From Pastor Kendra
October 2025
Halloween is an odd time for church folks. We are all aware, by this point, that Halloween is an odd amalgamation of both pre-Christian pagan symbolism and Christian theology. Much like Christmas, practices were taken from different faiths and incorporated into the Christian celebration of All Saints. The celebration of All Saints dates back as far as the 4th century, not settling into its current date, however, until the 800s. By the 1200s, All Hallows' tide was considered a period of holy obligation with prescribed ritual and practice to honor the dead. All Hallow’s Eve was the vigil before the holiest of the three days, All Hallows Day, now called All Saints Day. Various traditions developed around preparing for the honoring of the blessed dead. Including going door to door to pray for the souls in purgatory in return for a small gift. During the Reformation, Protestants considered the three days festival ‘too Catholic’ and many of the practices fell out of common use.
Fast forward to the late 19th & early 20th centuries when immigrants from Ireland and Scotland brought their traditions with them to the US. Both were heavily influenced by Celtic pagan traditions and neither were inclined to follow the rules of the Anglican church. These were the traditions that became the Halloween that we now recognize. As Americans became more secular, so did the festival. It is now primarily a single day for most people who celebrate and has moved out from the US to other countries with little understanding of the history and purpose of the time. In fact, Halloween has become so far removed from its origins that many churches will ban it entirely from their calendar as a solely pagan festival. But here is where things get completely confused.
Churches will set up alternative events for their communities on October 31st. They will be called Harvest Festivals, Pumpkin Parties, or the newest, worst choice, “Jesusween”. These events will have treats, and costumes, and pumpkins, and games, and all the things associated with Halloween except the name. The irony is, of course, that the name Halloween is the most authentically Christian part of the whole festival. It is all that remains of All Hallows' tide and the only thing that points people to a more sacred and holy purpose of the time. By changing the name to Harvest Festival, churches remove that last vestige of Christianity from the day, moving it completely into the realm of the secular, where it is likely to remain.