Halloween: Pagan or Pleasure
By Many Youth Workers
Youth Worker Feedback:
Several years ago, at my church, Halloween was a big recreation activity for the kids including games, prizes for the best costumes and lots of hot dogs and candy. For the last two years, as the church has expanded in both membership and leadership, we had “Hallelujah Night”. This gala event consisted of a Bible study assembly, religious movies, exciting games, and again lots of hot dogs and candy. This year, as opposition surfaces from some, we’re having a “Harvest Fest” which includes a hay ride, football game (men against the teenagers), supervised games and what else? Hot dogs and candy. The youth will not be allowed to wear costumes. I personally do not feel that it’s wrong for the kids to enjoy themselves at Halloween with goodies and costumes. Any activity planned is in essence, acknowledging “the occasion” whether there are costumes or not. So what’s the difference? If one should oppose Halloween, then “nothing” should be given. The day should just be completely ignored, if it is believed to be of a paganistic nature. I believe that Jesus is the Son of God. I believe that Jesus died, arose, ascended into Heaven and is coming back again. Halloween has absolutely nothing to do with my salvation. That is a gift from God. I continue to celebrate the season with costumes, crazy pranks, skeleton tattoos and, not to forget, plenty of hot dogs and candy.
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I have 3 beautiful daughters, all of school age. The way we get round the night on the 31st is to have a big Harvest Thanksgiving Party at our home. We cut out pumpkins but instead of faces we carve JESUS IS LORD & PRAISE THE LORD. We find if they invite unsaved friends it’s a good way to evangelize and yet still have a good night of fun without the devil hi-jacking a night in the year.
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We reside in a very small community in which the local churches (those willing to participate) take turns in hosting “Trick or Treat, so someone can eat”. Groups of teens and chaperones take a residential section and gather food for the local community cupboard. At an agreed time to meet back at the host church, we then have hot chocolate and treats. This not only serves the community but unites the area teen groups.
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Our church does not believe in Halloween, however, my husband and I do take our daughter trick or treating. We believe that it is just something fun to do and she is still too little to understand (she is 2). When she is older we will explain to her why we do not agree with a lot of Halloween activities.
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My personal opinion is that Halloween should not be celebrated. This is because of the paganistic history that it has. “The day of the dead”, it isn’t something that I would want to take part in. But remember, this is only my opinion, it has not effect on the world today. But if I continue to tell people my opinion, maybe the will agree. Well, I hope that this helps. Bye
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If the roots are bad….they affect the rest of the tree…RIGHT? The roots of where Halloween came from are evil…..
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We have Hallelujah Gumbo on the Saturday before Halloween with a hay ride, games and prizes. It is a great time and fun for the entire family. This year it will be the night before Halloween. I always felt it should be on Halloween night but it is hard on people
that work because the workers and the gumbo are volunteer. Personally, I have never allowed my kids to do trick or treat but I know there are some that do. I have always told them that we don’t celebrate Halloween but we do Hallelujah Gumbo.
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We have entered the season of Jack-O-Lanterns, witches, vampires and demons. Costumes and masks are rampant. Not only are they to be seen in malls and classrooms, but now (perhaps more than ever), these masks have filtered into the church.
After 28 years in youth ministry, I have determined to “Be Real.” Teens are so very discerning. They can tell the genuine from the counterfeit. They know authenticity from leadership when they see it; they can also spot a phony from a mile away.
Youth worker, I dare you to ‘be real’ to and with your teens. Take off your mask(s), and just be the wonderful ‘you’ that our Lord created. You are fearfully and wonderfully made and a joint heir to the King!
In this season of make-up, costumes, and counterfeits; choose to ‘be real.’ Let your teens see you for who you are. Offer genuine love; demonstrate authentic humility; share the gospel passionately. The only way any of this is possible, is to take off your mask(s), and be real.
Your fellow laborer,
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For over 12 years I have had the wonderful opportunity to run an inner-city outreach ministry. Through this experience, I have witnessed to and ministered to many kids who have been victims of satanic ritualistic abuse. The practice of Halloween is a horrible mockery and reminder to these kids of the horrors they have experienced. Many victims of other abuse such as domestic violence feel this way also. If I practiced Halloween, the victims I work with would feel I was trying to hurt them, or at the very least, that I did not care what has happened to them. They must feel safe around Christians.
There is a story of a young girl who had been horribly hurt by a satanic group. When she ran away, she went to the home of a minister who she hoped would help her. When she got there, the minister and many people from his church were having a Halloween party. Everyone was dressed up and there were skulls, jack-o-lanterns cut into faces, black cats and witch costumes and pictures, and also orange and black candles. Of course the young girl was traumatized and ran again.
If our children cannot be safe with Christians and in church, where can they be safe?
By the way, I was that young girl.
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Our youth spend the night camping having a great time fellowshipping at a friends pond on private property. I realize not everyone has this opportunity but maybe a lock-in would also be possible. You would be amazed at some of the silliest things these kids come up with to entertain themselves.
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I used to think Halloween was no big deal – I now feel that wherever possible Christians should avoid being involved in Secular Halloween events – though I realize sometimes Halloween is foistered upon us – Needless to say – in those circumstances we have to use our judgment on how to respond.
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We just think of Halloween as a night for fun and candy. We usually have a party with the children at church….we all dress-up, even the adults and have a Halloween Parade of Costumes thru the sanctuary.
