The decision to host a Halloween event of some nature has been a long-debated topic among churches for as long as I have been associated with churches. Should churches be participating in Halloween? Should they provide an alternative event on the same day or a different day? Should churches provide a fall festival, a trunk-or-treat, a block party, or simply do nothing and let their church members choose for themselves? These are the same questions my church staff contemplated. We wanted to impact the community in a way that made a personal and lasting difference, not just provide candy in a safe environment.
But in the end, we found that, more than a change in techniques and tactics, we needed a change in purpose and goals.
The End in Mind
Habit #2 in Franklin Covey’s book, 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, “begin with the end in mind,” can be a helpful tool in deciding what event is best for your church. Covey advises, “If we don’t make a conscious effort to visualize who we are and what we want in life, then we empower other people and circumstances to shape us instead. This habit is about identifying where we want to go and who we want to be.” This causes us to consider if we are intentionally planning the direction we are heading.
At Wedgwood Baptist Church (WBC) in Fort Worth, Texas, where I serve on staff as the family pastor, our church served the community with a trunk-or-treat for many years. We had free food, fire trucks, and decorated vehicles parked in an oval. Thousands of people came to the event every year, but most of them were not from the homes around the church. WBC is nestled in a neighborhood community called Wedgwood, and at that time, trick-or-treating was not really happening there.
The stories of how successful our event was and the number of people that came grew every year. “It was amazing to see all the people!” we would say. One year we moved inside because of bad weather, and we set up stations throughout the building instead. Interestingly enough, people said many of the same things even though the event looked completely different. The next year we decided to do it inside again because we thought it would be just as amazing. We anticipated thousands of people coming into the church building for an exciting time.
But, even though it was well attended, that year’s Halloween event moved our staff to ask the habit #2 question, “what is the end goal?” Is our goal to have thousands of people in the parking lot or walking through the building? Will Jesus rub off on them if we just get them into the event or inside the church building? We’re attracting a big crowd, but is that really our goal here? Is that the end we have in mind?
The Deliberation
After much prayer, Scripture reading, deliberation, and the year of COVID-19, we decided it was time to change WBC’s Halloween event.
But what would we do instead? We began by examining the Scriptures.
Throughout the Old Testament and the New Testament, God sends His people out to go and share a message. John 20:21 says, “as the Father has sent me, I also send you,” and Matthew 28:19 says, “Go therefore and make disciples.” Even the passage in Matthew 5:13-16 challenges God’s people to be salt and light in a world that needs preserving, guidance toward the truth, and a positive impact on culture. So our church staff began to ask, how can we as Christ followers do any of these things if we remain inside our church buildings or contained on our church campuses? What approaches would help Wedgwood Baptist move from being a church in the neighborhood to being a church of the neighborhood?
Wrestling with these Scriptures and questions led us to host a new event called Neighborhood Quest. The first year, 8-10 church members who lived in the Wedgwood neighborhood hosted their small groups for dinner at their houses and provided engaging activities in their front yards for trick-or-treaters. We asked each of them to offer a yard game, a hot cocoa bar, a maze, or even a “lil ducky race off” that would cause neighborhood families to pause at a “quest home,” giving church members the opportunity to engage them in conversations. We wanted to be salt and light within our community and leave the results to God, and this strategy has provided a way for us to do just that.
In the last few years, Neighborhood Quest has grown steadily in its community impact and in the development of relationships with neighbors. Last year, for example, we asked neighbors to scan a QR code at each home, and if they completed the quest of homes, we would draw names for prizes. The family that won the grand prize had made many connections with several families throughout the quest map, and we continued to get to know this family months after Halloween had ended.
We cannot say that we have had thousands come through the church building. We cannot say that we get to share the gospel with hundreds of people every Halloween. We cannot hold up an array of impressive statistics and say that these numbers prove we are successfully making disciples of all nations, but that is not our “end in mind” with this event.
The end we have in mind is to faithfully be with our neighbors and hold out a hand of friendship and the Word of hope. There are surely many means we could use to pursue that end, but we’re grateful that God has inspired us to use this one for this season. Our staff continues to evaluate the event’s effectiveness and adapt to changes each year, and we’re open to God’s leadership toward new tactics. Neighborhood Quest has been an effective means of shifting our focus from what we’re accomplishing to who we’re being, and that in itself is a victory.
The Big Win
Of course, we do expect to see results from this work. As we seek to be salt and light in the Wedgwood neighborhood and throughout Fort Worth, we recognize that God is using us to advance His kingdom. Maybe we’ll see hundreds of people come to Christ this Halloween. Or maybe we won’t see the full impact until Christ comes again. This mission isn’t centered on us or our programming; it is about bringing Him glory.
So, whether your church chooses a fall festival, trunk-or-treat, traditional trick-or-treating, or decides not to participate in Halloween activities at all, the key is having clarity about your purpose. When you understand your ultimate goal and sense God’s leading toward it, any number of approaches can be effective. This perspective guides how my church approaches Halloween and shapes our future decisions.
