What if Hallowe’en turned out to be bigger opportunity for the church than Christmas?

By Sophie Bannister

Maybe it’s just our little market town, but Hallowe’en celebrations seem to have grown year on year here since the silence of the pandemic. Every little shop gets out the fake cobwebs during October, and every café and supermarket sells spooky treats.

When we first arrived here, we noticed that Hallowe’en was more of a ‘thing’ here than in other places we had lived. Trick or treating in particular seemed popular. I read this blog about outreach during Hallowe’en, which got me thinking about what could be possible, and helped me to start thinking about Hallowe’en as a mission opportunity rather than something to be dreaded and avoided.

So, two years ago, we tentatively put out a friendly pumpkin or two, got some sweets and fun light-themed Christian fliers in, and waited to see what would happen. From about 5.30pm we had a decent number of mostly primary-age children, dressed up and ready to get high on sugar. The next year, I wanted to do more: the church is surrounded by houses and right next to the church primary school, and so the opportunity for connection seemed big, but we had no capacity for it, and I still wasn’t sure what it could look like.

Then we were joined by an energetic new Families Worker, who quickly got the idea of making the most of the spooky season. Eventually he decided on a Light Party drop-in, which we would hold on Hallowe’en during the trick or treating rush hours of 5-7pm. The idea would be to welcome in trick or treaters as they foraged around the parish, walking past the church doors.

On the night, the church looked great with lots of fairy lights, and pumpkins on the church steps with crosses carved into them (we majored on the light theme rather than going spooky, can you tell?). There was a scavenger hunt around the church, and different stations with a craft, a game, and a story. There may also have been sweets.

During the first half hour, we had a handful of spookily-dressed children join us. We felt a little despondent. But 30 minutes in, and for the following hour and a half, the church felt full of kids having plenty of fun. Key to this was a friendly and recognisable face on the door, encouraging people in: my husband (the local vicar) or the Families Worker, both regular visitors to the primary school next door. The volunteers were so busy they didn’t have time to properly count anyone, or take any photos! We know there were at least 56 families, which we’ll happily take. I do wonder whether Hallowe’en might not end up being a bigger opportunity for us than Christmas – or perhaps doing the Light Party will in fact mean more people feel like they want to come along to one of our Christmas services…? We’ll see!