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My Church, Friendship Baptist (Independent Baptist Church), as well as others in our community (Baptist primarily), celebrate by hosting a Fall Festival. We thank God for the harvest and what He has blessed us with over the year. Some look at this time of the year as celebrating or even worshipping the dead. I (we) like to really celebrate Christ defeating death by His resurrection. That leaves nothing to worship or celebrate, except for Christ, our Lord and Savior. We do have a Trunk-A-Treat instead of a Trick-R-Treat, trunks of church members vehicles are decorated with Biblical Scenes; candy, tracks, biblical coloring books, etc.., are giving out.
We celebrate with singing, gospel bands, sermons, games, pie eating, bobbing for apples, eating (we’re Baptist, of course eating is required!), and some of our missionaries will be on hand for updating us on there ministry and preaching.
Costumes requirements are as followed….
No monsters
No evil looking costumes
All costumes must be modest, no skin can be shown where it shouldn’t
Biblical Characters and old traditional dress is preferred
Other than the games and costumes, Fall Festival is identical to Home Coming. If you’ve never been to a Baptist home coming, I suggest you give it a try.
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I personally don’t celebrate Halloween. All the stories I’ve read and heard point to the fact that is satanic and not what I want to promote. I do however feel it is another day for retailers to capitalize. In our society children who are not allowed to celebrate would miss out on another day just to have fun. I sometimes host a fall harvest party which is a celebration of a new season instead. My congregation hosts an alternative to Halloween. This is an effort to prevent so many children in the community from roaming the streets and becoming vulnerable to dangerous situations. I think finding an alternative is a good solution. It allows children to be children and enjoy fun, without praising satan.
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I challenge anyone who questions the meaning of Halloween to simply search the internet and learn of its origins. And, while you’re at it, notice how many pagan and witchcraft sites note it as a major “high holiday” for them. I knew a woman who used to practice witchcraft and do Satanic rituals (yes, really), and she said that night was one of their “biggest” nights for occult activity.
So, I’m a little opinionated. I hate Halloween. That’s me. My wife wouldn’t be so strong in her opinion, probably. We debate this issue all the time! 🙂
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Good Morning and God bless you!
My Church has a Hallelujah! party where the children dress up like Bible
Characters and learn about them, then we explain the history of Halloween
and why it is a night of Paganism and evil. It is amazing to see the
children’s faces when they hear what Halloween is really about and they no
longer want to participate in it.
Thank you for my weekly information, as a youth leather this is awesome! May
God bless and keep you always in Jesus name, Amen.
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I am the youth sponsor and we always provide a harvest hay ride the Wednesday night before Halloween. We make it a church social with a devotion and NO costumes to reflect satanic ideas or horror.
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As you well know Halloween falls on a Sunday this year, so as a church we are putting on a huge all-age light party instead of our normal evening service.
All are welcome and they’ll be games, fun, loads of goodies, people dressing up as things linked with light and worship befitting an all-age occasion.
As a church we want to be seen to bless the local community by providing an exciting alternative to Halloween, not wag a disapproving finger at the rest of society having fun.
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When I left school, I got involved in the Occult. Even after my conversion, October is still a very challenging month for me spiritually. It is High season for the Satanists where little babies are sacrificed to Lucifer. Our church and our youth usually make this month a month of fasting, with the fast that will end at the last day of October. Halloween for me is changing to HALO – Ween…
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I like to emphasize the “All Saints Day” part of it. Read a few stories from Foxe’s Book of Martyrs.
My youth group has put on a “party” for our church’s children for two years now, as a fun service ministry thing. At some point, we will carefully advertise it to the neighborhood (may be some legal or liability concerns).
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Our church is having a trunk or treat at church Halloween night. Kids can come to church and walk around the parking lot where people will set up shop in the trunk of their cars and will be handing out goodies to the kids.
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Trinity Church – Lompoc, CA. We usually have a Harvest Festival with games, costume contests, food & fun. For the older teens and especially to reach out to the non-Christian teens, we have a party in our Family Rec Building where we do allow the scary costumes but that’s how we get the non-Christian kids to come and then we blast them with a live remote of our radio station KRQZ and our teen DJ’s with today’s teen music in a Christian format.
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My husband and I have been in ministry for 20+ years. I received some advice I thought wise from a Christian friend regarding participating in Halloween. She said by not letting your kids take part “you can win the battle but lose the war,” in other words, choose your battles. When our daughter was little, up to about 4th grade, our church always had a dress up party on Halloween. Admission for adults was a bag of candy. We encouraged people to dress in positive costumes. It was a fun family night, with a potluck, games for the kids, a movie, usually some singing and prayer time, and a couple of parents would put together a bag of candy for each child. So they got a lot of the fun of Halloween without the yucky stuff, and felt like they weren’t missing out on a lot.
I personally would like to skip Halloween. I cringe when it is coming, because of all the negative and anti-Christian media, movies, costumes, and activities. We used this as a learning experience for our daughter. From the time she was young we talked about honoring God in all we do, offering our days to Him, viewing the things of the world from God’s perspective, and rejecting the negative things of the world. This attitude applies to all the days of the year. If we honor him with all the other days of the year, I
think we can honor him on Halloween also. He looks into our hearts, and that is where the issue of Halloween is won or lost.
