Fall Festival.....

[Liz]

How many of ya'll's churches are doing a Fall Festival this year? Is it on Thursday or Friday? Are you going? Are you dressing up, are your children? If so, what or who are you going as?

I am just curious as to what everyone else is doing.

Our church is having a Fall Festival on Thursday. There is supposed to be games and a cake walk, maybe a hay ride. We are supposed to dress up as our favorite Bible character. But my oldest didn't want to dress up at all, and my youngest wants to go as a fairy princess. So I was looking at my dh and came up with an idea, and the family loved it--I just hope our church has a sense of humor.

We are going as the Farmers' Wife and the Three Blind Mice.

Alright, your turn, what are ya'll doing?

[Woody]

I think I will dress up as Obama.

For sure ... That would frighten and scare every one who saw me.

[Liz]

I think I will dress up as Obama.

For sure ... That would frighten and scare every one who saw me.

LOL, I get it you're going as the messiah, at least your's has a good Biblical tie-in.

ROFL.

[Woody]

Lol. You are funny Liz. Yes, there are some who feel he is the Messiah. And that does frighten me.

[Woody]

You guys are going to a church function without people dressing? A nude party at church? Now that IS dressing up. It's dressing up as Adam and Eve. And that's biblical.

[nuff sed]

Why do we feel that we have to celebrate Halloween anyway? Disguising it as being a Fall Festival isn't fooling anyone. Why not wait until Thanksgiving?

[aldona]

Quote:

How many of ya'll's churches are doing a Fall Festival this year?

Reading the comments on this thread it sounds like a Fall Festival is sort of like "Halloween Lite."

(you know...the "we don't do that worldly/ pagan/ occult-inspired stuff but we will stage as close an approximation to it as we possibly can, so the kids don't feel left out" approach.)

aldona

[carolaa]

I don't see anything wrong with letting kids dress up in costumes and go door to door to get candy. I don't see anything wrong with letting them have a party where they are dressed in costumes.

[aldona]

OK, that's fine, but how about throwing a costume party for them in April? Getting them to go door to door for sweets in June or February or on New Year's day?

No? It would make no sense? It would lose its meaning if taken out of the context of that one particular time of the year?

So it really is all about Halloween and the kids not feeling too "different" from their friends.

(Disclaimer 1: Here in Australia Halloween is not a big thing (although sadly this is changing) so the vast majority of SDA churches feel no need to put on anything like a Fall Festival. It's not fall here anyway - it's spring.)

(Disclaimer 2: I come from a family which did not celebrate Christmas (even now I only do it to go along with my husband's family), and did not stage any "pale imitations" of it either, such as "charity trees" or "seasons' greetings/ New Year greeting cards". Doing a "fake Halloween" just seems weird and unnecessary. Would we do a "keep Sunday holy" Lite because everybody else has it as their day of worship?)

aldona

[Amelia]

I thought "Halloween" such as it is in the states, was just that. Something that was only done here in the states. Am I wrong?

[Liz]

I thought "Halloween" such as it is in the states, was just that. Something that was only done here in the states. Am I wrong?

Yeah, I thought it was just something "we" did too. I didn't realize other countries did it.

[Dr. Shane]

Our church had its Fall Festival on Sunday. We did it up right. A giant bouncing slide and a bouncing castle for the kids, Pony rides, hay rides, little boats in a 12-inch-deep pond for toddlers, carnival games and a dunking booth with the elementary school principle in it.

I have no problem with Halloween. I will tell you why. If we are going to stop celebrating holidays with pagan roots than we need to stop celebrating our birthdays, Easter and Christmas. We probably will also want to stop custom of shaking hands too because that has pagan roots. Halloween is an American tradition - at least in America. It is something that is cultural. Celebrating it is part of the American experience like going to the baseball stadium or eating peanuts and watching the football on Sunday afternoon. Now that doesn't mean I believe in anything goes. As an Adventist Christian I don't eat pork hot-dogs when I go to the stadium and I don't wager any money on football games. I can participate in these activities without doing what everyone else does. In our family we do not use anything scary like spiders, witches, skeletons, mummies, bats, etc. in celebrating Halloween. The scariest thing we use is a scarecrow which is suppose to just scare off the birds and focuses more on the harvest than the evil, dark side of the occult. We decorate our home and yard with things like bales of hay, Indian corn, squash and pumpkins. We take our kids out to 'Boo In The Zoo' which is a community event for families with young children.

[cricket]

Our church is having a Fall Festival on Thursday. There is supposed to be games and a cake walk, maybe a hay ride. We are supposed to dress up as our favorite Bible character. But my oldest didn't want to dress up at all, and my youngest wants to go as a fairy princess. So I was looking at my dh and came up with an idea, and the family loved it--I just hope our church has a sense of humor.

We are going as the Farmers' Wife and the Three Blind Mice.

Hahaha! I hope you'll post pictures. Kind of gory though, isn't it? I mean, she did cut off their tails with a carving knife, right?!?

Three blind mice. Three blind mice.

See how they run. See how they run.

They all ran after the farmer's wife

She cut off their tails with a carving knife.

Did you ever see such a thing in your life

As three blind mice.

Anyway, we're having an evening vespers with the Pathfinder group. Making a fire and toasting s'mores. Anyone who's wanting an alternative to the evening's fesitivies can come.

Our family is doing other things though. My daughter is going canned good collecting with her Lutheran friends from high school. My son is going trick-or-treating with a friend from his non-denominational Christian homeschool group.

