Halloween: Avoid or Embrace?
When it comes to Halloween, Christians have a wide range of views about whether it’s helpful, harmful, or something in between. I’ve been thankful for those in our church who have paused to ask my thoughts about it this week. Here is a potted summary of some of what I’ve been saying.
Firstly, for many people there seems to be just a general unawareness of the origins of Halloween. It seems it began as a pagan festival to mark the start of the darkness of winter, called the winter ‘solstice’. People would wear masks to scare off the spirits of dead.
With the spread of Christianity it was decided to transform this festival into a Christian one. Interestingly they moved a day that had already been dedicated to remembering Christians who had died (All Hallows Day) from earlier in the year to November. So it became this merged festival which Christians adopted as their own, calling it ‘All Saints Day’ to remember Christians who had been martyred for following Jesus. The night before ‘All Saints Day’ (or all ‘Hallows’ Day) became known as ‘Hallows Eve,’ or ‘Halloween.’
In an article written about 10 years ago, but still just as, if not more, relevant for us today, given the heightened interest and popularity of Halloween, John Dickson, wrote:
“So, is Halloween today ‘evil’? Sure it is, if it involves the glorification of things satanic; even worse if it trivializes the Devil. And there’s nothing good in the festival if it revolves around playing nasty pranks on neighbours who forgot to buy sweets … Beyond that, a community dress-up involving opening our doors to each other and giving treats to kids in fancy dress is a lovely idea. It might even build friendships in a society hungry for community.”
Whilst I’m not sold on the notion of kids extorting strangers to give them lollies, I think John is onto something there. Instead of hiding from it, perhaps we need to take some of the redeemable features of Halloween (like the community aspect) and see how we can use them to connect meaningfully with those around us.
I saw this element of community on display quite visibly at my previous church where in a smaller tightly knit suburb next to ours, almost the entire population came out together for one big suburban party. There were the obvious aspects of Halloween with children roaming the streets, dressed up in large groups doing trick-or-treating. However, what really caught my attention was the way in which so many residents had just gathered together to enjoy each other’s company.
I think there’s something in that. My suspicion is aside from the house decorating, spooky themes, dressing up and of course trick-or-treating, the focal point for many people of Halloween is community. It’s an excuse to get together with friends or even neighbours in your street and hang out. That, in and of itself, is clearly a redeemable feature
And so I wonder whether we ought to think of Halloween as another missional opportune moment that we could build on - a moment that builds bridges from the community into our church. It’s interesting that in recent years churches have utilised the day to put on their own events to draw the community in as an alternative (chat with Penny when you see her about Freshwater’s “Lolliepalooza”). Our Sydney Anglicans website has a recent article outlining other things that churches have done to harness this
At any rate a season like Halloween gives us the opportunity to display a deeper expression of community in our world as we bear witness to Jesus. Halloween is one such opportunity where we’re able to counter the false narratives of our world and point people towards the beauty and truth of the gospel:
For he has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son, who purchased our freedom and forgave our sins.
Colossians 1:13-14
Perhaps now is a good time for us to think what we could do in 2023 to use Halloween as just one missional opportune moment in our vision of Building Lives for Christ.