I am now a teacher in a school that celebrates Halloween to the hilt. I try to make opportunities to turn it into a positive day. I try to encourage my students to participate in a godly way, with positive or fun costumes and games, and because it is a private school, we always pray together and this day is no exception. (I teach at a Catholic school though I am not Catholic and have a totally different view of many things.)
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Our church last year, with pressing from me, handed out Halloween tracts and candy. I got them from www.halloweenoutreach.com the FCA and a few other organizations endorse it. I heard it on the radio and just HAD to do it! I think it is a great opportunity for witnessing!! Why should we let the devil have a day to wreak havoc on our society? I am all for giving the devil a run for our kids!!
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I’m surprised that no one (that I know of) chooses to emphasize the fact that this is All Hollow’s Eve, the night before All Saints Day.
My church has a Fall for Jesus festival as an alternative to the traditional “trick-or-treat” thing.
Myself? I think you can make good or bad out of most anything if you try hard enough!
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Our church does not celebrate Halloween we consider it to be a Pagan holiday. For our teens we hold a 5th Quarter after the football game the weekend before Halloween. The night is filled with food, fun and fellowship and is open to the community. On beggars night we provide an alternative for the smaller children by hosting Hallelujah Night. The children are allowed to wear positive costumes of their favorite hero or dress as a character from the Bible. We provide them with candy and they play games for prizes it is open to the community and loads of fun for everyone!
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The kids like to pretend they are someone else for the evening, dressing up, etc., but we are not into the scary dead things. And yes, the candy plays a huge role in it! Just as it did for us as kids.
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We normally have a costume party for our kids that is very internal and allows no outreach at all.
This year we are hosting a fall festival for our younger kids through the 8th grade and getting our high school kids to help. We are looking forward to a good turnout. We are not doing it on Halloween though, we are hosting it on October 23
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My church does offer an alternative to the neighborhood kids going out and Trick or Treating. Our aim is to minister to them in all sorts of ways. We present the gospel during the night in many different ways. We also have inflatable games, carnival style games, free food and of coarse FREE candy. We want to see the kids get at least as much candy here as they would out trick or treating. We do not give the cheap stuff our candy is the quality good stuff. We want to be here for them to have a safe time but also a GREAT time.
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Thanks for your e-mail newsletter. I am not sure how I got on your list, but I do read them and enjoy them. I’m a youth pastor in Indiana. I’ve been at this church for 7 years (15 years in YM overall). Earlier on in my ministry I was very cautious about Halloween and tried to avoid it altogether (not a good approach). However, the last couple of years I have tried a couple of things that I feel capitalized on the cultural norm (Halloween) but didn’t compromise.
Three years ago we had our teens do a “reverse trick or treat” in the local neighborhoods. Instead of asking for candy, we had our kids pack treat bags of assorted candies along with a note from our youth group and a gospel tract and went door to door passing them out. We had a good community response and it gave our teens an entry level ministry
opportunity.
For the past 2 years we did a “masquerade party” at our Wednesday night youth night. We encouraged teens and youth staff to come dressed in a costume. Our only request (requirement) was that it could not glorify death, evil, crude or sexual types of things. We had no problems with our teens and/or their friends. We have a group of about 75 teens (jr./sr. high combined event) and many brought friends. We had games and competitions and gave prizes for several categories of costumes. Then, we presented a clear gospel message around the theme of masquerading. One first year our theme addressed the masks that people wear … and how God looks through to the heart…. Last year was around the theme of how Satan masquerades as an angel of light and how he can trap us. We are planning to do an outreach event again this year on this theme of masquerading.
We have had only minor concerns raised by parents about why we are doing it. We’ve been careful to communicate, communicate, communicate our purpose (outreach) to our leadership level teens, adults and parents and not to glorify the Satanic influences of Halloween.
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Our church, Abundant Life Covenant Church, outside of Norman, Oklahoma provides a Fall Festival. It includes games, candy, cake walks, hay rides and fun. Everything is free to all those who come.
The Youth Group provides a Cafe’ for those who are hungry to raise money for our summer mission program.
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Our church does have a worship party on Oct. 31
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Yes my church has an alternate for Halloween. We have hallelujah party for the children ages 12 and under at the church. The children are not allowed to dress in any demonic or satanic costumes. We have food, games, fall crafts and plenty of candy for them to take home. This prevents them from actually going out trick or treating.
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Usually our church has a prayer get together. The youth have a fun costume party with a Bible theme. This year we’re doing the Noah’s Ark thing where everyone pairs up and comes as an animal and then our youth leaders are Noah and his wife. We decorate the basement of the church like an ark – it’s great fun!
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I think there is some innocence in it, to the innocent. But all that is innocent seem to have been taken out of it and out of our everyday surrounding. There are certain groups that use this particular day to do evil rituals, sacrificing human lives, animal sacrifices, mutilating the body for drinking of ones blood, casting spells and more. This particular day involves the activities of the underworld, darkness “satanic”. These are certainly the last days and as a Christian we are warned to walk circumspect, carefully considering ALL courses of our action. I read somewhere that every time we purchase items such as witches costumes, vampire teeth/costume, anything that’s associated with evil, Satan, we are building up, strengthening his kingdom. As Christians we strive to build up God’s kingdom on earth by glorifying him on earth in all that we do. As a youth leader I provide alternate activities for our children. We don’t allow costumes. I suggest if they would like to wear costumes to dress as a biblical character. We have games that focused on giving them the word, such as balloon pop trivia, walk out the scripture, unscramble the scripture, and much more. I believe that we should be as creative as God would allow that we won’t let the enemy snatch our youth from us by not allowing them to be young. I believe it should be a time of fun for them.
