For Christians that DON'T celebrate Halloween, do you think it's still wrong when your church...?

Question

stills throws a party on Halloween DAY but calls it something else like: Hallelujah Night or Harvest Festival?
They still encourage "dressing-up" in customs and giving out candy (all the same things done on Halloween) and all done on the day of the dead, just called by a different name to justify it.
Is this happing in your church and if so how do you feel about it?

FYI:
Not celebrating Halloween was a choice I made for MYSELF! I'm NOT saying that it's "evil and you're going to hell if you celebrate it", I've just chose not to celebrate it for MY own reasons and beliefs.

For any who think that Halloween is NOT a Pagan celebration:
"Halloween originated under the name of Samhain as a Pagan festival among the Celts of Ireland and Great Britain. Irish and Scottish immigrants carried versions of the tradition to North America in the nineteenth century. Other western countries embraced the holiday in the late twentieth century".

Answer 1

Do origins of holidays really matter? Yes! To illustrate: Suppose you saw a piece of candy lying in the gutter. Would you pick it up and eat it? GROSS! That candy is unclean.
Changing the name of a celebration that God would not approve of may seem like a good idea, but the origin of Halloween is still unclean. Changing the name and trying to make it look sweet doesn't mean that God would approve of it. Ephesians 5:10 says we should 'keep on making sure of what is acceptable to the Lord'. I personally would think long and hard about attending.

Answer 2

Some consider Halloween to be completely incompatible with the Christian faith due to its origin as a Pagan "festival of the dead."
In more recent years, the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston has organized a "Saint Fest" on the holiday.
People of diverse religions (or no religion at all) may naturally be concerned about the vandalism that can occur on the holiday.
Also, some Wiccans feel that the tradition is offensive to "real witches" for promoting stereotypical caricatures of "wicked witches".
However, other Neopagans, perhaps most of them, see it as a harmless holiday in which some of the old traditions are celebrated by the mainstream culture, albeit in a different manner.

For me is just a silly fun way to take the kids out and amuse them.

Yesterday in my church there was a pamphlet with a scary witch on it.

Honestly I don't think it's appropriate to input those figures in religious material.

Peace be with you.

Answer 3

Actually, dear one, it isn't the day of the dead, it's a Christian day called All Saints Day. And we see absolutely nothing wrong with children dressing up in silly costumes and going out to collect candy. It's more an American tradition than anything else now.

Our church does have a Harvest Festival around the same time, but not necessarily the same day as Halloween.

And I'm fine with all of it!

God bless!

Answer 4

They call it by a different name because most of the time it is not the same as your typical Halloween party. For example, the "scary" images(goblins,devils,ghosts,etc) are typically replaced with religious symbols. The games played are usually fall related(bobbing for apples) and ghost stories are replaced with with a Bible story or some other activity. Dressing up as ghosts and other symbols is usaully either replaced with dressing up as a Bible character or the kids don't dress up at all. The Church typically holds it on Halloween due to being All Hallows Eve with All Saints Day the following day. Most kids have little interest in All Hallows Eve/All Saints Day so the church takes some themes from Halloween but puts a religious twist to them to make learning more enjoyable.

Answer 5

Good question. I have been chosen to be the "Outreach Coordinator" for my church and had a very successful community picnic 2 months agao, about 250 people showed up and even the local media covered it, it's even an online story. God truly blessed it. But now I am in charge of this "Harvest Festival" with costume contest etc and it has been rocky from the start, it's not going smoothly, I didn't want to do it the interest in it seems low etc etc.

But... We are all there with Christ in us and I think of the souls we will be reaching out to on satans holiday.

No, I don't wanna do it but I am learning obediance and I am trusting the Lord to be glorified and that I can be a good witness.
God created ALL days all 365 of them so it's just another day for me to witness of God's love, we will just pray harder on that day of the Festival but we won't hide our salvation behind closed doors , let's bring the GOOD NEWS to the lost on Oct 31st, Lord I say a special pray for every church holding a function on 10-31-07 right now in Jesus Name bless us bless us bless us for we know we do this for YOU God not man.

Answer 6

I find it somewhat hilarious, denying that whatever this Halloween thing is about has any real power, yet nervous enough to go through the trouble of producing an alternate celebration. But it's better than sitting at home in the dark. At least the children still have a little fun. (I wonder if VeggieTales has a Halloween special.)

Answer 7

It's things like this that give "non-believers" ammo on the church!
They preach one thing and do another!
If you believe one thing and preach on it, you can't twist it around and justify it by changing the name.
October 31 was created in evil, celebrated in evil and even though it has been "socially" acceptable doesn't take away it's origin!
Evil is Evil no matter how many "pretty bows" you dress it up in!

Answer 8

Actually, we will be celebrating Halloween (The Vigil of the Feast of All Saints - "All Hallows" "E'en" - All Saints Eve) with a Solemn High Mass and a chanting of the Litany of All Saints. Then, on All Souls Day, we will celebrate a Solemn High Requiem Mass for the Dearly Departed...may their souls and the souls of all the faithful, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.

Answer 9

It's usually done as an alternative, to give the children a safe environment in which to have some fun and games and candy, too.

Let's face it, there really ARE a lot of whack jobs out there - just look at all the candy with poison, apples with razor blades, et cetera.

Answer 10

my church has a fall festival, and I don't see any problem with churches providing a safe atmophere for kids to dress up and collect candy. As long as the focus is kept on having fun and getting candy instead of day of the dead, witches, ghosts, etc, I have no problem with it.