There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear. – 1 John 4:18
Dear Sisters and Brothers,
While it is true that the observance of Halloween has its roots in ancient pagan (particularly Druid)
customs and beliefs, it is also true that the Church influenced the event. Attempting to counter various
pagan beliefs and practices, the early church would often move an un-mistakenly Christian holiday
(Holy Day) into the place of pagan observances to challenge those practices and beliefs at their heart.
The Celtic observance of Samhain was rooted in the observance of the final harvest and the “death”
of the growing season and the coming of the long, dark days of winter. For three days and especially three
nights, from October 31st to November 2nd, Celts believed that there was a lifting of the curtain dividing the
living and the dead and that spirits or ghosts were free to walk the earth among them.
“Some embraced the season of haunting by engaging in occult practices such as divination and
communication with the dead. They sought “divine” spirits (demons) and the spirits of their ancestors
regarding weather forecasts for the coming year, crop expectations, and even romantic prospects. Bobbing
for apples was one practice the pagans used to divine the spiritual world’s “blessings” on a couple’s romance.
For others the focus on death, occultism, divination, and the thought of spirits returning to haunt the
living, fueled ignorant superstitions and fears. They believed spirits were earthbound until they received a
proper sendoff with treats—possessions, wealth, food, and drink. Spirits who were not suitably “treated”
would “trick” those who had neglected them. The fear of haunting only multiplied if that spirit had been
offended during its natural lifetime.
Trick-bent spirits were believed to assume grotesque appearances. Some traditions developed, which
believed wearing a costume to look like a spirit would fool the wandering spirits. Others believed the spirits
could be warded off by carving a grotesque face into a gourd or root vegetable (the Scottish used turnips)
and setting a candle inside it—the jack-o-lantern.”
https://www.gty.org/library/articles/A123/christians-and-halloween
Despite the Church’s attempts to stamp out the superstitious practices and replace them with a
reverential Holy Day of tribute and gratitude for those recently deceased with All Saints Day (All Hallows
Day), All Hallows Eve persisted as a night of spooky and scary (and even dangerous and harmful) practices,
that has morphed into our modern Halloween.
Rather than trying to stamp out Halloween or withdraw from it and pretend it doesn’t exist, we have
an opportunity to redeem the best of an existing holiday and to remove the worst of it, and in that way make it a Holy Day practice.
Halloween night can be fraught with many real dangers that have little to do
with ghosts. Drunken revelers make streets unsafe for trick or treaters, some homeowners go to extreme
lengths to create truly frightening displays that are unsuitable for younger children, and sadly we cannot
even trust our neighbors to provide safe treats at their doors.
We have the opportunity to provide a safe alternative for young families, and in that way to truly
offer an Urban Sanctuary for them. Our Trunk or Treat event will be a light-hearted party, held safely in the
light of day within the protection of our church campus. Parents can count on the character of our Christian
community to safeguard the well-being of their children. Kids can play dress-up as their favorite movie and
cartoon characters (and maybe even as a ghost or a skeleton) and receive candy treats from friendly and
caring adults without being scared and endangered in any way.
Instead of focusing on death and fear, we will focus on young lives and joy. We acknowledge that
Winter is coming, but we focus on the promise of the Spring that will follow. We will eliminate the practice
of tricks completely; and provide only treats for our guests. As the Grace to You ministry says, “There’s
nothing inherently evil about candy, costumes, or trick-or-treating in the neighborhood. In fact, all of that
can provide a unique gospel opportunity with neighbors. Even handing out candy to neighborhood
children—provided you’re not stingy—can improve your reputation among the kids. As long as the costumes
are innocent and the behavior does not dishonor Christ, trick-or-treating can be used to further gospel
interests.”
Will we have pumpkins with faces? Sure; but they will be more amusing than frightening. Will there
be a few spider webs? Maybe, but they will be very non-threatening and fun.
We have an opportunity to share Christ’s perfect love with our neighbors and friends we have yet to
meet. We will offer an afternoon of that love as an alternative to a night based in fear. Hopefully some of the
kids and many of the adults will recognize our church as a place of safety and refuge in a sometimes scary
world.
Peace,
Pastor Layne