Ship of Fools: Hallowe'en

Thread: Hallowe'en Board: Oblivion / Ship of Fools.

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Posted by Corvo (# 15220) on :

Does anyone know of any churches doing anything special for Hallowe'en? Has anyone ideas for alternative/rival events?

Posted by Liturgylover (# 15711) on :

Links to two churches (there will be many others) from different churchmanship traditions who are having services of light tonight:

http://ststephens-ealing.org/Articles/450575/Light_Party_2015.aspx

http://www.saint-pauls-harringay.org.uk/

Posted by Baptist Trainfan (# 15128) on :

Very interesting. St. Stephen's is Evangelical and St. Paul's is Anglo-Catholic. The former makes no mention of Hallowe'en but the latter both has a picture of the dreaded pumpkin and helpfully re-christens the day as "All Hallows' Eve". The former church gives the impression of being a little frightened of Hallowe'en and wanting to substitute it with light (but that may be unfair of me); the latter, while also taking the light motif, wants to reclaim its meaning.

And - St. Stephen's - what are donuts?

My wife - some moons ago! - was on the team which wrote this Hallowe'en resource for "Curbs" (Children in Urban Situations).

[ 31. October 2015, 09:06: Message edited by: Baptist Trainfan ]

Posted by bib (# 13074) on :

Horrors of horrors, we had grown adults in costume knock on the door tonight - not a child in sight. They became a little stroppy when we said no.Surely the halloween customs don't belong to grown men in masks seeking treats for their little baskets!

Posted by SvitlanaV2 (# 16967) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Baptist Trainfan:
Very interesting. St. Stephen's is Evangelical and St. Paul's is Anglo-Catholic. The former makes no mention of Hallowe'en but the latter both has a picture of the dreaded pumpkin and helpfully re-christens the day as "All Hallows' Eve". The former church gives the impression of being a little frightened of Hallowe'en and wanting to substitute it with light (but that may be unfair of me); the latter, while also taking the light motif, wants to reclaim its meaning.

I'm sure I've seen church in the past advertising celebrations of light in place of Hallowe'en, so that's not a new thing.

Of course, a lot of churches don't bother with Hallowe'en at all.

Posted by fletcher christian (# 13919) on :

Posted by Corvo:

quote:

Does anyone know of any churches doing anything special for Hallowe'en? Has anyone ideas for alternative/rival events?

I'm a little confused as to why you would want a 'rival' event to the Christian mockery of the devil called Halloween on the eve of All Saints.

Posted by Knopwood (# 11596) on :

ECUSA's Book of Occasional Services (pdf) has forms for both a "Vigil for the Eve of All Saints' Day" (p. 106) and a "Service for All Hallow's Eve" (p. 108). These are fleshed out a bit in the Anglican Gradual & Sacramentary.

Posted by leo (# 1458) on :

I'm tempted to suggest: Solemn (First of All Saints) Evensong and Benediction

Posted by Brenda Clough (# 18061) on :

Our church is doing a Fall Festival which is essentially candy in the parking lot. All the children of the neighborhood have been invited, and it will be a mob scene.

Posted by venbede (# 16669) on :

Ages ago when All Saints fell on a Saturday, we had a full mass of All Saints on Friday evening to which children were encouraged to attend in Hallowee'n costumes. The costumes were judged and prizes awarded at the party afterwards.

Posted by Brenda Clough (# 18061) on :

Our church did this too, with the stipulation that the costumes had to be Biblical. Lest the congregation be bored by an endless series of apostles and prophets, my husband and I went as a loaf and a fish; we were newlyweds and assured everyone we would multiply.

Posted by LeRoc (# 3216) on :

I guess a lot of churches will be doing Reformation Day.

Posted by Og, King of Bashan (# 9562) on :

Around here, going trick-or-treating is such a harmless, normal part of being a kid that I can't imagine going to church instead going over well. The church where I grew up had a concert with good "spooky" organ music and a costume parade a few days before Halloween, but they wouldn't think of trying to compete with free candy.

I have heard of churches doing a Blessing service for kids in costumes a day or two before, but aside from some evangelicals and Pentecostals, they let the kids have their fun.

Posted by Anglican_Brat (# 12349) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Brenda Clough:
Our church did this too, with the stipulation that the costumes had to be Biblical. Lest the congregation be bored by an endless series of apostles and prophets, my husband and I went as a loaf and a fish; we were newlyweds and assured everyone we would multiply.

Posted by Lamb Chopped (# 5528) on :

I would dearly, dearly love to go as Jezebel (and WOULD, too, if my church was ever so foolish to say such a thing). Or as Salome, but I'm afraid I'd need a few more veils....

Posted by Mamacita (# 3659) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Corvo:
Does anyone know of any churches doing anything special for Hallowe'en? Has anyone ideas for alternative/rival events?