» [- Oct 30, 2006 at 9:36 AM -] Jesse Watson says: I am not afraid of the Halloween season. In some aspects it is good…BECAUSE it gets teenagers thinking about being afraid and eternity and death. It creates an avenue to teach on fear, salvation and life from a different aspect that you don’t normally get. You need to provide something on Halloween for teenagers. Teenagers always have to be doing something. We as Youth Pastors and Youth Leaders need to provide an alternative to the wild parties that teens would normally attend. I believe in separation, but separation by itself never works. You need to be separated unto the Lord. Replace bad music with good music, “bad holidays” with good. Separation unto the Lord.
» [- Oct 30, 2006 at 9:54 AM -] Barrett says: I’m a youth minister. I refuse to let satan steal any day or event from me, or much else if I can keep from it. I won’t even capitalize his name. I allow my kids to dress up and trick or treat on Halloween. I also enjoy life as usual even on a full moon. I think black cats are beautiful, and I don’t mind walking under ladders when it’s practical. I also don’t shy away from the beauty of rainbows even though homosexuals have made it their symbol. I also allow my kids to open presents on Christmas even though our Lord’s birthday was probably in the summer. I also allow my family to use the internet at least on a limited basis (very supervised) even though the devil thrives there. I provide a “dance alternative” on the same night as the middle school dances. I am more concerned with how young people are living on a year round basis (what they wear, the messages on their clothing, their words and actions, their level of servant-hood, and whether they apply scripture to their lives, and whether Jesus is real to them).
» [- Oct 30, 2006 at 10:00 AM -] Brad Burgess says: I have been a Youth Pastor for 13 years now and I have seen how the church a lot of times when it comes to Halloween just stick their heads in the ground and scream it’s not real, it’s not real. Church we need to realize that yes there is a Halloween and yes if we are to be the body of Christ we need to be in the big fat middle of it. Jesus never ran from a challenge! But when it comes to Halloween the church usually just runs away. This is a great night to be a light in the darkness. Instead we usually point a finger and just curse the darkness. Jesus calls His church to be salt, and light. What better time to do it? My church is having a “Trunk or Treat”. We will have lots of candy, carnival games, a Jupiter Jump, and Pop-corn. Since it is so dangerous for children to go door to door now days, we wanted to be a blessing to our community, by hosting a safe event. I believe this is what Jesus wants us to do.
» [- Oct 30, 2006 at 10:08 AM -] Kevin Summitt says: Our church is Living Faith Church, on the out skirts of Savannah, GA. Lets talk about glorifying the dark side. We have tour companies here which ride you around the city in a hearse touring the graveyards and haunted building. John Wesley left Savannah in his early ministry and said it was so evil it had been cursed but GOD. Yet, there are still souls needing to hear the Gospel and we are having a move of GOD like never before. Maxwell’s idea of always doing the same things get you the same results is what the church has done with Oct. 31st. We view it as so evil yet never doing anything to change it. The What day out of all the days of the year (this day and time) are people opening their doors to total strangers. I feel we as the church are missing an OPEN DOOR opportunity (no pun intended) to share the LIGHT of the gospel on a night which satan has turned dark and evil. Jesus went against customs and traditions in a lot of things He did. Speaking to the woman at the well, the disciples not washing their hands before eating, Jesus was the life of the party was called a drunk (wine bibber). The key is OUT REACH, OUT REACH, OUT REACH. Let’s get out of our four walls of religiosity and win our world for JESUS! Ask yourself the question, What have we done for HIM lately?
» [- Oct 30, 2006 at 10:29 AM -] Pastor Brian says: I think people make too big a deal out of the whole Halloween issue, at least for the wrong reasons. Sure, it has been well documented that Halloween has pagan origins but so does every other holiday we celebrate. In fact, it really wasn’t until recently that a majority of people even became aware of the pagan origins of holidays. Does that mean they were participating unknowingly in pagan rituals? When we do activities on these holidays are we participating in some ancient pagan ritual? The obvious answer should be no. I don’t see Christian children on Easter too concerned about fertility and I don’t see these children on Halloween concerned about the dead. What I see is many Christian children looking in at the world having fun and not being allowed to participate in the fun. What’s wrong with fun? The only thing wrong with fun is if it leads to sin. So it is up to us adults to help our children have fun but not commit sin. My family doesn’t participate in Halloween because it glorifies evil, but we do participate in our “Lite Nite” because the kids get to have fun in a wholesome enviroment. Not only do they see this as fun, but we make sure to stress that there is an evangelistic element to our activity. There will be many non-Christian kids coming who may have wrong impressions about Christians. This is the opportunity for the church to give them the right impressions. If we are going to rant on Halloween, we might as well do it for the right reasons and not the wrong reasons. Halloween today has very little to do with its pagan origins. It has become a day for people to glorify the spooky, mysterious and even evil. My children will not participate in it for this reason and this reason alone. Instead, they will be given an alternative that is better then what other kids are participating in.
