Russell Moore has a good article about Halloween and how people of different Christian persuasions treat it. See where you fit on Moore’s spectrum:
An evangelical is a fundamentalist whose kids dress up for Halloween.
A conservative evangelical is a fundamentalist whose kids dress up for the church’s “Fall Festival.”
A confessional evangelical is a fundamentalist whose kids dress up as Zwingli and Bucer for “Reformation Day.”
A revivalist evangelical is a fundamentalist whose kids dress up as demons and angels for the church’s Judgment House community evangelism outreach.
An Emerging Church evangelical is a fundamentalist who has no kids, but who dresses up for Halloween anyway.
A fundamentalist is a fundamentalist whose kids hand out gospel tracts to all those mentioned above.
I’ve always wondered why churches sponsor “Trunk or Treat” activities and “Fall Festivals.” The kids are dressing up, and there is lots of candy, so there is little to distinguish them from Halloween celebrations other than the fact that they occur on church property and no one speaks to strangers.
OK, so I get the fact that putting on costumes, playing games, and eating lots of candy is fun. But there is already a day for that: Halloween.
Some churches would say that they do Trunk or Treat and Fall Festival in order to provide a safer alternative to Halloween, and to provide opportunity to reach out to the unchurched community and witness the gospel to those participating in the activities.
But here’s a little test. Today is Halloween. It’s also Wednesday, the traditional mid-week, prayer/supper/Bible study day for many churches. How many of your churches are having Trunk or Treat or Fall Festival today? And how many faithful Trunk or Treat and Fall Festival participants will be noticeably absent from church services tonight?
I’m just asking.