Hi, it is Elizabeth speaking! I don’t celebrate Halloween, but I don’t not celebrate Halloween if you get what I mean. It is a fun holiday that when I think of it, I see pumpkins, little kids in cute costumes, and watching spooky movies like Hocus Pocus or the Nightmare before Christmas. You know, those spooky movies made for children that are more funny and/or delightful than “pull the cover over your head” scary. I don’t have an issue for those who do love Halloween and go big on October 31st, but I can understand the reservations some people have about Halloween. As a Christian, I don’t like psychological or horror movies, because I believe what you watch or read, you are inviting it into your life. (As a person, I just don’t like those movies because of my overactive imagination). Halloween has become like that to some people which I politely excuse myself and remove myself from the situation. Instead I like to focus on Dia de los Muertos, a Mexican holiday that celebrates life and death and remembers those who have passed on. Disclaimer, I don’t celebrate the holiday to its fullest. I really only have a makeshift ofrenda (memorial altar) in my home and remember them fondly. I change the narrative of Halloween or Dia de los Muertos and view it as a time to remember my loved ones who have died and that we have the hope in Jesus Christ that we’ll be reunited.

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. – Ephesians 2:8-10

This is Abbi! Halloween is a bit of a controversial topic in the Christian community, but we want to remind everyone in this post that it is perfectly fine to have different views and convictions in regards to this holiday. As a kid, I used to love dressing up to go trick-or-treating at an event put on by the city I live in before actual Halloween night as my neighborhood was never conducive for real trick-or-treating. The celebration of Halloween in my family was never a big deal. It was never about anything scary or spiritual, just a fun night. In fact, my family stopped going trick-or-treating before we moved into the house I grew up in and I was old enough to participate because my older brother did not like walking around and seeing all of the scary costumes and decorations.

Instead, my family decided to take the opportunity to get pizza and a bunch of junk food and candy and have a movie night on Halloween every year. We used to eat the candy I had gotten trick-or-treating the week before and it was always a big deal to get pizza from a specific pizza shop and pick some fun (not scary) Halloween themed movies to watch. As the years have gone on, our candy and junk food has turned into *a bit* healthier treats and our pizza comes from our go to pizza shop now, but it is still a special night that we get to spend together.

I love seeing kids dressed up and having fun getting into character and I am not against celebrating Halloween on a surface level. Yes, there are people who celebrate it on a spiritual level, but that does not mean that everyone who dresses up and goes door to door asking for candy is a terrible Satan worshipper and needs to be avoided like the plague. Each person and each family has different convictions and we can still be friends even if we make different decisions on how to treat October 31st every year.

Hey! Katelyn here on a not-so cold week of Halloween. I can’t believe it’s the end of October and Halloween is almost here. The weather doesn’t have me convinced that it’s almost time for my birthday and my favorite time of year!! I’m SO excited! In the meantime, Halloween is a controversial holiday because it celebrates darkness. Ghosts, demons, goblins, everything Christians don’t celebrate. I hesitate to celebrate Satan and even during the rest of the year I have a problem with things like magic and horror. I’m still working through how I feel about books like Harry Potter or games like Dungeons N Dragons that everyone loves. Without dying on that hill and making any enemies, I choose to celebrate fall instead. Pumpkins, leaves, hay rides, hot chocolate, fire pits and all the things. This year I volunteered making caramel apples at my church’s trunk-or-treat. I even got to go on a hay ride. I’m not sure what I’ll be doing for the actual day of Halloween, but I hope everyone has a safe and fun time doing their favorite fall/Halloween activities.