In some parts of the US, churches will host "Trunk or Treat." These take place in a parking lot, people decorate the trunks of their cars with lights, pumpkins, etc., and the children go from car to car collecting candy. The idea, in part, is to keep the children sheltered from anything that gets too far away from Christianity, Trunk or Treat is also a practice in rural or small-town areas where the distance between houses may be too great for the children to travel on foot.

Posted by Kaplan Corday (# 16119) on :

I got to to preach this morning for the first time at our new church, so spoke on All Saint's Day (the Protestant version ie conflation of All Saints and All Souls) from Hebrews 11 (including end of 10 and beginning of 12) and managed to work in Halloween and Reformation Day from yesterday, but not Melbourne Cup, which is Tuesday.

We didn't get any trick-or-treaters last night, so I used the chocolates which we'd laid in for them to reward correct answers from the congregation instead.

Only one person knew that yesterday was Reformation Day.

Posted by Bishops Finger (# 5430) on :

Our social committee had planned a Family Games Night for yesterday, which I took to be a sort of 'anti-Halloween' event - but they cancelled it a few weeks ago, on the basis that, being Halloween, no-one would turn up! [Paranoid]

Our local Scouts and Cubs had what they called a 'Scarefest' a fortnight back - sounds like the kind of anti-liturgical event such as 'Winterfest' instead of Christmas..... [Paranoid]

Posted by Curiosity killed ... (# 11770) on :

The Scouts Scarefest is a weekend camp with all the scariest climbs and activities on, campfire, fireworks, mazes and other things. I tried convincing our Guides they wanted to go, but they weren't convinced.

The local CofE church hosted a Bright and Light party for the local Churches Together. It's been going a number of years and is very much a party to celebrate all things light and bright, no Halloween fancy dress allowed, bright colours encouraged, all the activities based on colours and light, usually ending with a final talk on turning to God light of the world. It's meant to stop children trick and treating, but it's only provided for primary school aged children.

Posted by Lamb Chopped (# 5528) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Mamacita:

quote:
Originally posted by Corvo:
Does anyone know of any churches doing anything special for Hallowe'en? Has anyone ideas for alternative/rival events?
In some parts of the US, churches will host "Trunk or Treat." These take place in a parking lot, people decorate the trunks of their cars with lights, pumpkins, etc., and the children go from car to car collecting candy. The idea, in part, is to keep the children sheltered from anything that gets too far away from Christianity, Trunk or Treat is also a practice in rural or small-town areas where the distance between houses may be too great for the children to travel on foot.

This is catching on in my (metro) area, and it really bugs me. Why take the darkness and the walking and the excitement--and the calorie burning!--out of Halloween in order to make it possible for kids to collect the maximum amount of sugar in brightly lit tame surroundings where you need step no further than from one parking spot to another?

It's not at all as if my area were unsafe for the usual house-to-house business. And at least the little monsters get SOME thrill and movement into their lives.

What next, a Minecraft version where you can gather candy from your seat?

ETA: Yes, I took a four-year-old and an eight-year-old around in a light drizzle last night. Thrilled the pants off them. And their teenage cousin got his share of loot for playing shepherd to the pair.

[ 01. November 2015, 23:18: Message edited by: Lamb Chopped ]

Posted by Sipech (# 16870) on :

I wonder if there's just a disconnect going on. There seems to be two distinct events here, but they have a common root. (Here's hoping the formatting adds clarity, not obfuscation)

We have Hallowe'en (the church festival) and we have Halloween (the celebration of horror, gore and the macabre).

Largely influenced by the American commercialist culture, Halloween has become disassociated from its roots, so that those who dress up as zombies or go trick or treating are not really thinking of it as anything related to Hallowe'en.

For those who do mark Hallowe'en as something intrinsically linked with All Saints day, there remain enough vestiges within the imagery used in Halloween that they may be mistaken into thinking they are essentially one and the same thing.

Light parties and other such alternatives are a reaction, not against Hallowe'en, but against Halloween. When assessing their merit, the trouble is that arise both when there is an ignorance of Hallowe'en as a church festival and when there is a discernment between Hallowe'en and Halloween.

For those who mark Hallowe'en, an alternative might just look as though someone is reacting against their church's way of doing things, when in fact it's a reaction against a parody of the church festival.

Posted by fletcher christian (# 13919) on :

Is there the same difference between Christ-mass and Christmas?

Posted by Baptist Trainfan (# 15128) on :

I was wondering exactly the same thing! But I think there is a slight difference in that many people still retain some notion of "the baby Jesus" (even if their idea of him is utterly trivialised) and they know that it has some link with the Church (even if that is tied in with snow, Charles Dickens and the 'the olden days')

With Halloween they make no such connection at all. (Nor, by the way, do quite a few Christians - many Protestant traditions have lost all notion of All Saints' Day).

