October 22nd – From the Pastor’s Desk

Friends,

Every year about this time, I hear the same honest questions:
“Should Christians celebrate Halloween? Isn’t it evil? Isn’t it pagan?”

I understand the concern—it really can feel confusing out there. Years ago, while I was in seminary and parenting young kids, I found myself needing real answers, not just opinions. So I dug into the history, guided by historians like Ronald Hutton and Nicholas Rogers. What I found surprised me: Halloween’s story is far less about druids dancing around bonfires and far more about, well… Christians baking cookies.

That’s right. The holiday we call Halloween began not with witchcraft, but with worship, charity and prayers—a Christian observance known as All Hallows’ Eve.

Long before candy buckets and costumes, the early Church set aside a season called Allhallowtide. This was three days to remember and give thanks for God’s work among the saints and to pray for the faithful departed.

• October 31 – All Hallows’ Eve (the evening vigil before the feast)
• November 1 – All Saints’ Day, honoring all the saints, known and unknown
• November 2 – All Souls’ Day, a day of prayer for all believers who have died in Christ

In medieval England, people marked this season with prayer, bell-ringing, and generosity to the poor. The night before All Saints’ was not a time of fear, but of faith, remembrance, and hope. The original intent was a conviction that death has been defeated through Jesus Christ.

One thing I found interesting was that out of this devotion grew a custom called “souling”. Families would bake small, round “soul cakes”, which were simple buns sometimes marked with a cross, and give them to children or the poor who went door-to-door singing songs and offering to pray for the souls of loved ones. Although I did not hold to the teaching of purgatory during Medieval times, I could understand that it was taught and had an influence on customs.

The intent was good Christian community: charity, prayer, and remembrance all woven together. Over the centuries, as the Reformation changed how people viewed prayers for the dead, the practice faded, but the fun of visiting homes and receiving treats remained. Eventually, the prayers were forgotten, but the treats stayed, customs morphed leading to the birth of trick-or-treating.

So the next time you see a child in costume holding out a bucket, remember: it all started with Christian kindness and cookies baked in the shape of a cross.

What About Samhain?

Now, about that mysterious word you sometimes hear: Samhain (pronounced “SOW-in”). It was an old Celtic harvest festival in parts of Ireland and Scotland, marking the end of summer and the start of winter. But contrary to modern claims, there’s no evidence that Samhain was a “pagan death festival” or that Halloween came directly from it.

Historians like Ronald Hutton have studied every available text and found no trace of pagan worship, sacrifices, or rituals tied to Samhain that resemble our modern holiday. The link between Samhain and Halloween was a later invention of writers who guessed that anything “old and Celtic” must be pagan in origin.

In reality, Halloween developed many centuries later, in Christian Europe, within the church calendar and not as a rebranded pagan ritual.

How Christians Can Approach Halloween Today

So, what does this mean for us as followers of Jesus?

It means we don’t need to live in fear of Halloween. There’s nothing inherently evil about handing out candy, dressing up, or connecting with neighbors. But there’s also wisdom in recognizing that spiritual warfare is real.

Scripture reminds us: “We do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, the authorities, and the powers of this dark world” (Ephesians 6:12). That’s a sober reminder that we live in a world where good and evil are both at work, and we are called to stand firm in Christ’s victory. While we don’t need to fear the darkness, we also don’t flirt with it. We stay alert, discerning, and faithful knowing that the enemy often seeks to trivialize sin or make light of what is destructive. Christians can approach this night with open eyes and steady hearts, confident that Jesus has already overcome the darkness.

At the same time, this night gives the church a unique opportunity to engage our wider community in the Christian spirit of hospitality. Rather than retreat from our neighborhoods, we can step into them with grace and meet people where they are, showing kindness, and building trust.

Each year, our streets (and our own church parking lot!) fill with families and children. Events like our Trunk or Treat give us a wonderful opportunity to share warmth, generosity, and the joy of Christ with our neighbors. Whether you’re decorating a trunk, handing out candy, or simply greeting people with a smile, we can be salt and light together—showing the same kind of loving hospitality that has always marked the people of God.

Our goal isn’t to imitate the world, but to inhabit this night differently: with love, joy, and the presence of Christ shining through simple acts of goodness.

A Matter of Christian Liberty

Even as we encourage one another toward hospitality, we also want to hold space for grace and conscience. The Apostle Paul reminds us in Romans 14:22-23 that these kinds of cultural questions fall under Christian liberty:

“Blessed is the one who has no reason to pass judgment on himself for what he approves… but whoever has doubts is condemned if he eats, because the eating is not from faith.”

That means it’s perfectly okay for Christians to come to different conclusions. Some will feel free to participate—passing out candy, attending a fall festival, or joining neighborhood gatherings as a way to love others well. Others may feel led to quietly abstain, perhaps spending the evening in prayer or family devotion. Both responses can honor the Lord when they come from sincere faith and love for Christ.

As a church, we’ve decided not to fear this night but to redeem it. Our goal is to be a gentle, faithful presence in our community, modeling grace and generosity. But no one should feel pressured or judged for making a different choice. What matters is that our actions flow from conviction, not conformity; from peace, not guilt.

Christ has conquered death. The light has already overcome the darkness. And that means we can live—and even celebrate—with confidence, wisdom, and grace.

Amazing Grace,

The Pastor