Some pastors see Halloween as ‘innocent’ fun, others view the holiday as ‘demonic'
If Christians choose to celebrate Halloween, Washington advises they should only engage in Halloween festivities on the days before or after Oct. 31.
“Why not do it on another day? Why do it on a day that you know is dedicated to celebrating evil spirits? If you want to celebrate with your kids, don't celebrate it on the same day that everybody else is celebrating Halloween,” Washington said.
“My thought is I don’t want to do anything that's associated with that day. I'm not giving treats and candy to my kids because we study that with the Celts’ festival, they would put out food, and they had treats, and that was supposed to appease evil spirits so that the evil spirits wouldn't bother them.”
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Sharing a similar perspective as Washington is Pastor Justin Mercer of the Faith Temple Church of God in Christ of Lynchburg, Virginia, which also belongs to the Church of God in Christ. He also believes that celebrating Halloween is engaging in a “demonic practice.”
The 38-year-old Pentecostal pastor has five children: Justin Jr., 12; Kelly, 10; Sarah, 9; Hagen, 4; and Reddington, 1.
Mercer does not celebrate Halloween with his children and never will.
He believes that even if someone celebrates before or after Oct. 31, they still disobey God by engaging in any activities related to Halloween.
“We have a firm belief with regards to our Christianity and ascribe it to the Bible that we are supposed to steer away from appearances of evil and also not to have any association with anything that represents darkness,” Mercer said. “We should not be celebrating that day.”
Mercer said Halloween is a day “marred by the practice of wishing spells on someone.”
“Even the trick-or-treat little song that they sing developed as a way to cast spells on people. And so, dressing up like goblins, demons and the like is just not something that a Christian should be associated with,” Mercer said.
“As a pastor, I have the pleasure of helping people get rid of their demons. Why would I then take my children and myself and go out and dress like the things that are plaguing individuals every day?”
'Dark and demonic day'
Although Mercer said he has never conducted research on whether people who practice witchcraft are engaging in more Satanic worship on Halloween than on any other night, he believes Halloween is a “dark and demonic day that cannot be separated from its origins.”
“Spiritual transference happens all the time. And the Bible says that evil communication corrupts good morals. And so, whether you ascribe to the Bible or not, you know that if someone is hanging around a murderer every day, after a while, some of their actions are going to rub off on them,” Mercer said.
“It’s the same thing when it comes to demonic activity. It is what it is. If someone is practicing that, it has the potential to get a hold of somebody else's child. Almost the same thing as a kid who is hanging around another bad person. As good as your parenting is, [if] you leave that person with that child on a consistent basis for an extended amount of time, they may pick up the traits of that bad person.”
Mercer contends that the demonic realm is thinning as the world gets closer to the End Times. He believes Halloween is risky to celebrate because of the power he believes Satan has on that night.
“Do I think that Satan has more free course on that night? Yes, because it's dedicated to celebrating him. So it’s his show. Everything that is going on is centered around highlighting his activity and those that worship him. So yes, I do feel like he has more access to humans that night,” Mercer stated.
Celebrating Halloween is “putting your salvation aside,” Mercer claims.
Even when Christians dress up in costumes that are not related to the demonic realm or are meant to be “humorous” or “innocent,” Mercer believes they are still disobeying God by partaking in Halloween.
“Salvation doesn't work that way. We can't take our salvation and put it to the side and then dress up as something innocent and participate in something demonic and call it what we want to call it,” Mercer said.
“You can't change the orientation of something just because you put on a certain thing or anything else.”
Pastor John Amanchukwu of the Upper Room Church of God in Christ in Raleigh, North Carolina, takes a similar stance with his three children who are all below the age of 13.
Amanchukwu also referred to 1 Corinthians 10:21, Ephesians 5:11 and 3 John 1:11 as verses to support his stance.
"I don't celebrate Halloween with them. The topic of Halloween comes up every year and Christians debate on this topic. And oftentimes, it's a tug-of-war of whether or not we should allow our children to engage in it or if we shouldn't. The important thing to keep in mind is not only what Christians think of Halloween, but we also have to answer the question of what do Wiccans, witches and warlocks think about Halloween?" Amanchukwu said.
"And if you have encounters with individuals who have been in that lifestyle, they will tell you themselves that 'the Christian is a fool to engage in that day' because it's a high day for them, meaning it's a chief day for them to sacrifice and to do seances and to summon the demonic influences to do things. And I don't think that Christians understand that."
Even if a Christian dresses their child up as an angel and not a goblin, Amanchukwu said they are still doing their child a disservice. When he was a child, Amanchukwu said he unknowingly participated in Halloween trick-or-treating and wore costumes solely because he wanted candy.
"I wasn't focused on the spiritual aspect of things as a kid. My mind was on Snickers, Skittles and Starbursts. Christians need to think beyond just what they feel. They need to look beyond the candy and costume and study the opponent," Amanchukwu said.
"Study the adversary and what they do on this day. There are Christians who were once witches that will say that Christian parents who celebrate Halloween are setting their children up for demonic influence."
Hope in Christ
The pastors assured there is mercy and grace to be found in Jesus Christ for those who celebrate Halloween and for those who have engaged in witchcraft.
“There is hope for them to have the knowledge of the truth and come to the light and come to the understanding. And Jesus can save anybody. His grace is for all of us who ‘confess with their mouths and believe in their heart that God raised Him from the dead,’” Washington said.
"There is hope for those who celebrate Halloween because I once celebrated Halloween. There's always hope when Christ is involved," Amanchukwu said.
According to Mercer, the beauty of salvation is there's hope for everybody.
"There are people who confess Jesus on their deathbed. And at that moment, they're saved. But don't wait until you're about to die. You'll miss out on a good deal of stuff that Jesus can help you with. But everybody is able to be redeemed,” Mercer stressed, referring to 2 Corinthians 5:1 about how humans who believe and receive Jesus and repent will be made into new creatures.
“Everybody is able to be redeemed by the Lord. … He gives them a way through His Son.”