Either way, we're gonna be near a fire!

[carolaa]

Oh, yeah, some of those nursery rhymes aren't so good. "Ring Around the Rosy," for instance. And what aboutthe song "Rock-a-bye Baby" who fell out of the tree? And then the original Grimm fairy tales. Bad.

[carolaa]

I agree totally with that. It's just something fun, and why not do it when everyone else is doing it? This year my son, who watches Martha Stewart (and kind of has a crush on her, I think), got me to make a big bad wolf costume that someone demonstrated on her show. It's really quite easy - if I can do it, anyone can, believe me. Go, Martha! TU

[Liz]

Eeewwww, I'm glad that I don't have to kill and gut mice big enough to be costumes. Those would have to be some major big mice.

[puddles]

We did our "fall festival" a couple of weeks ago. This year we did something a little different. We started earlier than normal, primarily due to the fact that darkness and kids do not mix the best and then we also did kind of a program with a western theme. They had crafts to do and veggie dogs to roast and a couple of wagons filled with hay to ride in. And our youth leaders 15 year old did don a clown outfit and that just thrilled out younger kidlets. We had around 100 folks show up and declared it was great had by all.

[carolaa]

I just thought of this - too late for this year, naturally - but Our Little Friend has a couple different little story papers that are great for handing out at Halloween (along with some candy, of course). Each little paper has one story, and I think some contact info.

Another thing I have done in the past is to take the past year's supply of leftover Our Little Friends and Primary Treasures, fold them up, and give them out for Halloween (along with some candy, of course).

[Liz]

I just thought of this - too late for this year, naturally - but Our Little Friend has a couple different little story papers that are great for handing out at Halloween (along with some candy, of course). Each little paper has one story, and I think some contact info.

Another thing I have done in the past is to take the past year's supply of leftover Our Little Friends and Primary Treasures, fold them up, and give them out for Halloween (along with some candy, of course).

We have done this in the past too, when we stayed home to pass out candy. Now, though is "trunk or treat" where all the cars fill their trunks up and park at a central location so the kidlets can get tons of candy in very little time. So we have hardly any trick or treaters at our door anymore.

[rush4hire]

Halloween came and went, like any other day. I'm kind of a Scrooge when it comes to holidays that pay homage to the spirits of the dead.

It doesn't matter how much fun it looks like. Some people whine about what EGW said about playing card games. Wow. How much am I missing out on because I don't see card games as enjoyable? I feel great pity for those who waste so much of their time playing card games.

And how much fun is it to dress up in some stupid costume?

These kind of things are for people who don't know the Lord.

If we start selling out to Halloween, then the fundamental Sunday churches, who condemn Halloween, will despise us.

That's what I say, personally. But I don't judge. Paul says every one has to make up their own mind about these things.

[color:#BF0000]Romans 14:5 One man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day [alike]. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind.

14:6 He that regardeth the day, regardeth [it] unto the Lord; and he that regardeth not the day, to the Lord he doth not regard [it]. He that eateth, eateth to the Lord, for he giveth God thanks; and he that eateth not, to the Lord he eateth not, and giveth God thanks.

14:7 For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself.

I remember when I was baptized. That very night, they had a Halloween party, that they called "Fall Festival", or something. I bobbed for apples and got every one by pushing them to the bottom, and the pastor laughed and made a joke about my baptism. Since that time, I had no respect for that pastor. He was kind of a sell-out, in other ways, too.

[rush4hire]

Celebrating it is part of the American experience like going to the baseball stadium or eating peanuts and watching the football on Sunday afternoon. Now that doesn't mean I believe in anything goes. As an Adventist Christian I don't eat pork hot-dogs when I go to the stadium and I don't wager any money on football games. I can participate in these activities without doing what everyone else does.

[Tammy]

Why do we feel that we have to celebrate Halloween anyway? Disguising it as being a Fall Festival isn't fooling anyone. Why not wait until Thanksgiving?

Good question, Gladussee. Unfortunately, it is just another way that Adventists have followed in the ways of the world. There is nothing a Christian has to celebrate about, when it comes to Halloween....it is just pagan, through and through.

[Tammy]

I agree with you, Rush. Here we are, at the end of time...wasting our time on celebrating a pagan Holiday... Like you said, there are many in the Sunday churches who have clearer discernment than many Adventists.... Why is that? I think it must be because so many Adventists have made so many compromises all along the way, they just can't see right from wrong anymore...or black from white....everything is GRAY.

[Dr. Shane]

The problem with worldly amusements is that people become obsessed with them in violation of the First Commandment. I will suggest that the born-again Christian can participate in such things without becoming obsessed. Now some activities, like going to a casino or horse races, have nothing to offer the Christian because as servants of God's money we will not risk gambling it away.

[carolaa]

Why do we feel that we have to celebrate Halloween anyway? Disguising it as being a Fall Festival isn't fooling anyone. Why not wait until Thanksgiving?

Often this IS done on a different day than Halloween. I don't think anyone is saying we HAVE to celebrate Halloween. But a Fall Festival is a great alternative. Why not spend that time with fellow Christians? It's not much different than visiting a Sunday church - you're spending a pagan day with Christians. Personally, I think it's the kind of people who criticize Halloween but don't offer an alternative who drive kids away from the church.

I remember as a kid having trick-or-treating explained very clearly that we are just dressing up and going around getting candy. We are not putting on scary costumes or doing anything bad like egging people's cars, and we are certainly not worshipping Satan. I don't think kids have a problem understanding that.