Recasting Halloween in a Different Light

Decrying the anti-Halloween howls from other conservative churches, a nationally prominent pastor says that he will work over the next five years to recapture both the fun and the religious aspects of the holiday for evangelical and Pentecostal Christians.

“Let’s stop cursing the darkness and light a candle,” the Rev. Jack Hayford told the 10,000-member Church on the Way in Van Nuys in a sermon Wednesday. The Foursquare Gospel minister reaches a wide audience through television, audiotapes, books and magazines.

Although Hayford agreed with fundamentalist Christian critics who contend that Halloween “has become increasingly sinister” and a “brazen celebration of evil,” he said that an antagonistic, finger-pointing attitude will further isolate conservative churches from a culture that appears to be making Halloween second only to Christmas as a commercially profitable celebration.

“Forgive my words, but we were not called to ‘bitch’ against the world,” Hayford said to churchgoers when he outlined his proposals. Among other things, Hayford suggested that parties on Oct. 31 recall “the heroes of faith” from Bible or church history through costumes and drama.

All-Hallows Eve, or Hallowed Evening, shortened to Hallowe’en, absorbed pre-Christian beliefs that the veil between the spirit and physical worlds thinned at the onset of winter’s darkness. But churches traditionally observed the night as a prelude to All Saints’ Day on Nov. 1 and All Souls’ Day on Nov. 2. On the latter day, many Catholics visit cemeteries to remember deceased family and friends.

Like other churches that have created alternative Oct. 31 parties--minus witches and ghouls and emphasizing autumn themes--the Church on the Way is holding a Harvest Celebration for children on its grounds this evening.

But carving pumpkins and taking children around trick-or-treating do not constitute a compromise with secular society, Hayford contended.

“Now, this will never satisfy certain people who would rather be angry,” said Hayford, adding, “Too much of the church’s time is spent criticizing people who aren’t holy enough.”

To be sure, Hayford reiterated a Pentecostal and charismatic tenet that even a “playful excursion into the dark world of the occult . . . is never a harmless trip.” And Church on the Way Co-Pastor Scott Bauer declared that Halloween “is becoming more demonic every year.”

But Hayford urged churches to take a positive approach at Halloween. “It is always easier . . . to pass judgment than to seek how to save lives,” he said.

He asked the nearly 800 churchgoers at the Wednesday night service if they agreed “with any of this,” and many in the crowd responded, “Yes.”

Hayford’s effort to “redeem Halloween,” as he put it, is no surprise to longtime members. He has also criticized churches that rail against secular Christmas celebrations to the point that they voice alarm that Santa wears a red suit and has a name whose letters can be rearranged to spell Satan.

One observer questioned whether Hayford will win over many others in that segment of Christianity characterized by belief in “gifts of the Holy Spirit,” such as speaking in tongues, healing and heightened sensitivity to the works of the devil.

The Van Nuys pastor “is regarded as an elder statesman in the Pentecostal and charismatic movement,” said J. Lee Grady, executive editor of Charisma magazine. “But a lot of organizations in the movement wouldn’t think they had to take their cues from Jack Hayford.”

A more intriguing church response has been the rise of a Christian equivalent to horror shows and haunted houses, Grady said. A half-dozen dramatic productions in the Orlando, Fla., area, attended mostly by teenagers, portray a teenage suicide, an abortion or a drunk driving tragedy and end up, some say, “scaring the hell out of” audiences.

The plays conclude with some variation on Satan welcoming new recruits to eternal damnation. “Many of the kids make decisions for Christ,” Grady said.

Hayford’s plan has milder evangelistic elements. Children ages 4 to 11 attending the Harvest Celebration at Church on the Way, starting at 5 p.m. today, will be shown a 15-minute evangelistic drama on videotape. Sometimes, a church spokesman said, unchurched parents who see the film “come to Jesus” after viewing the tape.

At his proposed adult “All Saints’ Eve” gatherings for family and friends, Hayford suggested honoring not only Christian heroes of the past but also contemporary witnesses to faith by family members and “people in the public eye.”

In addition, he said, the day could provide a jump-start for November and the Thanksgiving holiday when “we should let the spirit of gratitude build in our hearts.”