Halloween Christian-Style

Carla Brown with husband Eric and their seven children. Growed-up, candified and sanctified.

by Carla Brown

Carla Brown is an original member of Chos3n, the Kingdom Impact Theater Ministries women’s music ensemble.  She and her husband, Eric, are the parents of seven children, three of whom are in college.  Carla home-schooled her children until feeling the call of the classroom herself.  She divides her Chos3n service with her day-to-day occupation: as a bilingual teacher in suburban Dallas.

Halloween!!! A word that strikes fear and excitement in children everywhere. For me, as a kid, I definitely looked forward to this fun day. Think about it, you get to dress up in the most creative, crazy, funky way you want without being mocked, run the streets well after the street lights come on, and, THE single most driving factor of them all...FREE CANDY!!! I participated in this ritual all the way through my senior year in high school (best costume - BABY - because I could wear pajamas to school!!!) There was little thought as to the origin and history of Halloween...until...I began to hear speak of the “evil” of the holiday; the unholy meaning behind this day of fun costumes and free candy.

Carla's cousins dressed up to go out when they were kids...

Carla's kids and cousins carry on the homemade traditions.

The Child

As a youth I was slightly confused, yet understood what was going on. My mother taught me about the things of God and I believed them, but, I truly did not see the big deal about dressing as an angel or a baby or a princess and spending time with my family and friends while acquiring FREE CANDY!!

The Mom

Fast forward to me, as a mom. I was excited to share the celebration rituals with my own kids. I did not want to deprive them of the joys the day had brought me as a kid per say, however, based on the evolution of Halloween in my life, I developed a list so my kids could enjoy the fun without experiencing the “scary parts.” I even explained that Halloween comes from something “bad,” but we would just have fun; make costumes based on inanimate objects, fun sayings, or even Bible characters. See, Halloween… “Christian-style.”

"Being a Christian mom and teacher does not demand that I eliminate everything from my life. It does demand that I am responsible ." -- Carla Brown

The Teacher

Now, as a teacher, I have to be very careful with everything I say and do. So, when Halloween comes around, I am once again conflicted. When I was in elementary school, I looked forward to this time of year. Why? Because we got to dress up, the teacher would do some fun activities that disguised learning brilliantly, and...you guessed it...TREATS!!!! Those days were memorable and made school fun...at least for that day. How can I now, an elementary school teacher myself, deprive my students of that experience?

The Halloween film "haunt" KIT'S founding director.

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The Believer

Carla (left), age 6, with another believing cousin enjoying Halloween bounty: It's all about The Candy.

Well, as an adult and a Christian, I am fully aware and have a significant understanding of Halloween. I am not willing to allow Satan to use me as a tool to infiltrate the minds of any little person I interact with. However, there are so many demands on our elementary-aged children today: they have to analyze the main character in a story; they have to explain why 5 times 5 equals 25 in 3 different ways; they have to design science investigations about the relative density of several objects and justify their results, they have to plan, write, revise, edit, and publish an expository essay explaining who the most important person in their lives is and why. Can the kids just be kids for ONE DAY???

​My answer...YES!!! So, Mrs. Brown’s class always receives a little goodie bag; complete with a fun “halloween” pencil, a few “halloween” stickers, and...SHHHHH...some FREE CANDY!!! We also learn using halloween-themed activities and HAVE FUN!!!

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The Responsibility

My final thought, being a Christian mom and teacher does not demand that I eliminate EVERYTHING from my life; all those things that I enjoyed as a kid/teen and couldn’t wait to pass along to my children. What it does demand is that I am responsible with the approach, I educate the little ones around me on the history and the appropriate way we can enjoy the “good” parts without being submerged and controlled by the bad.