Color me confused - Trunk or Treating

[Kitten]

Okay, now that I know what trunk or treating is, I'm a little confused as to why a Christian church would want to use this instead of Trick or Treating. I get that 1) it's safer for kids, 2) it's easier for parents, 3) it's a great idea for rural communities where houses are far apart, and if that's how they presented it, I'd think, hey, great idea, but...if you don't want to observe Halloween because it's a "Satanic" holiday, how does trunk or treating convert the activity into a Christian-approved alternative?

And yet, that is how some of the churches around here seem to be promoting it. I guess as long as you come dressed as "your favorite Biblical character," you have successfully negated Satan's influence on your Snickers and M&Ms.

:lol: :lol:

And BTW, "trick or treat" makes sense, but "trunk or treat" is just stupid. At least change it to "trunk and treat," or "trunking for treats," or something logical. Or give me your car if you don't want to give me a treat. :roll:

[emmiedahl]

Our elementary school does one, but you can dress up however you want. They are doing it on Friday night so kids can still trick or treat.

[Justme]

We do this at my church. It's more moderate. We "accept" everybody. ;)

Ours is the last Sunday before Halloween. Our viewpoint is a Holiday is exactly what you "make" it to be. If you want it to be a "Evil" inspired day, then it will be. If you want it to be a happy day filled with pumpkins, not so scary decorations and costumes, then it will be!

Remember, when Christmas as we know it was started, it was to "overshadow" a pagan day of "sin".

[PBrooke]

Sooo... I get candy, or I get thrown in a trunk? That's not sinister at all. :twisted:

[QAF_Rocks]

I'd never heard of this before!

Apparently it's big in some areas. I found an article from the New York Times talking about it.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/31/nyregion/31treat.html

It's the same thing as trick-or-treating, except it takes place in a parking lot. If a church wants to incorporate it as part of their faux-Halloween festival, that sounds okay to me, but it doesn't seem like it has any particular connection to religion. It's not like it's less "pagan" than having the kids go door-to-door.

[Bookworm89]

There are several that go on in my city every year. It is normally incorporated as a Fall Festival type thing so that the kids get candy but won't go out on Halloween (the devils holiday... :evil: :roll: )Most parents will take their kids to the church stuff and still go trick or treating on halloween anyways. I think it is slightly overrated but if the churches want to hand out candy then so be it.

[Guest Anonymous]

It's like when a church preaches parents, Halloween is the devils holiday don't let your children go trick or treating but come to our harvest party! :lol:

[Guest Anonymous]

How about the ones who say we don't celebrate the Devil's holiday. Then sit outside passing out tracts with candy to the kiddies that come around. Hello? You're celebrating Halloween! A tract added extra doesn't make it any more holy. When confronted they always twist their scripture to fit their agenda. Kind of like with everything else.

[bananacat]

A lot of groups, not just churches, do trunk or treating. And for most kids, it's in addition to the regular thing, not a substitute for it. There are plenty of weird churches out there that are being hypocritical, but my mom's church does it and it's no different than any secular Halloween party.

[Guest Anonymous]

This happens in my town too. I passed a church today with a huge sign in front inviting people to it's "harvest party" on Halloween. Why not just say halloween party? Oh and no scary costumes. :roll:

[ChickeyMonkey]

Does anyone remember pogs? That pointless game using small cardboard discs? One year a woman in my friend's neighborhood gave out Jesus pogs. That was...weird.

[Kitten]

when Christmas as we know it was started, it was to "overshadow" a pagan day of "sin".

Yeah, and "Easter" was derived from the goddess Eostre, yada, yada, yada. The Roman Catholics converted "pagan" gods to all manner of saints. Religions have always adopted/converted existing gods and rituals for their own use.

That's why this is all so silly to me - if you want to co-opt a "pagan" holiday for your own religion, then just do it and own it. It's all the "We don't observe Halloween because it celebrates evil and Satan, but hey! Come by the church and we'll give you candy out of our car trunks! And dress like a Biblical character, because that is sooooo different from dressing as a Jedi or a princess!"