» [- Oct 30, 2006 at 10:34 AM -] Nate Anderson, youth minister – Fairland, OK says: I believe the apostle Paul can lend us some helpful words when it comes to Halloween. He tells us in 1 Cor that “everything is permissible, but not everything is beneficial” – he then goes on to say in essence that if his eating food sacrificed to idols offends any of his weaker brothers, he won’t eat at all. Paul also tells us though, that he has become all things to all men in order that he may reach some. So, what does that have to do with Halloween? Well, I think that we must be very careful, if we do choose to celebrate Halloween, what images, costumes, and activities we choose to participate in and also who we are around when participating. We must always be sensitive to the feelings of those who are new to the faith, especially those who have come from a background of satanic related activities – if celebrating Halloween is going to cause them to stumble, then by all means, we should not. however, as Christians we area l too aware of the fact that God has the amazing ability to turn what satan meant for evil into something good, and that is true with Halloween. yes, the background is steeped in satanism and occultic activity, and yes the messages sent aren’t always the most pleasant to behold, but the fact of the matter I, Halloween is going to be celebrated by mostly everyone in your community whether you like it or not, and as ministers to this generation of teens, who have no idea of truth, and are blasted every day with images of everything except the gospel, we have an obligation, i believe, to use the Halloween season, which satan meant for evil, as an opportunity to share the gospel. That is our ultimate mission, and to stand by and let evil prevail, even for just a day, is counterproductive to the mission. if you can use your creativity and resources to promote and alternative event of any sort to offset Halloween I believe you should, for the sake of the gospel. we all have kids in our communities that won’t set foot in a church, but they will go to a spook house, a haunted trail, a corn maze or whatever, and who knows, maybe Halloween, a day meant for paganism, evil, and death, could be the day that students from your community find new life in Christ through your efforts. Think about it!
» [- Oct 30, 2006 at 10:48 AM -] Carrie Williams says: Our church has held Pumpkin Parties in the past. This was a church-wide party to keep our kids off the streets and dangers of going house to house. This year, we are opening it up to the community. We as a church body choose to celebrate Christ during this season and honor him. What better way than to host a Christian-based party and invite the community where so many are “lost”. What a witnessing opportunity! We have planned games, food, hayrides, and entertainment by our worship band. We are giving away pieces of candy wrapped with a scripture verse and will attached Christian tracks along with prizes. In 1 Corinthians 10:31 it says whatever you do, you must do it all for the glory of God. Let’s give God the glory!!
» [- Oct 30, 2006 at 10:57 AM -] Joselito Perez says: Halloween is evil, many people are ignoring the tricks of the devil and are engaging on this type of activities. The Bible condemns the witch craft and sorcery and any related activities that involved such practices. There is no place in the Bible that mentions that the 31st of October is evil or bad. It is a regular day. But because there are people doing such satanic tactics on this day, we should be prepared to work against it. Having a substitute activity for this day is a good exercise to take our mind of the evil of this day, as long as the activities that we engage in these days are not contradicting what the Bible teach us. We should be strong in our values, games and Bible challenges on this day is a fortune for our kids, and if we praise them goodies we are not taking part of any Halloween activities, we are just rewarding their effort and good deed.
» [- Oct 30, 2006 at 11:06 AM -] Elizabeth Kliemann says: I think that it is interesting that Halloween gets a lot of attention as a pagan holiday, while Christmas and Easter never seem to cause quite the same amount of emotional stir. Historically all of these holidays have pagan roots. Various popes made Christian holidays out of these pagan festivals to convert people to Christianity. All Hallows Eve came from Samhain, and was still used as night to chase away evil. All Saints Day is a wonderful way for us to honor those Christians who have passed on to eternal life. What can be bad about this? Wearing a costume, carving a pumpkin, trick or treating all comes from a tradition of chasing away evil. Just as evergreens was the hope of spring and life returning during the festival of Yule, the Christians took those ideas and translated it to eternal life and the at the darkest time of year becoming the brightest moment in the world’s history. How many of you don’t think twice about having an Easter egg hunt, another symbol of fertility that we have translated into the hope of eternal life that is promised to us by Jesus’ death on the cross? How many of you have Santa Claus visit, which is a secular celebration by most folks, with no ties to St. Nicolas, whose fest is held on Dec. 6th? Some things are fun, there is no evil plot by the devil, only the first attempt by the Christian church to bring Christ’s message to people in a means they could understand. We do the same thing today with contemporary services, praise bands, donut & juice communions, and the ever popular translation of the Holy Bible, The Message. I have seen first hand more damage done to the Christian faith by those Christians who condemn and believe that pagans are devil worshipers. They don’t believe in Satan. They also have a similar idea of the golden rule, because they believe that all deeds are returned 3 fold. I guess before we start pointing fingers at other religions, we should realize that we once were considered a cult. and that sometimes the best way to reach someone and convert them is to not condemn them, but to listen and respect them and through the way you live and your example bring them to Christ. No human can judge whether someone is going to hell because of their beliefs. Only God has that power, and his grace is available to everyone. We need to stop damning everyone, we need to show Christ’s love by our actions, and not by being judgmental. We give more power to devil by thinking things like Halloween can shake our faith, and that is sad if your faith is not made of something stronger than M &M’s.