[ 02. November 2015, 15:35: Message edited by: Baptist Trainfan ]

Posted by Brenda Clough (# 18061) on :

I regret to report that there are Christians this year shilling something they call 'Jesus-een.'

Posted by Sipech (# 16870) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Brenda Clough:
I regret to report that there are Christians this year shilling something they call 'Jesus-een.'

Clearly, they have been sent to us to test our graciousness.

Posted by Baptist Trainfan (# 15128) on :

Aaargh! Chapter and verse - please!!!

(Mind you, Bernard of Clairvaux (or his translator) might be OK with it. [Devil]

[ 02. November 2015, 15:48: Message edited by: Baptist Trainfan ]

Posted by Baptist Trainfan (# 15128) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Sipech:
Clearly, they have been sent to us to test our graciousness.

Or our use of apostrophe's. [Two face]

[ 02. November 2015, 15:50: Message edited by: Baptist Trainfan ]

Posted by Brenda Clough (# 18061) on :

OK, grit your teeth and pour yourself a stiff one before clicking.

Somewhere else on SoF I mention there is Christian fiction that makes a fine argument for atheism. I didn't add that there are -Christians- who do the same.

Posted by Baptist Trainfan (# 15128) on :

They're very modest about their ambitions: "JesusWeen is expected to become the most effective Christian outreach day ever".

No point in aiming low, I suppose ...

Posted by LeRoc (# 3216) on :

"A few days before Halloween, a word came to Pastor Paul to give out bibles to both kids and adults knocking at his door expecting candy. On that day over 40 bibles were given out without him stepping out of his house."

Arsehole.

Posted by Brenda Clough (# 18061) on :

Note that it says nothing about the condition of his yard or car or church, on Nov. 1. I trust that the giant economy size packs of toilet paper were expended.

Posted by Curiosity killed ... (# 11770) on :

I'll take this to Purgatory, but there was a survey out over the weekend that found 40% of people didn't think Jesus was a historic figure

Posted by fletcher christian (# 13919) on :

quote:

They're very modest about their ambitions: "JesusWeen is expected to become the most effective Christian outreach day ever".

I shall curse the day and for evermore go around in sackcloth and ashes if Jesusween ever trumps Easter.

Posted by Lamb Chopped (# 5528) on :

The construction of that word makes my eyes bleed.

Posted by Enoch (# 14322) on :

That website described itself as

quote:
a global initiative to ensure non-Christians receive educational materials about Jesus.

It also proclaims itself as a movement that,

quote:
continues to get popular in the United States, Canada, UK, Africa and Brazil

But has anyone else ever heard of it, or Pastor Paul?

I live in one of those countries.There'a a link on the website called "UK Chapters". Out of curiosity, I clicked on it. There don't seem to be any. It just shows two telephone numbers, neither of which looks like a UK one.

Doesn't 'global' normally mean worldwide? If you call yourself global shouldn't you actually be global? Shouldn't it mean more than 'I'd like to be global', or 'I'd like people to think my organisation has a wider spread than just my home town' (wherever that is)? Or am I just being boring, old fashioned, hypercritical and unreasonable?

[ 03. November 2015, 13:50: Message edited by: Enoch ]

Posted by LeRoc (# 3216) on :

In one of the slum areas of Brazil, where I used to work there is a shabby wooden shack with a big sign saying "Pentecostal Church of the Throne of Fire — Global Headquarters". This always brings a smile to my face. I'm pretty sure that this shack where sometimes three ladies sing out of tune comprises the whole of the Pentecostal Church of the Throne of Fire.

Posted by Brenda Clough (# 18061) on :

On the internet nobody knows if you're a dog. Claim to be a best-selling NYT author. Proclaim yourself the Sexiest Man Alive. Insist that you have had sex with the Prince of Wales. You do not have to be a member of the reality-based community, if only you have wifi.

Posted by Lamb Chopped (# 5528) on :

I love that "Throne of Fire." It reminds me of the after-effects of eating certain tacos.

Posted by Rosa Winkel (# 11424) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Lamb Chopped:
The construction of that word makes my eyes bleed.

I'm reminded of Beavis and Butthead using the word "weener" a lot.

Posted by Pigwidgeon (# 10192) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Rosa Winkel:

quote:
Originally posted by Lamb Chopped:
The construction of that word makes my eyes bleed.
I'm reminded of Beavis and Butthead using the word "weener" a lot.

And then there's Anthony Weiner...

Posted by Dumbledore wannabe (# 9310) on :

Cathedral of St John the Divine in NYC has a very impressive "Procession of the Ghouls". Tim Brumfield' organ improv was outstanding. Videos can be found on YouTube.

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