I know there are a number of forums out there with great discussions happening, but it seems like it is mostly the same people participating in the discussion. I’m hoping to get the conversation going on here by asking an open-ended question. The goal is to get the conversation started. What happens from there is up to you. I know people don’t comment much on blogs, but I encourage you to leave a response and participate. Just the process of typing your answer may be beneficial to you. Please feel free to remain anonymous and use a pseudonym in the name line.
Here’s this month’s question.
Does your church do any sort of outreach or event tied to Halloween?
For added discussion: Do you use an alternate name for your event (Harvest party, Hallelujah, etc.)? How is the alternate name received by the community? What does your event look like? Do you believe churches SHOULD NOT participate in Halloween at all? Why not?
[polldaddy poll=5546868]
We have done a variety of things on our campus in the past for a Halloween alternative. We have had community helper night for preschoolers and a trunk or treat for grade schoolers, a movie in the courtyard, food and fellowship. All would take place on October 31. Last year we made a change. Because of relationships that had been built with our neighborhood schools, we were asked to help with their fall carnival. This fall carnival was on the school campus, on a day different than Oct 31, and was intended as a partnership/act of service for our community. We are repeating that this year (and adding another neighborhood school!) It is exciting to be present in our community, engaging in relationship with those who live around us.
Note: some of our members were not initially excited about this shift. It has been a process…….
We have done a variety of things on our campus in the past for a Halloween alternative. We have had community helper night for preschoolers and a trunk or treat for grade schoolers, a movie in the courtyard, food and fellowship. All would take place on October 31. Last year we made a change. Because of relationships that had been built with our neighborhood schools, we were asked to help with their fall carnival. This fall carnival was on the school campus, on a day different than Oct 31, and was intended as a partnership/act of service for our community. We are repeating that this year (and adding another neighborhood school!) It is exciting to be present in our community, engaging in relationship with those who live around us.
Note: some of our members were not initially excited about this shift. It has been a process…….
My Sr Pastor was once the Family Min pastor at our current church, he had an Halloween alternative event and found that it wasn’t solving any ‘problems’ or being a true alternative (families still took their children to homes for candy). There were no outside families coming for the event. It just didn’t make enough sense to him to warrant doing it as a regular thing. I agree. Esp right now, making a lot of alterations to our current programs, it’s taking all of my time and energy.
I’m sure it can be done correctly, and we haven’t dismissed it in the future when we can focus enough energy on it to do it ‘correctly’.
Our town has a Halloween parade. Many years ago, our church participated by entering a float. I know that many of the churches in the community looked askance at the decision to do so. I’m also aware that some members of the church didn’t agree with the decision and left the church over it. However, we have continued to be a presence in the parade. Now, almost 20 years later, we don’t have the resources (in time, money or people) to get a float together. But our church is located very conveniently to the parade route and people park in our parking lot. When they come to park, we are there with hot chocolate, hot dogs and some kids games. And when we go down to watch the parade, I have noticed at least 3 or 4 other churches participating in some way. I believe that churches have an awesome opportunity to be light during this holiday that can celebrate so much that is dark. Even just the visual of a lit up church in the middle of the revelry is powerful to me. We’ve never done something actually on Halloween, since all the energy is taken up with the parade preparations.
Our town has a Halloween parade. Many years ago, our church participated by entering a float. I know that many of the churches in the community looked askance at the decision to do so. I’m also aware that some members of the church didn’t agree with the decision and left the church over it. However, we have continued to be a presence in the parade. Now, almost 20 years later, we don’t have the resources (in time, money or people) to get a float together. But our church is located very conveniently to the parade route and people park in our parking lot. When they come to park, we are there with hot chocolate, hot dogs and some kids games. And when we go down to watch the parade, I have noticed at least 3 or 4 other churches participating in some way. I believe that churches have an awesome opportunity to be light during this holiday that can celebrate so much that is dark. Even just the visual of a lit up church in the middle of the revelry is powerful to me. We’ve never done something actually on Halloween, since all the energy is taken up with the parade preparations.
We currently do a Trunk or Treat in our parking lot at the church. We used to do a carnival type thing called “Harvest Fest” but it was a lot of work and not really that great.
Our Trunk or Treat has become a community tradition in our small town. We set the times early in the evening, so that way kids can hit us first then still have plenty of time to do traditional trick-or-treating if they want. It’s beneficial for parents who don’t want to do the house-to-house thing as well as for families that want to strategically get as much candy for their kids as they can!
We currently do a Trunk or Treat in our parking lot at the church. We used to do a carnival type thing called “Harvest Fest” but it was a lot of work and not really that great.
Our Trunk or Treat has become a community tradition in our small town. We set the times early in the evening, so that way kids can hit us first then still have plenty of time to do traditional trick-or-treating if they want. It’s beneficial for parents who don’t want to do the house-to-house thing as well as for families that want to strategically get as much candy for their kids as they can!