WHY NOT CELEBRATE REFORMATION DAY?
By Rev. Michael D. Wolff 

Two Octobers ago, Dr. H. Armin Moellering, a fairly frequent contributor to The Lutheran Witness, wrote an "In My Opinion" column called "Long Live Halloween!"

In that article, Moellering, thinking it still possible to keep the "innocent, fun features of Halloween," decried people’s attempts to "Christianize" the day by removing the "pure exuberance of the festivities."

While I can understand Moellering's point about our becoming too prudish about Halloween and turning ourselves into a bunch of sourpusses, I can also understand the concern many Christians have over the dark and satanic overtones of Halloween.  Satanism is growing, especially among the young.  As often as not, children’s costumes mimic violent or, at the very least, gratuitously sinister characters.

In response to these trends, some LCMS congregations have held so-called Christian Halloween parties, which children could attend in lieu of going trick-or-treating.

A look at a church-year calendar shows Oct. 31st as "Reformation Day," not Halloween.  So what’s the fuss over?  Why not just celebrate Reformation Day with the children?  Doing so would solve the problem of seeming too prudish while affording participants the opportunity to give a solid and Christian witness.

At Our Redeemer Lutheran Church here in Kinsley as well as at Peace Lutheran Church in Greensburg, we offer a children's "Reformation Celebration."  Some of the Christian games we play, all of which reflect the Reformation message, are "Baptismal Apple Dunk," "Law and Gospel Shuffle Relay," "Fishers of Men Fishing Pond," and "Defeat the Devil Ball Toss."  The kids loved all the games, and both of our local newspapers ran stories on the parties.

Church festivals -- both the major and minor ones -- need to be better emphasized.  So why not make them fun and meaningful for children as well?

We Christians often complain about the commercialization of Christmas and Easter.  But what do we do, if anything, on Pentecost (the third highest festival of the church year) and on Oct. 31st?  We, as Lutherans, have the opportunity to celebrate in a special way the rich heritage of our faith, while, at the same time, informing others of the significance of the Reformation for all Christians everywhere.

Really, doesn't this sound better than complaining or arguing about the evils or relative harmlessness of the secular Halloween?

Rev. Michael D. Wolff was pastor of Our Redeemer Lutheran Church, Kinsley, KS and Peace Lutheran Church, Greensburg, KS when this article was written.

This article was taken from the October 1994 issue of The Lutheran Witness, a magazine for the laypeople of the LCMS.  Reproduced with permission.

The companion articles Long Live Halloween! and Who's Laughing Now? offer somewhat different Lutheran opinions on the question of Halloween. 

For more detailed information on the origins of Halloween and the proper Christian response to it, read the essay Can Christians Celebrate Halloween? by Rev. Dr. Richard P. Bucher.