70 thoughts on “Watch Night Services (A Video Summary)”

  1. We never had a true WatchNight service. Ours would feature the so-called preacher boys (the boys the pastors could brainwash or guilt into preaching) preaching pastor-approved messages (that had been practiced for the preacher for the last 2 months). and would end by 9:00. I confess that I was one of the preacher boys for at least two of the years. My second year, I got up, said that the Lord had laid a different message on my heart, and was asked by the preacher to sit down and give up my time since he hadn’t sanctioned my sermon.

  2. Far out – cult much 😛 You should have just preached instead of giving the usual fundy intro –

    “Good to be saved tonight, Lord has laid a message on my heart, I’m just going to put out my watch, I’m gonna be real quick here, okay let’s go – TURN IN YOUR BIBLES TO ROMANS THE BOOK OF ROMANS IS THE GREATEST BOOK IN THE BIBLE YOU LADIES OUGHT TO KNOW THAT WEARING SHORT SKIRTS IS GONNA MAKE THE MEN LUST AFTER YOU ALL”

  3. I wonder what is the purpose of “Watchnight Service” when it isn’t tied to a important event like Easter or Thanksgiving?

  4. I can’t believe I just watched all 9 minutes and 38 seconds of this. What gets me is the absence of any reference to the FINISHED work of Christ on the cross or the beauty of God. It’s all about “are you living like you should?” or “have you hugged your preacher today?”

  5. Our church was big into the “don’t hold a” microphone movement. For all the reasons mentioned here. They would probably put it into the 11th commandment category.

  6. @ExIFB said “Actually a Tie Interceptor pilot”….

    No shields on that thing. But it’s fast.

  7. Ugh…I remember these, and they were so boring. Especially as a kid, having to kill time until we could go home and go to bed. Basically, the adults sucked all the fun out of staying up late. Sure, we got to watch movies in church, but they were always the really boring ones. Also, I probably asked as a kid and got a nonsense answer, but what does “Watch Night” actually mean? Sure, I can guess a literal meaning, but is there some other IFB significance, or am I over-thinking it?

    Darrell, did you ever do an article about the companion to the Watch Night services, the Harvest fellowship service, or whatever it was called? Pot luck, costumes, candy…basically the excuse to dress the kids up for Halloween without really calling it that?

  8. Favorite memory: At one of these services I got up to lead some songs from the floor during communion. My sleepy three-year-old son followed me to the microphone and held onto my leg. When my wife tried to retrieve him, he took off, ran up onto the platform, and for the next minute he played “Catch me if you can” with my wife until we cornered him in the choir loft. The senior pastor sympathetically told me afterwards, “My cat did that once.” People still laugh about that event, and it was almost 18 years ago!

  9. I loved meal time at these. Especially since we would have some service time-eat. have some more service time-eat again then more service time. Then teen lock in

    Anyone ever been to a youth lock-in. You stay up the rest of the night till seven in the morning. A continous cycle of activities eat snacks/drink cokes . indoor/outdoor activities? inJanuary

  10. What is the point? To keep people from going to real new year’s eve parties? Or maybe the members of this church never get invited to real parties. I can’t think of anything more secular /pagan than new year’s eve, shouldn’t they be celebrating the Hebrew new year?
    Some of the songs aren’t too bad, kinda folksy- would be better with non-fundy lyrics (and beer.)

  11. I know I’m late getting in on this one, but that darn job keeps getting in the way of my heavy blog-reading schedule.
    I’ve got to say, though, that a 3 1/2 hour NYE service is for amateurs. I remember when i was a fundy kid in the mid-70’s attending a couple of multi-church (Oh, must not have truly been IFB if a few churches worked together) services that lasted from 8:00 NYE till 6:00 NYD. The only redeeming feature that I recall is that we got supper, a snack, and breakfast, and you know all those Baptist women were trying hard to outcook each other.

  12. I’d need a gin and tonic to be able to sit through this clip! Hell, I’d need the whole bottle of gin to sit through the entire three hour abomination! I’m ashamed to say that I have attended services like this, that is until they discovered that I had been taken over by satanic homosexual spirits.

  13. Somehow I missed this magnificent gem of a clip. Just when my memories of the IFB begin to seem not that bad I watch nine minutes of every trigger know. This is so chock full o crazy I can’t even express it.
    My biggest question to Darrell is, Did you actually watch ALL 3 hours of this to make the clip?? If so, that is truly cruel and unusual punishment!

      1. Darrell, you seriously placed your health (physical and mental) in danger watching all 3 agonizing hours… Come to think of it though if you had a back ground like mine – we endured year after year of this. So maybe we impervious now?

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