Worshippers take part in a Freedom’s Eve service at Second Baptist Church in New Albany on Sunday. The service traces its origins to Dec. 31, 1862, when enslaved and free African Americans celebrated the new year’s arrival, after which the Emancipation Proclamation would take effect.
Daniel Suddeath | (Jeffersonville) News and Tribune
NEW ALBANY — The joyous sounds of singing filled Second Baptist Church on New Year’s Eve last Sunday morning, a far cry from the secrecy enslaved people had to keep when celebrating the first Freedom’s Eve service.
Watch Night dates back to 18th Century Protestant practices, but it took on a new meaning for African Americans during the Civil War.
Freedom’s Eve originated on Dec. 31, 1862, as a form of the Watch Night service. Enslaved and free African Americans celebrated the new year’s arrival with much more at stake than resolutions and the turning of the calendar. They were anticipating the beginning of the Emancipation Proclamation, which was set to take effect the following day.
“Beginning on December 31, 1862, enslaved and free Black Americans sat in prayer waiting for the signing — for a promise toward liberation and the end of slavery in the United States,” said Seth Hearn, a member of Second Baptist Church who detailed the history of Freedom’s Eve and Watch Night during the Sunday service.
“This began a tradition or holiday among Black church communities throughout the United States to spend New Year’s Eve at a church service, reflecting on the meaning of freedom and of using one’s liberation to enable spiritual renewal.”
Second Baptist Church, also known as Town Clock Church, has deep connections to the fight to end slavery as well as Freedom’s Eve.
The New Albany church was a link in the Underground Railroad — its steeple a symbol of freedom for enslaved African Americans.
Since 1867, a Watch Night service has been held at the church. In 1889, an African American congregation purchased the building from the Second Presbyterian Church and renamed it Second Baptist Church.
“Second Presbyterian was responsible for the safe passage on the Underground Railroad for the freedom seekers,” Hearn said. “It is thought that members of the African American community had already established a strong emotional and physical tie to the building, and therefore there was hardly any surprise when it was purchased.”
Over the past decade, Friends of the Town Clock Church has raised funds to restore many parts of the church. But the grounds aren’t just a part of history to the congregation, but also home to people who actively worship and seek to improve the world around them.
Monica Sutton is the longest serving member of Second Baptist Church, as she placed her membership with the congregation in 1978 at the age of 7. Her cousin brought her to Second Baptist, and it wasn’t long before her mother also joined the church and became a Sunday school teacher.
She has memories of the church before attending it. Sutton was enrolled as a child in the Town Clock Head Start program, which was run by the late Ruth Bledsoe and Susie Higgins.
The building holds a special place to the members, but not as much as the people.
“We are very close here,” Sutton said. “I believe it’s a God thing. It has to be because there’s no dissension here ever since I’ve been here.”
That unity was on display Sunday. The Freedom’s Eve service fell on Friends and Family Sunday at Second Baptist. The church has a membership of about 25, but attendance swelled to about 60 people for Sunday’s service.
Members read poems, sang songs and gave testimonials, praising God while also telling the history of the struggle for freedom. Several families were represented during the service, and members of other African American churches stopped by to celebrate Freedom’s Eve.
“Way back when, we had to worship in silence. We couldn’t read the Bible. We were in slavery, and we weren’t allowed to read,” Sutton said, as she explained Freedom’s Eve services were held at night initially because enslaved people had to ensure the meetings were kept secret.
“It’s very important today that now we can do it anytime we want to. We can read the word of God and celebrate him and come together as one and give him all praise and glory.”
The Rev. Joyce Marshall emphasized the importance of family and holding one another accountable during her sermon Sunday. There were also messages encouraging spiritual renewal and leaving past problems behind with the new year’s arrival.
Aside from missing the service 22 years ago with the birth of her twins, Sutton has attended every Freedom’s Eve event at Second Baptist since becoming a member.
“It feels great keeping the tradition going and most importantly giving God all the praise and glory because he’s taken us from one year to the next, every day in and day out, he’s blessing us year after year and we know we couldn’t do it without him,” she said.
