By Richard White
IT’S POSSIBLE that the notion of making positive New Year’s resolutions finds its origins in 18th-century Anglican history. At that time London, England was a city in a state of rampant moral decay. Alcoholism was rampant. Gin-making and gin addiction were destroying whole quarters of the city. Other related problems followed – abuse, family break-ups, crime, violence. New Year’s Eve was the worst.
Anglican priest, theologian, evangelist, and church planter John Wesley established a number of Methodist fellowships. In 1740 he instituted what were called “watchnight services.” To counter the drunken revelry of the season, Methodist leaders held watchnight services in their chapels on New Year’s Eve. A watchnight service always included hymns, spontaneous prayer and testimonials in which members were encouraged to talk about some of the ways God had blessed them during the past year. The services also included what was called Wesley’s Covenant Prayer, a prayer to recommit one’s life to the service of God.
The Prayer formally made it into the public sphere in 1780 when Wesley issued a pamphlet on “Directions for Renewing Our Covenant with God.” Included was a version of the Covenant Prayer that would have been used in the New Year’s Eve watchnight services. The force of its intention cannot be overstated:
I am no longer my own, but thine. Put me to what thou wilt, rank me with whom thou wilt. Put me to doing, put me to suffering. Let me be employed by thee or laid aside for thee, exalted for thee or brought low for thee. Let me be full, let me be empty. Let me have all things, let me have nothing. I freely and heartily yield all things to thy pleasure and disposal. And now, O glorious and blessed God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, thou art mine, and I am thine. So be it. And the covenant which I have made on earth, let it be ratified in heaven.
While Wesley is often credited as its author, Wesley himself graciously credited it to the English Puritan Richard Alleine (1611-1681). Regardless of authorship, the Covenant Prayer has been used broadly in Christian circles. It is in the Occasional Prayers section of the 2019 Book of Common Prayer. It has been scored for choral and solo singing and can be heard on YouTube.
Given it would have been used in watchnight New Year’s Eve services, and will most likely be used in services this January 1st, it could be called a Christian New Year’s resolution. TAP
The Rev. Dr. Richard White is the honorary assistant priest at Celebration Church ACNA in Barrie, Ontario.
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IT’S POSSIBLE that the notion of making positive New Year’s resolutions finds its origins in 18th-century Anglican history.
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