The Easter Vigil

is practiced in some United Methodist Churches (information taken from the GBOD webpage) 

Preparing for the Easter Vigil by The Rev. Dr. Dwight W. Vogel, OSL


What's so special about the Easter Vigil? That basic question reminds us of the child at the Jewish Seder who asks: "Why is this night different from all other nights?" The answer to the child's question points to the basis of this holy meal in the "Pascha"¹or Passover, when the Israelites left their bondage in Egypt and were led to freedom through the waters.²
 
Our answer points us to the Christian Pascha---the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, through which we are freed from slavery to sin and fear of death and led to freedom through the waters of baptism. Scripture speaks of "Christ, our paschal lamb,"³ and so this service is sometimes called the Great Paschal Vigil.
Following Jewish tradition (in which a day lasts from evening until the next evening), the early church began the celebration of any feast or holy day the evening before. A reminder of this history can be seen in Christmas Eve services that are treated as a part of Christmas rather than Advent. Thus, the Easter Vigil is also "The First Service of Easter."⁴
 
Celebrating the Easter Vigil has been part of the worship life of the church for a long time, although we don't know how long. Parts of it may be as old as the first anniversary of Christ's death and resurrection, when the early disciples would have remembered "what happened at Passover this time last year," even as they were lighting the evening candles, telling the story, and breaking bread together. We do know that by the third century the celebration of the baptismal covenant had been linked to it in a special way, when Egeria, a pilgrim from Spain, traveled to Jerusalem around 381-384 A.D., and wrote a detailed description of how the Easter Vigil was being observed there. Through the centuries, the celebration of the Easter Vigil has continued, more prominent in some traditions and centuries than in others, but never completely abandoned. It is being rediscovered by more and more churches today. 
 
The primary symbols of the Easter Vigil are basic and ancient. When our nomadic ancestors pitched tent for the night, they gathered around a fire, told stories, made use of precious water, and ate together. Light, story, water, and feast are foundational to human culture. They are also primary symbols of the Christian faith, and provide the focus for the four parts of the Easter Vigil: The Service of Light, The Service of the Word, The Service of the Baptismal Covenant, and the Service of the Table -- the Easter Eucharist. 
 
For the early church, the Easter Vigil lasted all night long. It began with the kindling of a new fire as night fell, followed by readings from Scripture and responses through psalms, canticles or hymns, the celebration of the baptismal covenant just before sunrise, and it ended with the Resurrection Eucharist just after dawn. In some settings, an all-night observance may still be possible; but in most cases today, the Vigil is shorter. It can be as long as three to four hours.

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