Engaging with the dark; bringing light to Halloween – by Anna Price

On Halloween this year, our church, St Mary Magdalene Gorleston will be preparing to welcome around 200 families from our estate, to pass through our annual ‘Light on a Dark Night’ event.  This has become a hugely popular community gathering point for those out trick or treating, as well as for those trying to perhaps avoid the some of the connotations associated with Halloween celebrations. 

But this is no normal ‘light party’; no, it’s really about engaging with the dark. Let me explain.

The celebration of Halloween has become a massive cultural phenomenon in many neighbourhoods.  The hope of introducing the softer American-style ‘superhero’ costumes have hardly overtaken the very real obsession of kids and families with the bloody, spooky, skeletal elements of traditional Halloween celebrations. 

Safe and insular

Many Christians have tended to feel disturbed by this cultural phenomenon. We have encouraged children to retreat into insular but safe-feeling ‘Light Parties’ and many hold a deeper fear that the cultural popularity of the event reveals a growing distance between British culture and its Christian heritage.

However, we are called to be like Paul and be ‘a Jew to the Jews and a Gentile to the Gentiles’; we are challenged not to retreat from but positively engage with the prevailing culture. The church has done this throughout history, notably of course by turning the pagan festivals into Christian ones, such as Christmas, Harvest and Easter.  And with this model in mind, I have been exploring our understanding and approach to Halloween.

A victory approach to darkness

Although celebrating darkness and death is rightly associated with evil, as Christians we can have confidence when experiencing the celebrations of darkness, through Christ’s death and resurrection victory over sin, death and the kingdom of darkness.  We need not fear them anymore. 

We need not fear those who come to the door, the costumes, the scaremongering, the celebrations, the discos or the sweets.  Christ is greater by far and has victory over these things; he is present in us by his Spirit as we go out into the world, living as salt and light.  If we, or our children, attend a Halloween disco or go trick or treating in celebration of the light of Christ, we are simply learning and demonstrating what it means to be in the world but not of the world.

Generosity in our judgements

It may appear to us that the world is celebrating darkness and evil at Halloween, but that may not be that simple.  For starters, many of my friends and neighbours are not generally pagans who have an interest in satanic arts.  More often than not they are community-minded families who wish to introduce their children to their neighbours in a fun, responsible and safe way.  

I’m afraid for many, the idea that Halloween is a ’celebration of evil’ is as meaningless to them as Christ’s birth and death are to their celebrations at Christmas and Easter.  It is us who fear something deeper is going on spiritually.

Finding common ground

But we mustn’t forget that people in the majority of the world do believe there are spiritual forces of darkness and evil and secularism is starting to be overtaken by various beliefs in the spiritual realms rising up.  We can see this as a threat or we can see it as a wonderful new opportunity to find common ground for conversations. 

At Halloween we can start raising questions in the minds of our neighbours by being unafraid to express that these dark forces are at work, reflecting the real battle that is going on.  We can express that Jesus is supreme as a spiritual force, not only because of his almighty power but because this power is expressed in goodness and light, achieving spiritual authority through the loving sacrifice of himself for us. 

Spiritual realities

Not only is this a message for parents out there; our children need to be learning about the spiritual reality.  They need to understand what is behind the troubles and sadnesses they observe and experience in the world so they can make sense of them.  They need to know that bad things don’t ‘just’ happen; evil powers are at work.  We may fear frightening them, but it’s not like they aren’t interested or already engaging with these concepts! 

Many of their good-guy bad-guy stories, books, TV shows and films, reflect the battles in this world with evil and increasingly reflect a spiritual world.  They need us to engage with these and show them who is ultimately victorious and behind all that is good.

The Battle Zone

So on Halloween we turn our church building into a Twilight Zone for those who are brave enough to enter. We invite families to ‘battle the dark forces and discover Light on a Dark Night’. 

The Battle Zone will be almost pitch black, smoke-filled church, decorated with spiders, bats and other (gently) spooky decor and will have a series of battles (4 challenges) to fight evil forces. Despite early signs of success they will lose the battles.  But there is a trail through each of the battles that show that someone has gone before them and won each one. They eventually reach the cross where it is explained that Jesus has won all the battles for them and they are now able to pass through into the Light Zone as victorious. 

The Light Zone

In the Light Zone (our hall), they will be greeted by volunteers dressed in party-wear, whilst carrying small battle scars. Each participant will be presented with a puzzle/story booklet-tract and the words  ‘Congratulations – Jesus has given you the victory.  This booklet will help you understand how. Welcome to the Light Zone.’ 

And then a full Light party atmosphere is created with music, fairy lights galore, hot dogs, hot chocolate, tea, coffee and crafts.  We find the parents, as well as the kids, always seem relieved to have arrived at their break in their trick or treating journey, and find that it really is good to have Light on a Dark Night.

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For more articles, story booklets, resources and ideas on navigating Halloween in a different way as an individual family or church, I would suggest:

• Nay Dawson: Halloween stories for a post-Christian culture
• Halloween: faith in kids
• Making the most of Halloween resources
• Different responses to Halloween
• Speak Life: Trick or treat?

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Anna Price is Community Strategic Manager at St Mary Magdalene Church Gorleston.  She, her husband Matthew and their church are passionate about being transformed and transforming their community with the extraordinary love of Christ.  Follow @magdalenechurchgorleston on Facebook