Watch Night Party and Rituals for the New Year
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Some of the most treasured memories of my youth are of New Year’s Eve parties in the “Kiva.” Our United Methodist Youth Fellowship had transformed the basement of the former EUB church into the coolest–and I mean cool–hang out place with space for games, dancing, conversation and food. A lot of fun was had there but also a lot of wonderful spiritual growing together. I’ve always believed that fun and play are spiritual pursuits and lead to the kind of community that easily welcomes deeply meaningful moments that shape and form us. So it’s no surprise to me that opening my home to friends and creating playful and meaningful experiences has stuck with me my entire life. Even when I lived in a tiny apartment in New York City we’d cram 50 people into it for my favorite night of the year–New Year’s Eve.
When I went to seminary in Kansas City, I continued this tradition. But since I had more room in my house, the rituals began to multiply into a smorgasbord of activities that guests could do in their own time. Every room had a different purpose. Some people would hang in one space for the whole evening, only coming out for the midnight community ritual and others would move from room to room, encountering as many things as possible.
My passion for New Year’s Eve has to do with my strong belief that we need rituals to help us navigate the passages of our lives. There are “thresholds” that happen in people’s lives–baptisms, graduations, marriages, etc. We find ways to mark these and each happens at various times for various people. And within the Christian community, Holy Week and Easter is one of the most sacred moments for us to mark the celebration of life over death. But the concept of the passage of time is never more poignantly or communally felt, I believe, than when the clock strikes midnight on New Year’s Eve.
So this year I am sharing this idea with you in hopes that you will be inspired to create your own gathering. Whether it is in a house or a part of the church, may you find both fun and meaning as we cross the threshold of time.