-examination— for turn ing over a new leaf, for reforming bad habits and making good resolutions for future conduct. When people are in this mood, a service obviously offers a fair chance to induce them to ’make decisions and cfonduct their self-examination under the impulse 'and guidance o f Christian motive, and so they may be led forward in genuine Christian experience. In actual practice, however, watchnight services are not usually a great success, for this reason : they _ appeal to the younger set because o f the occasion, but they are made too solemn and sombre to interest them. Older folks and heads o f families have got past the watchnight sentiment, or at most prefer to welcome the new year at.their own firesides. Three years ago the leader o f a watch- night service in a certain village church in the Connecticut valley decided to change the character o f the program by introduc ing some social features, without sacrificing its definite religious tone. The / service began at 10 p. m., and ended—not at mid night,' as, had been the custom, but at 11:30. The people then adjourned from the vestry to the parlor, where the ladies of the Young People’s Society had a light lunch ready. Five minutes before midnight the whole company, having already put on their wraps, went out to the front o f the' church and sang hymns for about ten min utes before going home. It was a clear, cold night, almost full moon, the ground covered with snow. The church stands in a commanding position on a rock. No one
who was present will ever forget the glori ous scene and the inspiration o f the singing under such circumstances. The earlier program was planned to have plenty o f rousing singing, reading of Scrip-, ture portions, testimony and prayer, and a few readings or recitations not neces sarily religious and yet not out o f keeping with a religious gathering. The plan was not so easy to work out, however, as one might think. Very few New Year hymns or songs are available, and they are not known by the people, as they are only sung once a year, if ever. All the solo singers in town were asked to help, but not one o f them could find anything o f appropriate sentiment among their songs. The large church hymnbooks do not contain more than three , or four New Year hymns. “ Standing at the Portal, ’ by Frances Ridley Havergal, is perhaps the best known, with its message o f courage and comfort for the new year: Standing at the portal o f the op’ning year, Words o f comfort meet us, hushing every fear, Spoken through the silence by our Father’s voice, Tender, strong and faithful, making us rejoice. He will never fail us, He will not forsake, His eternal covenant He will never break; Resting on His promise, what have we to fear? Cod is all-sufficient for the coming year. There are several hymns which introduce the time element, however, which will be found suitable. Among such are Isaac Watts’ “ O God, our Help in ages past,” and Bishop Doane’s hymn:
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