Ah, whatever... :D

[treemom]

This happens in my town too. I passed a church today with a huge sign in front inviting people to it's "harvest party" on Halloween. Why not just say halloween party? Oh and no scary costumes. :roll:

Actually no scary costumes make sense at something like this when there are younger kids. They don't mean no witches. The mean no Jasons.

[Deleted02]

My former church just does a "fall festival". Most of the members participate and decorate the classrooms and have games for the kids to play. Later on they do a cake walk. It's really a lot of fun. I live in a rural area so there aren't many houses for the kids to go trick or treating.

The only rule the preacher has regarding the fall festival is you can't say halloween :roll:

[jenny_islander]

*sigh* Ignorance alert. "Halloween" is short for "All Hallows' Even," or "the night before All Saints' Day" in modern English. As in, it's a Christian name for a Christian celebration. "Samhain" or "Devils' Night" I can see him banning, but not allowing people to say "Halloween" is just plain ignorant.

One of our mainline churches used to do (may still do) a prayer vigil on Halloween. It wasn't because they were trying to pray away the evil evil thoughts of little kids dressing like Iron Man and Elmo and getting bags of cheap candy. It was because it's, you know, the night before All Saints' Day and some people might feel the need to sit somewhere quiet and talk to God about their loved ones who had died. It was timed to start after most little kids were done with trick-or-treat because my old church was not populated by grumbling fun-suckers.

[MamaJunebug]

Well, now you've got me goin'!!!

I might know somebody who is attending her first trunk or treat tonight!

And she might just have a report for all yall since it is on the parking lot of a church!

A Lutheran church, granted, but a church nonetheless.

PS: Our Junior Junior Junebug will be dressed as a spaceman. that's all I know at this point, but I'm responsible for creating the "moon landing" from which we'll be giving out our cand.

PPS: I too have many questions, but they revolve mostly about how early I need to get there and what I did with all that material that looks like sand.

Report to come!!! :)

[ladypuglover]

*sigh* Ignorance alert. "Halloween" is short for "All Hallows' Even," or "the night before All Saints' Day" in modern English. As in, it's a Christian name for a Christian celebration. "Samhain" or "Devils' Night" I can see him banning, but not allowing people to say "Halloween" is just plain ignorant.

One of our mainline churches used to do (may still do) a prayer vigil on Halloween. It wasn't because they were trying to pray away the evil evil thoughts of little kids dressing like Iron Man and Elmo and getting bags of cheap candy. It was because it's, you know, the night before All Saints' Day and some people might feel the need to sit somewhere quiet and talk to God about their loved ones who had died. It was timed to start after most little kids were done with trick-or-treat because my old church was not populated by grumbling fun-suckers.

Thank you! :clap: :clap: :clap:

[PBrooke]

My town actually sponsors a trunk or treat thing in the middle of town. It's not church-driven. I think it's because there's a lot of rural area around here (I, for one, do not have sidewalks, my neighbors are a good hike away, and I've never had trick-or-treaters, sadly).

[Kitten]

Yeah, I lived in New Orleans as a kid, and then again as an adult, and All Saints' Day was the day that families went out to the cemeteries and did a big clean up of all the gravesites. They would bring picnic lunches and such - it was like a day of remembrance and a mini family reunion. No Druids or pagans in sight...although there might have been a few voudou queens here and there...

[IReallyAmHopewell]

It appeals to the safety squirrels among us. I'm working at our Church's tomorrow night. Plus in rural areas it's pretty tough to trick or treat--there may be no other homes for 1/2--1mile. Trunk or Treat lets you go home with a decent haul of candy!!! We also offer food for everyone and NO PREACHING. It's just a community event we hold.

[Deleted02]

*sigh* Ignorance alert. "Halloween" is short for "All Hallows' Even," or "the night before All Saints' Day" in modern English. As in, it's a Christian name for a Christian celebration. "Samhain" or "Devils' Night" I can see him banning, but not allowing people to say "Halloween" is just plain ignorant.

