Ed Drew, the children’s worker at Dundonald Church in south-west London, has written the following very helpful piece about how we can respond to Halloween.
Halloween is on the way, on 31st October. In all likelihood, all of us will either have children coming to our doors or have our own children invited to Halloween parties.
Firstly, let’s not overreact.
I would guess that very, very few of those we know think it’s much more than a bit of harmless fun. We can appreciate that most of those who dress up, go to parties or go knocking on doors, are children who don’t know better. We can be gentle in how we approach those who are celebrating Halloween.
Secondly, as Christians we have nothing to be afraid of in Halloween. We may have reasons not to celebrate it, or have reservations, but we’re not afraid of it. Whenever Jesus met the devil or evil spirits, He won – and His defeat of the devil is final. On the cross, Jesus broke Satan’s power of condemnation and death over His people by fulfilling God’s law in His death (Hebrews 2:14-15). And Jesus drives out Satan from our lives and sends in His Holy Spirit so that believers can no longer be possessed by demons. Those in Christ are safe.
We can assure our children that we don’t need to be afraid. We don’t even need to be worried. We stick close to Jesus.
Thirdly, let’s remember that the devil and evil spirits are real (Ephesians 6:12). Christians have generally been careful in how they approach Halloween because Jesus took the devil and evil spirits seriously.
In our own families, we might want to take our children to the Bible stories that show Jesus meeting the devil or evil spirits. For instance, you could tell your child the story of Jesus being tempted by the devil, or perhaps tell them about the time Jesus sent an evil spirit out of a person. Sometimes these stories are avoided in children’s Bibles, so you may need to be imaginative.
How we respond in practice is up to each of us.
When other children come knocking at our door, I think we can be generous, with sweets. You could even take the time to tie a Halloween leaflet to bags of sweets. The Good Book Company have published a very gentle tract explaining why Jesus is the Light of the world. If the children of neighbours come knocking, this is a tract aimed at children that is warm and positive. We won’t be thought of as angry or aggressive or overbearing.
When our own children are invited to Halloween parties or they ask to go “trick or treating”, we might want to at least talk to them first about what Halloween is about. Some families at our church have decided not to let their children take part. Some have held alternative parties called “Parties of light” or “Pumpkin parties” – to have a party but without celebrating the dark spirits. This makes it clear that we’re not against fun, or parties – it’s that we choose carefully what to celebrate and how we have fun.
We are each free to consider this for ourselves. Each family can make up its own mind.
Let’s not dread Halloween. Don’t do what I have done in the past: turn out all the lights, and hide in a back room pretending you’re out, ignoring the door when it is knocked on! Let’s consider how we’re going to respond, and if we have young children, let’s take the opportunity to talk to them about the great victory Jesus has won at the cross, and the safety we find in Him.
Ed Drew is the Director of Faith in Kids, resourcing children's ministry in the local church. Before that for twelve years he was the Children’s Worker at Dundonald Church, South West London. He’s married to Mary and they have three children. Previously Ed was an Engineer and he is still happiest building and fixing things.
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