Editor's note:Christians differ onhowandifHalloween should be acknowledged. Some choose not to participate at all. Others send their children to church-sponsored "festival" events. Still others use it as an opportunity to get to know non-Christians in their communities. We encourage you to find ways to use the annual event to build gospel-sharing bridges with non-believers.
hurried up the sidewalk. I couldn't wait to reach the next house. Every Halloween, my sister and I each got a whole Snickers™ from the doctor's widow who lived here. I could feel the added weight in my bag as Mrs. Jergens plunked down that gooey treat.
But Halloween has changed since those carefree years when I dressed as a majorette and strutted up and down the familiar streets of my Chicago neighborhood. Today, hospital X-ray machines scan for dangerous objects hidden in candy. Youths who dabble in the occult make front-page headlines. My children have been lured by books from spookmaster R.L. Stine. The age of innocent holiday fun has ended.
Now, on some Halloweens, I turn off the porch light to hide from trick-or-treaters. But that may not be the right response.
"If we've got people walking the street, we can be out there sharing with them something that will make a difference in their lives," says Jaye Martin, family evangelism associate/ director of women's evangelism for the North American Mission Board. "I like the idea of turning Halloween into an evangelism event."
Jaye practices what she preaches. Her daughter's birthday, which falls near Halloween, provided the family an opportunity to be on mission. During childhood party years, friends were invited to attend the birthday party, which began an hour before their local congregation's fall festival. Jaye presented the plan of salvation to guests, then led partygoers through the church. As a result, "this gave us many opportunities to talk about the Lord."
Jaye views Halloween as an open door to witnessing. And even though the holiday might begin with children, associated seasonal events can provide multi-generational opportunities to reach people for Christ. Consider these possibilities:
Trade treats for tracts
If children drop by at Halloween, be prepared to drop something with lasting value into their candy sacks. Many children's tracts are appropriate as free gifts at Halloween. The North American Mission Board has resources that could make Halloween an outreach time at your house.
"Sharing God's Special Plan With Children" is a gospel tract designed for children (0840087225, pack of 25/$7.50).
Another children's gospel tract is "An Important Question for an Important Person." It is available in English and Spanish (0840088256, 10 cents each).
If teens find their way to your door, the new student tract "Life on The Edge?" wraps the gospel in a contemporary package (0840085338, pack of 25/$2.50).
All of these tracts, and many other evangelistic items, are available at your local LifeWay Christian Store or by calling 800-448-8032.
The American Tract Society has tracts for use during Halloween and other specific events. Contact them at 800-548-7228 or on the Web at www.atstracts.org.
Yet everyone does not embrace these ideas. Even acknowledging a holiday with pagan overtones makes some Christians shudder. Some point to 1 Thessalonians 5:22, 1 Timothy 4:7 and Leviticus 19:26 as scriptural passages that direct believers to avoid all connection with the holiday. One veteran youth pastor understands these feelings. He explains, "We naturally try to avoid this time of year because we see it as being Satan's day." With God-fearing people on both sides of the issue, Halloween has emerged as a lightning rod issue in the Christian community.
There's no question that today's society supports the holiday. Candy sales skyrocket come October. Each year, an increasing number of employees are invited or encouraged to come to work in costume, and consumers gear up for a last gasp of fun before settling in for the serious push toward Christmas.
Whether or not you choose to boycott pumpkins on the porch, the emergence of Halloween as the second largest retail event of the year offers at least the potential for intentional outreach.
Cathy Bell has proof. As the music and special event coordinator at Two Rivers Church in Nashville, Tennessee, she has helped bring 15,000 people through the annual Judgement House™ each fall.
"This program is such a great tool," she says. "It steps over the grounds of normal church life and goes a little into the secular world."
In recent years, 300-400 volunteers have been involved in Judgement House™. Their results have paid off--as a direct result of the last Halloween program, 754 attendees made professions of faith. But that hasn't been the only benefit.
Judgement House
The time: Fall 1983
The place: Bethel Baptist Church, Moody, Alabama
The problem: "What do you do with Halloween?"
The church youth group answered the question in two words: haunted house. But youth pastor Tom Hudgins felt a Christian response was needed to offset the growing secular interest in Halloween. He and his enthusiastic volunteers took the concept and changed the message. The resulting Judgement House™ became a Halloween alternative and attracted 500 people, including 60 who made decisions for Christ. During the following year, the response was "even more incredible," remembers Tom. "We've had revivals without that kind of response."
Those initial years merely set the stage for what has exploded into a major outreach effort adopted by individual congregations. In 1998, a total of 229,521 people in 17 states went through Judgement House™ sites. As a result, 37,360 people made decisions for Christ.
Judgement House™ is an eight-scene drama "that presents what we believe the Bible teaches about heaven, hell and the joy of having a relationship with Jesus," says Hudgins. Without using "scare you into heaven" tactics, scripts are updated annually to present relevant situations. Now administered through the non-profit New Creation Evangelism, Inc., Hudgins says the program is successfully used in churches of all sizes. Although Judgement House™ is still primarily a Halloween alternative, some congregations use the program as an outreach tool.
"There is such an excitement among youth about personal evangelism after they've participated in corporate evangelism," says Hudgins. "They are definitely prepared to go into their schools and be more bold."
Although Judgement House™ began as a youth event, the program has grown beyond that. Hudgins uses his own congregation in Clearwater, Florida, as an example.
"We've bridged the generation gap," he says. "Two years ago, a 92-year-old man who came through Judgement House™ received Christ."
Success stories and testimonies flood the New Creation office, which offers regular training at various geographic sites. The next sessions are scheduled for:
October 22-23, Clearwater, Florida October 29-30, Macon, Georgia November 5-6, Cape Girardeau, Missouri.
For more information, contact New Creation Evangelism, Inc., at 727-449-1100 or www.judgementhouse.org.
"Outreach has a different look," Cathy says. "Our need for volunteers brought out a lot of people who weren't all that evangelistic before and gave them a hunger and a taste for what true evangelism is."
Yet it doesn't take participation in a major holiday celebration at church to be on mission. At Halloween, witnessing just may be a bit easier because the mission field literally knocks and waits.
"When I stand at the door and reach out with a snack, I remember Isaiah 55:11," says a mother of two.
Like others, she views Halloween as a time when people let down their guard and become a little more open. This mom has learned that combining prayer and outreach creates a powerful tool. And that's a valuable lesson to put into practice on any day of the year.
Dr. Mary Manz Simon is a columnist for Parent Life and Christian Parenting Today, and hosts the nationally syndicated radio program "Front Porch Parenting" heard daily on almost 200 Christian radio stations. Her books have sold 1.5 million copies.