Halloween and the argument about whether or not it’s okay to participate has been a long-standing conversation for kidmin leaders. One I’m not prone to get wrapped up in. You can make solid arguments on both sides. That’s fine.
I just want to share a perspective often overlooked in the heavy debate over the churches level of involvement.
In a culture that leans more toward isolation than community… a culture where we know more about TV personalities than we do about our neighbor… a culture where the front door of a house is more of a novelty because the garage door is the primary exit/entrance…
Halloween is the one night of the year where 90% of the homes in my neighborhood have their front porch light on, their front door wide open and a ring at the doorbell isn’t perceived as a nuisance. In fact, it’s anticipated.
I’m no fan of offering the “christian” version of an event as a safe haven. Rather I’d prefer to equip the Christ follower to be dangerously Christ-like in their community. I can’t help but think that if God gave a family a burden for those ‘lost’ in their neighborhood their eyes would be peeled for every opportunity to reach out and make a relational connection. Halloween or not.
My thoughts anyway.
Hi, I saw your tweet about this post. I’m thinking you sound as if you are talking about using Halloween night as a night to go around and witness, door-to-door, but NOT dressed for Halloween? That is an interesting concept.
You might like to read my post as well, as we seem a bit like-minded about this. http://www.kidssermons.org/kidssermons/to-halloween-or-not-to-halloween-that-is-the-question/
Michelle,
I’m actually not advocating that you walk the neighborhood witnessing to others. Unless, of course, God opens that door.
I think you have a greater chance of receptiveness if you have a relationship first. And I’m not suggesting you don’t dress up. In fact, I would have my kids dress up. My 4year old will be dressed as Ben10 this weekend. I think it’s all about enjoying the evening, shaking hands, introducing yourself… leveraging the opportunity to get to know the community in which you live. Then as you walk the neighborhood in subsequent weeks you gain more opportunities to build upon that introduction. Opportunities to share life with Christ will come as a natural part of the friendship created.
I have to say I agree with you. I have never thought about it like that before but now is the perfect time for us to meet our new neighbors. To be Christlike in our ways and make others feel welcome. You never know when someone may just need to know your door is “open”. This time of year, depression is high and you may just knock on someones door that needs to know Christ is near….Thanks Gina!
Gina – Well stated and I love the focus you have on this! Trick or Treat night is a HUGE thing in our area. We decided a few years ago to start giving out fill size candy bars – they are a huge hit! I’m often called many things when I see people in the community – Pastor Dave, coach Dave, Balloonman Dave, but I was blown away one day while doing a school assembly that a little boy came up to me and said he remembered me because we give out the best candy on trick or treat night. Surprise – surprise!
I agree with your strategy. We have found success in empowering our people to connect with their neighborhoods by grilling hot dogs in their driveways and giving away free food. They have business-card-size invite cards to hand out as the opportunity presents itself but our goal is to make relational connections, not push the church. If the relationships happen, the invitations come later. Like you said, it may be the best opportunity of the year to meet neighbors and initiate long-term relationships.
I can’t agree with you more! I tried to always encourage ppl to use Halloween as a time to get to know their community. In fact, what we know now as trick or treating was actually initially encouraged by the Boy Scouts as a way for communities to interact witj each other. I’ll find the source for that and post it here later.
I think our friend Kenny Conley (www.childrensministryonline.com) said it best when he wrote about Halloween earlier this week. On Halloween, our neighbors actually come to our door to say hi. That NEVER happens! We should be able to intentionally leverage this opportunity to build relationships.
Our small group is taking Kenny’s lead and will be hosting a little carnival-type party in front of our house on Sunday night. It’ll be a beta-test for what we encourage the families in our church to pull off next year!
Gina I think your thoughts are well stated. I wish more believers would approach Halloween with this perspective in their neighborhoods.
However, I have to also say that I AM a fan of the church hosted event also. In my last church, this event brought 10,000 people to our parking lot – more than any other event through the year. It was free, with carnival rides and the rest of the works. We even had a storytelling tent for kids and annually saw many kids come to Christ (& several parents). Every person who entered received a friendly greeting, a bag full of free candy, tickets to the rides, & a very small postcard invitation to the church. Our staff & volunteers were equipped to “wander” and connect intentionally with anyone they didn’t know. Attendance and engagement following the event always grew. It was an unintimidating opportunity to reach out as a church & connect with the community on a large scale and the results were proven to be successful. I also think it went a very long way to show people that we were real people too…and yes, we all dressed up for the event as the hosts!
I think there is room for both if done right. In fact, I would encourage BOTH…the event & then the neighborhood engagement.
Hey Gina! I know of a church in Tampa who did a ‘Trunk N Treat’ last night and saw a number of children make a decision to become Christ Followers. It’s all about redeeming opportunities that culture presents to us. Or we could lock the doors, be very quiet and hope the trick or treaters go away….historically we’ve been pretty good at that!