Exploring different responses to Halloween
There are lots of different ways to think about Halloween. This post shares some different approaches to help you explore how we might choose to approach Halloween.
When it comes to Halloween there are so many ways we can respond, from shutting the curtains and pretending we’re not home, to opening wide our front doors and taking our kids out into our neighbourhoods.
- In episode 5 of the Parenting for Faith podcast, Rachel shares three steps to help you decide what your family’s take is on anything. Listen to the episode to unpack these further and use it to help you think through your response to Halloween this year:
- Find out about it yourself.
- Consider what is healthy for your child.
- Be confident in a community of faith.
When figuring out what our own family values are and how we’re going to respond it can be helpful to have lots of different approaches to look at. So, for those of you who are still not sure what your approach is going to be, we’ve gathered together a selection of resources and posts to help get you thinking.
Not sure what you think about Halloween as a whole?
There are a lot of views out there about what is important to think about when deciding how your family wants to address Halloween.
- We have several posts on our websites where parents talk about how they’ve decided to approach Halloween: for example, James shares How we approach Halloween as a family, and Annie talks about Figuring out how to do Halloween as a family.
- ‘Should Christians Celebrate Halloween?’ by Mary Fairchild explores briefly an overview of the history of Halloween, and some key verses some people have found helpful in finding their own way forward. Don’t be put off by the ‘should’ in the title… her answer is ‘consider these things and decide for yourself’, but her overview of the things that can inform your choice may be helpful.
- Krish Kandiah, founding director of the charity Home for Good, wrote an article about how he changed his views and allowed his five children to engage with Halloween. He eloquently explores his thought process here: Krish Kandiah: Why I’ve changed my mind about Halloween
- J.John, director of Philo Trust, takes a different approach that may be helpful in thinking through the idea of ‘evil’. Have a read here: The Tragedy of Halloween
Not sure what you think about Trick or Treaters?
- Many of us live in communities that have trick or treaters wandering around and knocking on our doors. Helen Goldenberg, of Children Can, changed her mind about Halloween when God asked her the question, ‘these people are coming to your door, wanting something from you, why don’t you give them me?’: Halloween: The best evangelism opportunity of the year!
- If you want to start a discussion with older children or teens, this video from Glen Scrivener would be interesting to watch together and see what questions it sparks.
Some people feel like they don’t want to engage at all. We know families who are creating their own alternative traditions in their homes. We also know families who are choosing not to do anything. For some people, they feel it offers a great opportunity. If you’d like to respond to trick or treaters and want to explore some ideas about how to do that you might this post helpful: Ideas for responding to trick or treaters
Get in touch and share your journey and what you do for Halloween by contacting us here or through our Facebook page or Twitter.