KEEPING THE SAINTS IN ALL SAINTS
It’s autumn, and planning for our fall program and formation activities is well underway. The question arises: what to do about All Saints Day/ All Hallows Eve, that top-tier church holy day so long neglected in church and so blatantly abused in secular society.
Though it is unquestionably a “Romish” festival, we Episcopalians are fortunate in that we have no need to turn against Halloween and try to stamp it out, as Calvinists have done in times past, and as their contemporary successors are trying to do today. We don’t need to cringe at the portrayal of “ghosties, and ghoulies, and things that go ‘bunp’ in the night.” It might be helpful, however, if we reminded our congregations that the reason it became OK to costume as such things was precisely because, in the triumph of Jesus over the forces of evil, they have lost their power over his people. The Halloween custom of dressing up as witches and goblins, all in fun, serves to mock them, not to honor them.
Some creativity may be called for. I’ve heard of churches in which costume parties were given, in which children and adults were challenged to dress up as their favorite saint—and be prepared to share some knowledge about that character, why he or she is so honored, and what makes them special to the participant. Perhaps a game could be devised for divulging this information in a fun way, so that some Christian formation takes place naturally and unobtrusively.
Games of “trick-or-treating” could be fun for all, with the old custom of performing some kind of feat or talent serving as the “trick.” Children love showing off their ability to jump, skip, balance, draw, dance, sing, or toss objects. And un-churched people may be looking for fun, supervised, wholesome family activities around that time of year, making it a good opportunity to invite neighbors and introduce additional people to our church.
To post additional ideas on how to handle All Saints festivities creatively at church, attach a comment to this posting on the blog West Virginia Discipleship, at http://wvdisciple.blogspot.com/ Check regularly for new material, and share your ideas and resources with everyone.
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3 comments:
Don, some comments on this--
You give a somewhat accurate picture of the origins of how we, that is everybody in the US, celebrate Halloween. There is much, much more, as I am sure you are aware. Children in England have been doing the witches and dressup things for, let's see, at least 7 or 800 years. Similar in Germany, whence the English practices came.
I find it hard to picture your suggestion: "The Halloween
> custom of dressing up as witches and goblins, all in fun, serves to
> mock them, not to honor them." and then telling the children to forget the traditional costumes and dress as Saints. Why not dress as Moses, or Abraham, or Peter?
Do you really think this would work? I find the idea rather wildly whimsical. What century or place or you inhabiting? And what is wrong with the traditional costumes? They are metaphorical representations of awful, fearful things that can frighten us, and children, and it is, after all, the EVE of All Saints, the Saints who are coming to banish these things.
I have seen churches that invite the children in on Halloween, with all their Wiccan regalia (sic, of course, the skeletons, princesses, witches, etc. are just old folklore remembrances, and great fun).
Why not? We greet the children, give them candy, and tell them that the church too has its lantern out, and welcomes them. Actually, I intend to do that at St. John's, with a happy jack-o-lantern in front, if my priest gives me permission.
Am sending this to you, since it seems rather negative to your concept, but if you wish to post it wider, be my guest.
Yours in Christ,
Bob
Note: Previous comment from Bob Dubose.
My response:
Bob,
As you noted, I did state that we as Episcopalians need not recoil in horror from the depiction, in fun, of ghosties and ghoulies at Halloween. I suggested one alternative, and invited more, in the hope of broadening the tradition to include a bit of Christian formation as well as the traditional mayhem.
I speak with some experience. At my church in Maryland, one fellow, father of five, showed up at the kids' Halloween party drenched in blood and with an axe through his head. The boys over age 10 were mesmerized. Unfortunately, the children five and under--and their mothers--were not amused. Though I calmly requested that he remove the foreign object and demonstrate clearly how he had created the impressive illusion, the harm was done, and the spirit of levity had been removed for that important sub-set of revelers. (We had to present "A Teddy-Bear's Christmas" later, as penance, to get them back on board again with our program.)
In my own family, my thirty-one-year old maintains to this day that his traumatization at my parental hands, and his severe clown phobia, began at age three, the Halloween I costumed him as a scarecrow, drawing triangles for facial features with mascara. It might have been fine had I not proudly shown him the smashing effect in a mirror.
So have fun, and horrify the children to hearts' content--but get a good child psychiatrist on retainer.
And what shall we teach the children that the secular culture doesn't already handle just fine?
From Russell Lockett:
Dear Donald+
Im not entirely comfortable with this one.
Right, the Prayer Book says All Saints is an ought-to day.
I think Im with your purpose in this one. But,
Some of what I know about Halloween is that its aetiology is a celebration of evil. Whatever else is going today, the celebration of evil remains in its foundation.
It is true and we need to witness that the grace of God has overcome evil and continues to overcome evil.
Still, just as Isaiah witnesses that to make a pact with death is ungodly, so to make a pact with evil is ungodly.
When it came time for my daughter to go trick-or-treating, I ruled that her costumes must be of a good guy. She got wonderfully creative, (and Im not saying this just as her Dad). We also talked about what Halloween is.
Im for celebrating God. One of the ways God reveals Himself is by overcoming evil.
Thanks for this one too.
LORD's Peace
RUSS+ LOCKETT
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