One of our mainline churches used to do (may still do) a prayer vigil on Halloween. It wasn't because they were trying to pray away the evil evil thoughts of little kids dressing like Iron Man and Elmo and getting bags of cheap candy. It was because it's, you know, the night before All Saints' Day and some people might feel the need to sit somewhere quiet and talk to God about their loved ones who had died. It was timed to start after most little kids were done with trick-or-treat because my old church was not populated by grumbling fun-suckers.

I know. Some people just won't accept that.

[quinoa]

But All Hallows or All Saints smacks of teh Catholic. The evil Papists are on par with Satanists, right?

[ems]

Okay, now that I know what trunk or treating is, I'm a little confused as to why a Christian church would want to use this instead of Trick or Treating. I get that 1) it's safer for kids, 2) it's easier for parents, 3) it's a great idea for rural communities where houses are far apart, and if that's how they presented it, I'd think, hey, great idea, but...if you don't want to observe Halloween because it's a "Satanic" holiday, how does trunk or treating convert the activity into a Christian-approved alternative?

And yet, that is how some of the churches around here seem to be promoting it. I guess as long as you come dressed as "your favorite Biblical character," you have successfully negated Satan's influence on your Snickers and M&Ms.

:lol: :lol:

And BTW, "trick or treat" makes sense, but "trunk or treat" is just stupid. At least change it to "trunk and treat," or "trunking for treats," or something logical. Or give me your car if you don't want to give me a treat. :roll:

Yeah, trunking for treats is slightly more logical. Although I wouldn't mind getting a car instead of a treat...

It seems like just another way to remain "separate." I think it's for more fundie-lite types who don't think that all Halloween celebrations are "Satanic" or "pagan" but still want to feel special and holier-than-thou and so they do Halloween with just "like-minded believers" on their own turft with Biblical costumes.

As you mentioned, it does make sense in areas where houses are far apart and/or it might not be safe to go walking the street trick-or-treating. Although for parents concerned about safety, the sad thing is that such events might not truly be safer, since predators find ways to seem like trusted adults.

Edited to say I know a lot of church and secular groups might have good reasons for doing "trunk-or-treat" (safety or even just "fellowship") but that there are probably some who use it as an excuse to stay insular and separated from their communities.

[O Latin]

My church holds a harvest festival type thing, but it's generally not on Halloween, so people can still go trick or treating. It's basically a Halloween party, from what I gather. I think the reason they don't call it that is because Halloween isn't an official church holiday so we can't technically celebrate it in church, but if we call it a harvest festival then it's just a random church event, so it's fine. It's the same reason our music director won't let us do secular Christmas music at the Christmas concert, even though, since it's not a worship service, secular music should be okay. Christmas is an official church holiday, so we aren't allowed to acknowledge the secular aspect of it in church.

I agree that "no scary costumes" makes sense at an event geared toward young children, religious or not. We always had a "Halloween parade" at my (public) elementary school, and the rule was no scary costumes there, too.

[Guest Anonymous]

Out of interest, don't you have Harvest Festivals as a separate event in the USA?

When I was growing up, Harvest Festival when there was a special church service and people brought gifts of food to church which was then distributed to elderly or sick people in the neighbourhood. We lived in a city so most kids brought tinned or packet food :lol: but my dad would make us a basket to take from his allotment. Then all the kids would go out, walking crocodile style and distributing the boxes. By the time I was a teenager, it was all less popular and some 'elderly' local people complained about the humiliation of getting a harvest box when they didn't consider themselves old or needy... so they changed it a bit and sent the food to a homeless shelter to be made into meals. But we still had the service where we sang "We plough the Fields and Scatter" and we still had a special communion loaf made in the shape of a wheatsheaf...

Halloween was completely separate and we had an early All Saints Party on All Saints Eve and we did Halloween stuff and games but in non-scary fancy dress. In the UK it is cold and dark and often wet at night in October, so it is easier for the Church to persuade local kids to come in from the cold.

Now that I'm 'out' of the Church though, I always stock up on sweets for the few kids that come, and even answer the door in a scary mask, to make up for missing out during my mis-spent youth. :lol:

I am desperate to meet a JesusWeener, but they don't seem to have reached Wales yet, sadly.