10 Ways We Can Embrace Opportunities to Bring Community Together at Halloween

1. Church Outreach Through Trick-or-Treat

One easy way to reach out to your community is by considering little things you can add to trick-or-treating. Can you put out special treats? Can you find a way to integrate an invitation to church into the treats you give out? Several years ago, our interim minister had us staple a small note to each piece of candy. The note invited trick-or-treaters to attend our church, welcoming one and all. The notes didn't appear to bring many young families to our church, but the ripple effects are unknown.

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2. Trunk-or-Treating Events

My church has hosted several trunk or treat events. Like many groups, we decided it was a great alternative to door-to-door trick or treating—safer and more convenient. The first year we held a trunk or treat, about 700 children and their parents attended. The estimate was based on the number of pieces of candy we doled out. Church members and friends parked their cars in a circle around the edges of the church parking. Trunks with spooky or fall-themed decorations were open to the center of the lot, and cheerful adults passed out candy to eager children with open sacks. Churches have provided this community alternative to door-to-door trick or treating for fifteen years or more.

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3. Halloween Parties at a Church or Community Center

For the past two years, my church has participated in a neighborhood community center called "Spooktacular," thinking we might reach out to our immediate neighborhood better. There are kid's activities—like table games and refreshments that won't necessarily send kids to their next dental appointment with cavities. Children carve and decorate pumpkins, and a local acting troupe entertains the crowd.

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4. Hayride and Bonfire

When I lived in Iowa, straw men sat in front yards or porches on lawn chairs. In my home state of Michigan, hayrides were popular growing up. I will never forget hayrides at a local pumpkin patch with my children when we were young. The fading afternoon sunlit leaves change to red and yellow in the woods surrounding the pumpkin fields. After the ride, my children and I would race through fields and pick one or two prize winners to carve and put on our front porch.

In high school, I remember school clubs and church youth groups hosting hayrides before Halloween. We went after dark and enjoyed throwing hay and snuggling during the bumpy ride on a clear fall night—simple, pure fun with a group.

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5. Family-Friendly Halloween Costume Party

Adults and children may enjoy dressing up and celebrating Halloween for a fundraiser or a neighborhood get-together. Refreshments and contests add fun layers to a community costume party. Seeing alter egos on display in people's costume getups is always interesting.

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6. Pumpkin Carving Party

A creative friend lets celebrants express their creative skills by hosting a pumpkin carving party. The party I attended a few times was held outside, with newspaper, carving kits, and pumpkins provided. Some guests brought their own pumpkins. Families devised their pumpkin's design, and parents did most of the carving. A carved pumpkin is a terrific party favor to take home, adding to the community's Halloween decorations.

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7. Food Drive and Neighborhood Service Treats

Halloween can be another time to give back to the community. Some churches host Halloween food drives—I remember my three-year-old daughter putting most of her Halloween candy in the donation basket and then wanting it back! Donor's remorse. There are other great ways to share food and celebrate the fall harvest. My youth group did yard work and window washing for elderly or disabled members of the church community.

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8. Remembering People Who Have Passed Away

Remembering people who have passed away—especially the Christians who came before us, who we will see again at the final resurrection—is an important part of Hallowtide traditions. My local newspaper prints a special magazine section each fall to commemorate those who have passed away in the previous year.

Even if your town doesn't have a local newspaper, you can help commemorate people who have passed away in other ways. You can ask about helping arrange memorials, or share happy memories over social media.

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9. Church Activities to Remember Members Who Have Passed Away

There are also ways that church communities can commemorate those who have passed away. I will never forget writing the names of my loved ones who have passed recorded during an All Saints Day service in a Roman Catholic church. Writing and reading their names reminded me that those people are bound up with God in the afterlife.

Music can also play a part in these commemorative services. On All Saints Day, the minister at my church slowly and solemnly reads the names of those who have passed in the previous year, and the organ chimes once after each name is read.

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10. (Some) Day of the Dead Activities

Day of the Dead, or Dia de Los Muertos, is a Latin American holiday celebrated November 1-2 that has come into fashion in the United States. Many of its traditions resemble Halloween—costumes, skeleton imagery, people wearing costumes, and feasting. 

Like Halloween, different churches debate how much to follow its traditions. As with Halloween, some activities may best be avoided, but many are safe traditions based on honoring past generations. These traditions can be fun to explore and help us build bridges with the Latinx community.

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Scriptures on Celebrating Halloween

While some Halloween traditions may be problematic, the best celebrations reveal God's power over the grave. He cares for us in all the states of our souls. This time of year presents an opportunity to enjoy the awesome gift of life after death. We remember the mystery of Jesus' life and death at the communion table. And we thank God for the creation's fall harvest of crops that end life while giving us new life. The image reminds us how seeds of our faith can spread into our communities through good works. 

Here are a few scriptures to remind us that we can keep our Christian faith amid Halloween celebrations.

• "For this very reason, Christ died and returned to life so that he might be the Lord of both the dead and the living" (Romans 14:9).
•  "The Lord is my light and my salvation — whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life — of whom shall I be afraid?" (Psalm 27:1).
• Hebrews 11:1-2 and verse 16 tell us, "Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for.  . . . they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them."

• Hebrews 12:1-2 highlights the "cloud of witnesses"—those saints who have already passed—and emphasizes Jesus' paving the path to heaven for us.

The God of creation is big enough to encompass all Halloween, Day of the Dead, and All Saints Day traditions. God's Son did not forget his mission to face evil when He was tempted for 40 days or challenged by the Pharisees. Though Jesus was afraid in the Garden of Gethsemane, he did not let the cup pass from Him. As plants and animals and our loved ones fulfill their purpose in life and die, we are reminded of our glorious confidence in God and Jesus.

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