» [- Oct 30, 2006 at 11:12 AM -] Amy says: I am so confused about what is right and what is wrong and everything I read seems of no help. I am a youth leader, Sunday School Teacher most importantly a mom. I had a great deal of stress after my daughter was born over the Halloween issue after reading where it originated I wanted no part of it for her, but then when I spoke with my husband her Father he insisted he did not feel the same. We both were raised in good homes his more Christian upbringing than mine but we both were allowed to trick or treat and participate in safe activities churches etc. We never heard about any of the bad origin of Halloween until we were adults. He doesn’t want our children to miss out on the fun memories that we both had that were never of any harm to us and we are both good Christian parents now and don’t see any harm as long as with everything there are good reliable Christian parents watching and no tricks or ugly or Satanic worship are involved. I know this won’t help as I am still unsure myself what is right and what is wrong our Church does not believe in celebrating which is the same church my husband grew up in but most all of the parents do what we do allow the fun in a safe environment. God Bless You in your decisions!
» [- Oct 30, 2006 at 11:47 AM -] Tony Tophoney says: If we are being totally honest with ourselves as Christians, we need to recognize pagan influences in all of our social celebrations. Sure, we’ll boycott Jack-O-Lanterns and costumes on Halloween because these rituals originate in pagan tribal religions; but would we be willing to dispense with Christmas trees, wreaths and Yule logs? I can assure you these also originate in pagan tribal religious rituals, and these are associated with the birth of our Holy Savior. What is our position here? If it is sinful to engage in socially accepted pagan rituals at Halloween, why is it not sinful to do so at Christmas? Or is it the spirit in which such activities are performed that truly matters? If we innocently use a pagan symbol to celebrate Jesus coming into the world, can we also put a Christian spin on Halloween and celebrate it in social innocence at church? Before I was called out of darkness, I pointed to these inconsistencies in Christian thinking as a sign of hypocrisy. How would you address this point with an intelligent Teen in your ministry?
» [- Oct 30, 2006 at 12:50 PM -] Stagerlee Beabout says: I know that Halloween is the biggest “holiday” for those who celebrate witchcraft. It’s Pagan and doesn’t need to be intertwined with or celebrated in any way by true Christians. God teaches in the Bible to separate ourselves from the things of this world. Bible says it that settles it, whether you choose to follow Gods direction or not is up to you. However you can not straddle the line of God and world. He doesn’t like luke-warmness. God Bless you on this glorious day!!
» [- Oct 30, 2006 at 2:34 PM -] Gilligan says: As with all things I think you should work it out with Prayer and let the Holy Spirit guide you. I struggled with this for years as a parent of small children, but when I taught youth it became more apparent that this holiday is not purposeful, Here is a presentation I created to teach about the true meaning behind Halloween, then let the youth decide for themselves… http://home.comcast.net/~zonacat92/Halloween.htm (view in IE) God bless ~Gil
» [- Oct 30, 2006 at 4:06 PM -] Jackie says: I am just so surprised to see so many Christians have such a compromising stand on this issue. “Pure religion is ….to remain unspotted from the world”. In our assembly and a host of others, DO NOT participate in Halloween in any shape or form, neither do we have “alternative” activities, especially any that resemble the real thing. Our firm belief is to stay clear of associating ourselves with the activity. We are called to Holiness. We are called to be steadfast and we have to teach our children to stand against evil from a tender age. We believe that by giving them alternatives to Halloween, we only keep the “spirit” of the celebration of Halloween in the recesses of their minds. We are facilitating their celebration, either way. If something is evil, why find some compromise just to keep the kids happy? Our God hates compromise! Instead, we teach them to stand firmly during the tough times, “steadfast, unmovable”, like the three Hebrew boys in the furnace. There will be the days when the world will be having fun all around them, and they will be called to choose on which side they will stand. They have to know that sometimes it will take self sacrifice but they choose to honor God in spite of. We teach them to mortify their members, and to love the Lord so much as not to dabble in anything that looks like what offends Him. We have to teach our own how to be able to withstand temptations and to have such a strong aversion to evil and ungodliness, so that it doesn’t move them. Like Christ when He was tempted. How else will they be able to stand in the other storms of day to day life? As for alternatives, I find that we can have alternatives but nowhere near the Halloween, if anything. To do anything in or around the season only teaches them how to compromise subtly. Nonetheless, if an alternative activity is to be held on the evening to keep them occupied, it should not resemble what the world does at all. Praise and worship, yes, a gospel concert, bible study, fasting and prayer even (and how the world needs that at that very hour!). Teach them to make warfare, when the occultists are busy churning up demonic activity. Make it a night of fasting and prayer to pull down the strongholds that are being set up, that very hour in the underworld. Imagine a hall full of young people binding the works of darkness and pleading before the throne of God on behalf of nation, community and people, instead of a fun time out in biblical costumes. Isn’t it the same thing? No candies, no costumes should be allowed. All it does is teach us how to make wrong look right just so we will not feel left out when the world around us is having fun. For instance, we do not celebrate Mother’s Day when the world does because it is of Pagan origin (read up on it). We leave the world’s days and seasons to them. We recently celebrated our mothers (September) and what a program it was! We had a full program for the entire day and showed our appreciation in many forms. They felt really appreciated! I believe this is what honors the Lord. Not to twist around the evil to suit us, but to refrain from evil altogether. The fun that is being had out there has nothing to do with us. It shouldn’t move us. “Train up a child in the way he should go…” This kind of holiness and earnest godly separation is still in style. On Halloween night, I can assure you, our youngsters are not in the least bit interested in the activities because they have been taught all they need to know. They don’t feel left out at all. And we let our light shine by letting the world know that we will have no part in this – no matter how foolish we appear to them. When we accepted Christ, we died to the world. We are no longer conformed to the world but transformed by the renewing of our mind. At the most, I’d be drop a gospel track in their bags when they come to my door, maybe wrap it in candy, and dispatch each with a fervent prayer. Or I’d design the candies extra special so when they get home my candies would be the most attractive of the lot. I’d go all out to wrap it up with the Word of God, etc, etc. And I would spend time praying hard over the batch before the T or T starts. With each door bell, I’d be interceding. As each child leaves my doorsteps, I’d be interceding, etc. I propose that we should seriously consider these options as Christians. Costume parties at church? “Come out from among them and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing and I will receive you”. Question is, how separate are we prepared to be. What standard of holiness are we prepared to rise up to?
