You knew it was coming…the debate about whether Christians can/should celebrate Halloween. Now that it’s October, Halloween decorations are popping up everywhere. There are five giant skeletons in our neighborhood alone!
I’ll start off by saying that we do take our boys trick-or-treating. It’s one of the few times people in our neighborhood get together and every year it becomes more of an opportunity for neighbors to meet, hang out on each other’s porches, catch up, and of course, bring joy to the kids and pass out treats. For us, it’s always been fun and festive and our boys look forward to it.
However, I know there are some strong opinions on both sides, and I love that there are alternatives for celebrating the holiday in a way that looks different from the rest of the world.
We’re also looking forward to trunk-or-treat events and a church harvest party!
Do you allow your kids to trick-or-treat? And if you don’t, what do you tell them? How do you address the fact that Halloween is hard to avoid and most of their peers are probably participating in it?
No judgment either way—just curious what other families do. I’d also love to hear what ways you celebrate Halloween/fall that are perhaps different than the norm. I love everything about fall—the food, the pumpkins, the colors, the weather, the cooking, the smells—I could go on, so I’d love to incorporate other festive fall traditions.
When I was a child, I remember being fascinated by the colors and excitement of Halloween. The decorations, costumes, and lights always caught my attention. But as I grew older and began to read the Bible more seriously, certain questions began to trouble me. I noticed that the themes so often associated with Halloween , death, darkness, fear, and mockery of the sacred, stood in contrast to what the Church teaches about holiness, purity, and light. Out of curiosity, I began to research the roots of the festival itself, and what I found changed my entire view.
The ancient customs that developed into what we now call Halloween began with pagan rituals centered on the worship of spirits and the blurring of boundaries between the living and the dead. Later, some of these customs became mixed with Christian observances of All Saints and All Souls, yet much of the older symbolism remained. When I studied this history, I understood that what may seem harmless fun on the surface was originally tied to practices that are incompatible with the faith once delivered to the saints.
For me, that realization was decisive. I no longer take part in Halloween, not because of fear or judgment toward others, but because I wish to live in a way that reflects Christ rather than the world. Scripture teaches that light has no fellowship with darkness and that we are called to be in the world but not of it. I found that detaching myself from that celebration brought an inner peace, especially as I replaced it with prayer, reading, and thanksgiving for the saints who overcame the darkness by their faith. We live in a culture that often transforms the sacred into entertainment and the fearful into amusement, yet as Orthodox Christians, we are called to transform our lives by grace. For me, stepping away from Halloween was not a loss but a liberation, a reminder that joy and celebration find their truest expression not in shadows, but in the light of Christ who conquered death itself.
I’m convinced one of the best ways is to hold a party in the church hall.
Theme, Light, stars space or similar.
Have several parties for young children, pre teens and if you have them for the teenagers.
It keeps them safe from the dangers of malicous sweets/candy, enables the church to contact many non church families and provides an opertunity to introduce teenagers etc to the perils of applo bobing etc.
