Halloween...Should Churches Use This For Outreach?

There is always a debate about whether churches should use Halloween as outreach event.

There are strong opinions on both sides of the fence.  Some take a hard stand and say that Halloween belongs to the evil one and Christians should not acknowledge it and stay far away. 

Others believe it is harmless and is a great opportunity to reach people for Christ.

I personally fall on the side of the second category. While I do know that Halloween has some links to a dark past, I believe that it is now harmless and is a great opportunity to share the Gospel with neighbors, co-workers, teammates and other people outside the church. It gives us an opportunity that we wouldn't get otherwise. 

Here is how I use Halloween for outreach purposes. As people enter our building that night, they will be directed to our worship center. In the worship center, I will have a 5-10 minute "family-fun program." In this program, we will have a fun song that everyone knows, we will have a couple of large group family games on stage where guests will compete for prizes like a TV, movie tickets, family board games,etc. 

I will then share a short Gospel message and pray over the families.  Everyone needs prayer and this is a great opportunity to pray for the families and plant Gospel seeds.  

I will give everyone a glow-in-the-dark bracelet as well for coming.  

From there, families will go into the gym where we will have candy booths set up to pass out candy. 

We will repeat this same flow every 20 minutes until the last group has come in. 

I am praying we will see many families come to Christ that night and in the weeks afterwards. 

So...that is what I am doing for Halloween.

What about you?  

Do you think Halloween is evil and we shouldn't do anything that night?

Do you think it's a great outreach opportunity and we should redeem it?

Share your thoughts and ideas in the comment section below.