» [- Oct 30, 2006 at 8:20 PM -] Maria Cantu says: My husband and I decided a long time ago not to celebrate Halloween. We also did not want to be bothered or have our children constantly reminded by knocks on the door or door bells ringing. We just ensured that we are not home during this time. We go out to dinner, share our days, and count our blessings. After dinner we go see a movie. while other kids are deciding on costumes, our children are planning where we’ll have dinner and what movie we will go see. When asked by his friends, my 12 year old just says we’re having a family night out. His friends feel like their missing out since they only get candy.
» [- Oct 30, 2006 at 10:34 PM -] Dr. John Barnett, Th.D says: In our public schools, we have “Trunk or Treat” where the students come around the playground or track and get candy from parents (OR, like me, a grandparent). I do not see anything wrong with this. I do not believe that we are soliciting for Satan. After I am through at the school, I will go to my church and begin preparations for Fall Festival. Of course, many people who come in will be in “Halloween” attire. HOWEVER, every person MUST sign in prior to entering the gym. The Monday after Halloween, our FAITH teams will visit in every home represented by non-church members. We will find out if they are members or attending another church and if so, we will encourage them to be active in THEIR own church. If they aren’t, we use this as an outreach strategy for our Church. Yes, we are sometimes criticized by others in the community but the majority of them are not attending church anywhere. Go figure! We feel it is important to keep children off the street and in church. If they come to Fall Festival, they are off the streets and gives us the opportunity to minister to their family. By the way, I am part of a very conservative, Bible believing church.
» [- Oct 30, 2006 at 11:52 PM -] Chantel says: As a Christian and a believer, that Jesus Christ is my Lord and Saviour, I will not even consider this day. Halloween is a day pagans celebrate. (mediums, witches…..). We as Christians and believers should not sugar coat the devises of the enemy. for the Bible declares, ” my people perish from a lack of knowledge; our fight is not against flesh and blood but against principalities and powers and rulers of this dark age; we as believers are not to be confound to this world, but be transform by the power of the Spirit of God; we in this world but yet we not of this world says the Lord” Halloween is a day were spells, curses gets send out into the realm of the spirit. This is the time where we as believers needs to bind the forces of the evil one and not participate. We need to cover ourselves and our families. The enemy is out to kill and to destroy even if he can use Halloween as a subtle way of getting in. So believers i urge you don’t compromise and don’t be ignorant of the devises of the evil one.
» [- Oct 31, 2006 at 12:06 AM -] Gina says: Hello all God Bless. I think everyone will have their own opinion and that is fine. Halloween has indeed been creeping up as a major holiday has it not? Is Halloween indeed a holiday? I mean Christmas, Easter and Presidents Day etc.. are bonified holidays. But when did Halloween become such an important holiday? When I was a kid we dressed up and toilet papered trees. It just seems in recent years that it has expanded to such an extreme. It is truly ridiculous. At my church we teach at the Good News Club what it is all about and we tell the truth. I do not judge if folks celebrate and I just choose not to. It is a personal decision I however did take my children when they were little. I think perhaps I was wrong but I cannot change the past..It all boils down to ones own beliefs and one should follow his or her own heart
» [- Oct 31, 2006 at 12:44 AM -] Robert Madsen says: Halloween is just another day. It is a day of fun an fantasy. Christians have become afraid of these words, as if we will become poisoned by them. Christians are constantly talking about the pagan roots of Halloween and the evil that it represents. Of course there are similar controversies over Christmas and Easter, but very few Christians indeed advocate boycotting those holidays. Paul tells us in Romans 14:5: 5One man considers one day more sacred than another; another man considers every day alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. 6He who regards one day as special, does so to the Lord. In the same chapter he compres this to eating or not eating meat, and says that these things should not be the cause of disputes in the Church. But we have alienated ourselves from the world and each other by making Halloween the most controversial day of the year and calling it Satan’s day. How happy Satan must be that we have chosen to give him a day! If some evil emperor was born on the say day as I was, does that mean I can’t celebrate my birthday? This is the same logic used for not celebrating Halloween. Oh, but some will say, the things people do on Halloween are evil? Grow up. When I was a teen, haunted houses were regularly sponsored by churches and served as combinations of outreach, fund-raisers, and just plain fun! We didn’t bow down to Satan and give the day to him. We just had fun. Costumes, haunted houses, trick-or-treat. These are all part of the American social event called Halloween and have nothing to do with Satan, or any other pagan God. We make fools of ourselves and drive people away from Christ by making such a big deal out of this. Sincerely, Robert Madsen
» [- Oct 31, 2006 at 6:11 AM -] Paul says: I understand there is a time to pick your battles. This is the time that ALL Christians should choose to stand up and fight. Halloween is not “innocent” or “fun” in any away. A few minutes spent within the Bible and the internet would easily prove it. Things that are viewed as “innocent” or “fun” are tied tightly to Druid and Satanic (one and the same) activities and rituals: bobbing for apples, dressing in costumes, trick or treating, carving of pumpkins all part of the rituals. I have 5 young children and have been in the ministry for over 18 years. I tried to justify Halloween, and even took my kids out a few years ago, but after praying and truly researching I see there is no place for this day in a Christians life. I host a children’s activity at church: no costumes, no activities tied to Halloween. We have games a salvation message and a time for snacks. Each year the participation has grown and we all have a fun time without linking it to satanic rituals.
