10 ways to celebrate Halloween while keeping it Christ-centered    

Mya Hudgins, Faith Editor

As the leaves change color, the air gets cooler, orange becomes the known color, and people go crazy for candy and costumes, everyone knows this time of year as Halloween. Growing up many people might have celebrated this holiday differently. Some families may go full out with costumes, others dress up and attend fall festivals at their local church, while other families do not celebrate Halloween at all because it is viewed as evil or witchcraft. While at college, students encounter people who do Halloween differently. The questions arise on what is okay to do, and what is not okay to do during Halloween. The Bison newspaper is here to help you understand some ways to celebrate Halloween, while still being Christ centered.  These ways are brought to you by your own OBU students.

1. Fall Festival- “A lot of churches have fall festivals. This is a good place to help serve or participate. It is a good outreach to the community to get them to experience Christ. This is a good way to celebrate Halloween while still sharing the love of God,” freshman bible major Reagan Dawson said.
2. Child-like Faith- “My focus is more on fall things rather than Halloween things. I like to look at pumpkins and the trees change. When I look around during this time of year, I think, “wow God’s creation is amazing!” I also think it’s easy to find the good things in Halloween! I love watching the little girls dress up like princesses or little boys dressed up as cowboys. The joy on their faces makes me think of some child-like faith. They don’t think of the bad things that go along with Halloween,” sophomore accounting major Taylor Conn said.
3. Costume Design– “I think it’s helpful (if anyone is going to wear a costume) to try not to get a costume that would be a demon or something like that. This shows what looks like acceptance or praise of the character you choose. If you choose a good costume, you can avoid a wrong message being sent, or send a really good message with a bible character or something that would glorify Christ,” sophomore pastoral ministry major Dawson Alley said.
4. It’s Just a Holiday- “It is easy to keep your faith centered on Christ while celebrating Halloween because Halloween is just a holiday. It is a time to have fun with friends and dress up and take part in lifelong traditions like trick-or-treating, carving pumpkins, painting pumpkins, and costume parties. Staying centered on Christ means to continuously make a commitment to him every day. I don’t feel like that is any different during Halloween. Either you are 100% committed to following Him, or you are not, and if Halloween makes you waiver on your faith, then you probably shouldn’t be celebrating it. Halloween doesn’t dictate whether or not you are saved, you decide that every day,” junior communications major Alena Blakley said.
5. God Pushing Back the Darkness- “You still can focus on Christ and enjoy the feeling of dressing up in funny costumes and being someone you’re not. You can also look at Halloween as a time to talk about the goodness that God provides and pushing the darkness out,” sophomore nursing major Megan Allen said.
6. Power in Christ- “To me Halloween isn’t about all the evil…it’s about dressing up for fun and getting candy. I’d say that through my faith in Jesus I know that there’s not a power in hell that can hurt me or touch me even during a season where evil might be celebrated. I know that the same power that raised Jesus from the dead is the same power that lives in me and I rebuke any evil that comes my way,” junior Biology major Zachary Hamilton said.
7. Parties- “something that I just recently experienced was getting invited to a Halloween party. I don’t know if there was even drinking there or what all happened but I didn’t want to go and be a part of that because it could potentially cause harm or trouble. I am however going to participate in trunk or treat with the “saac” committee and my team. we’ll be serving the community and get a small chance to be a light for Christ. So, I would say choosing where and how you celebrate is important to your faith because it shows where you stand in your faith and how much you desire to honor the Lord with your life,” junior pre-allied health major Sydney Lawrence said.
8. Don’t Celebrate- “I never celebrated Halloween when I was younger, because my parents didn’t see the point and didn’t like the darkness of the witches, spirits, superstitions, ghosts, etc. that we would be exposed to in trick or treating and other activities. But on that night, we would always get together with some other families and play games, watch movies, and eat all of the candy we wanted (without having to leave our house!) I have never felt like I was missing out on anything. Even though my parents don’t have as much of an impact on my decisions anymore, I still don’t really celebrate Halloween. I definitely don’t look down on anyone who does, but I usually just embrace the fall (flannel, orange leaves, pumpkin spice, hot coffee) season in general, and start to get excited for Christmas. It’s also kind of cool that the day I accepted Christ when I was a kid, is October 11. My family always celebrated each of my siblings’ “spiritual birthdays,” so that still gives me something fun to look forward to in October! I think people have fun celebrating Halloween, getting dressed up, etc., and I’ll help out with Trunk or Treat that the OBU athletes put on, or other events like that, but because I can’t see how Halloween glorifies God, I don’t go out of my way to celebrate Halloween,” junior elementary and special education major Emily Sechrist said.
9. Movies- “I think the only thing that would affect my Spiritual walk during Halloween is the movies that are demonic and stuff. A lot of times these movies come out all year long so I think you just have to make the decision of what you will and won’t do. It’s all based on what the issue of your heart is,” freshman women’s ministry major Lindsey Hamilton said.
10.   Not of the world- “I would say that Halloween is a good opportunity to witness to others especially since there is so much darkness around this time. I think it is important for Christians to remember that they are not called to be a part of the world therefore it is okay to not participate in every activity that the world deems normal and proper,” sophomore nursing major Ashley Ellis said.