Earlier this week I was having a conversation with a man who is nearly 50 years old, but who was a teen when I was serving in my first parish. He was recalling the halloween parties that we hosted for the community at our church many years ago.

The times were different. Some of the members of the community thought that halloween pranks had gotten out of hand. There were virtually no outhouses in use in the community, so the prank of tipping them over was simply a story about the past. There were obstacles set up in the middle of main street. Animals, especially cows, seemed to be found in strange and unusual places, often leaving a certain amount of mess to be cleaned up. Church bells were rung at strange times of the night. The day after halloween seemed to involve having to clean up enormous amounts of toilet paper spread in trees, across houses and lawns, and in a place with as much wind as was common much of the paper ended up in places where it couldn’t be picked up.

So, we devised a plan to host community parties that drew the teens and young adults of the community together for fun, games, refreshments and activities that were alternatives to the pranks that were seen as problematic.

One year we took the entire group out to the cemetery. Their task was to collect the names and dates of saints by making gravestone rubbings. We taught them how to make the rubbings and gave them a list, like a scavenger hunt, of specific names and dates to collect. Unknown by the youth exploring the cemetery in the dark hours of the evening the group of young adults, who had been meeting in a different location had been charged with “haunting” the cemetery. We had other adults on hand because we didn’t know if things might get out of control and parked a couple of cars as safe places where the youth knew they could come to get away from the activities in the cemetery.

It was all good fun. There was a bit of screaming and a few startled youth, but no one was harmed, and we had plenty of time to talk about the experience over refreshments back at the church afterward.

What I still remember about that event so long ago is the respect with which the youth approached the cemetery. They were quiet and careful about where they walked. They spoke of loved ones and visited graves that were not on the list. There was no liter dropped by the youth that night, no flowers tipped over, no carelessness around the cemetery.

I think the experience would be entirely different today.

I wouldn’t suggest it as an appropriate experience for a church youth group in our community at this time. We might do the gravestone rubbing part of the project, but not at night and not with others to try to startle the youth. Were we to do such an exercise at night, the cemetery would be lit up with the light from cell phones as the youth walk around.

The church has an uneasy relationship with halloween. The holiday has religious origins. In the Western Church, All Saint’s Day is observed on the first of November each year. In the Eastern Orthodox church, the same festival is observed on the first Sunday after Pentecost. The festival, also known as All Hallows, Solemnity of All Saints and The Feast of All Saints, is a time to remember those who have died and recognize the powerful connections that remain between those who are living and those who have died. It is a day in which many congregations read a necrology or list of those who have died.

The day before All Saints Day gets its name by combining hallow, meaning holy, with evening: halloween. The Christian festival of halloween is heavily influenced by more ancient harvest festival traditions. The tradition of wearing costumes probably does not have its roots in Christian observances, but in other festivals that are pre-Christian.

The resulting contemporary holiday is really not very Christian in most of its observances. The memories of those who have died is suppressed in the midst of trick or treat and costumes. As such it is not all negative in its impact. The holiday encourages creativity and ingenuity, boosts self-confidence and allows children to engage in safe pretend activities. Later today we will marvel at the delightful costumes worn by the preschoolers at church. The holiday can also be a way of building community. Children and teens who rarely have contact with neighbors, will come by our home and as we offer a small treat we will make connections with the folks who live in our neighborhood.

Some of our neighbors really get into decorating their homes for the occasion. It is second only to Christmas in terms of the displays of lights, decorations and ornaments. I once read that it is second only to Christmas in terms of spending on such items as well. That doesn’t surprise me looking around my neighborhood. There are a lot of fancy displays that took a significant amount of time and labor to produce.

The observance of halloween in contemporary America seems to be focused on costumes and trick or treat. The custom of trick or treat is not known to today’s children. Sometimes I will ask the children about it when the come. Displaying a bowl so that they know I have treats to offer, I ask, “What if I choose trick? Do you have a trick that you can do?” Some children will do a little trick for me. Most just look at me like I’ve lost my mind. For them the words “trick or treat” are the way you ask for candy on halloween. They are supposed to yield a treat. The trick part doesn’t seem to be included in the formula at all.

Then there is the strange notion in youth culture with the popularity of zombies and the undead. The culture seems to avoid the finality of death and wants to foster belief in some kind of in between state. It is often hard to have serious conversations with teens about the reality of death and its deeper meanings.

Still it is an interesting holiday and we’ll observe it with our neighbors once again. Perhaps there is a small opportunity to express our faith simply by offering love and compassion and a small treat to our neighbors.

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