» [- Oct 31, 2006 at 6:47 AM -] Nick Church says: As children of God, we must always be aware of what we are doing in life and why we are doing it. Everything we do is to be done according to the Word of God. I am a youth pastor and last week in Bible Study, we discussed this very topic. I showed our teens where Halloween came from and what not…didn’t spend too long on that but then we took most characteristics of this day and looked into God’s Word to see what He says about them. This day is all about fear, death and deceit. God was very clear when He said…2 Timothy 1:7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. None of that is involved in Halloween, so why should we? Ephesians 5:9 (For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth) I don’t recall Halloween bringing out in my life any fruit of the Spirit, so why should we partake of it? Children of God are to be testing that which is good and profitable, and Halloween is neither. Satan thrives on God’s children being involved in this kind of stuff that we so called, “pretend” to be on Halloween. In everything we do we are to glorify our Father….Halloween is not glorifying to God….but to the devil….why give him pleasure in participating in this day? Give God the glory!
» [- Oct 31, 2006 at 7:52 AM -] Michael Courtney Youth Pastor Youth-X says: What ever you do or don’t do on the 31st of October may it bring honor and glory to our Lord, Jesus Christ!
» [- Oct 31, 2006 at 8:30 AM -] Derek Madge says: Which Halloween are we talking about here? The one practiced in North America is now virtually an invention of marketers, like so many other cultural icons and practices, including much of Christmastime. It’s past origins, which seem to be smeared like thin butter on toast, over hundreds of years and, geographically, over present day Europe and especially N. America, are cloudy and have been adapted and changed, some aspects dropped or obscured, others (like the mega-sugar orgy) taking their place. We can dissect origins and intentions and scriptures that only arguable address present-day Halloween practice until the cows come. But the fact will remain that for almost all kids and Teens, Halloween is a time to have a bit of fun, fuss around with costumes, get some exciting adrenaline rushes and over-indulge in sweets. It’s nothing more than that. If misguided people of any age use it to promote satanic influences, that is going to happen regardless of whether Christians promote anti-Halloween activities, ignore it or rail against it. I would not ask anyone who truly believes this is a harmful or un-Godly “celebration” to go against their principles. Yet I’d argue that those people may be seeing something that is not there for perhaps 99% of the population. Personally I believe it’s just a time to have a bit of fun, even figuratively laugh in the face of the devil, at a dreary time of year. I have faith in the youth’s ability to sort out some goofing around vs. anything satanic or unholy. I mean, what have we been teaching them the rest of the year? If they were so unprepared to tell the difference, what does that say about how effective their parents and churches are? This morning the radio told me of yet another report highlighting the terrifying results of global climate change that is happening right now. There is no ice in the Artic yet , and in the Spring, hundreds or thousands of weakened polar bears will drown as they instinctively try to reach ice floes that no longer exist. I have an e-mail in my inbox asking for my support of peace and relief in Darfur. 100 American soldiers died violently in Iraq this month and dozens of Canadian soldiers and other NATO soldiers have died so far in Afghanistan. Countless civilians and Taliban-inspired people (who, as reprehensible as their goals are, are still God’s children and someone’s father, son, daughter of mother) have been destroyed by war. Now why should I worry about kids running around collecting candy and jumping out of bushes, yelling “Boo!”?
» [- Oct 31, 2006 at 2:30 PM -] Cliff says: Christians have no business celebrating this pagan “holiday”. “What fellowship does light have with darkness”? I have to admit that I really enjoyed Halloween as a child, but that doesn’t make it right. We don’t have to celebrate anything on this day. Most Christians these days don’t want to be seen as a “peculiar people”. Rejecting this evil celebration is one way to show that we are not of this world. We are called to be a light in this world. We can’t be that if we look and act just like everybody else. The Church has been blinded. We are witnessing what Paul talking about in 2 Thessalonians 2:3, a great falling away. Brothers and Sisters, come out from among them and be separate; don’t touch the unclean things of this world…and may God give me the strength and grace to follow my own advice.
“Halloween: Pagan or Pleasure” excerpted from YOUTHWORKER.com web site. Article compiled by Many Youth Workers.
“This article may not be written by an Apostolic author, but it contains many excellent principles and concepts that can be adapted to most churches. As the old saying goes, “Eat the meat. Throw away the bones.”
