Description: This autumn bonfire captures the faith-filled dimensions of the Halloween season with a mass (or prayer service), food (ideally potluck), and fellowship (with thought-provoking conversation).
Get Ready
- Prep Time: Depending on marketing and the extent of the program, the prep time for planning this event can be anywhere from one to three months before the scheduled event. On the day of the event, some prep time will be required in advance of the event.
- Volunteers Needed: In the months leading up to the event, the larger the team, the greater the potential attendance might be. However, this can all be accomplished by as little as two or three volunteers, though about seven to eight volunteers are ideal. The event staff or volunteers would take on the following tasks:
- marketing and publicizing (via social media, traditional outreach, etc.)
- greeters (welcome people at door, usher/direct people to next part)
- prayer arrangements (i.e. order of service, presider, readers, music)
- prayer set-up (set out liturgical supplies, programs, turn on lights)
- bonfire set-up (arrange outside space, ignite fire, supply wood)
- conversation set-up (arrange speaker/facilitator, icebreakers)
- food/drink set-up (cook/coordinate food items, set out supplies)
- event clean-up crew (for prayer space, food space, and bonfire space)
- Ideal Group Size: 20-60
- Ideal Time for this Event: This event is best held at night, after dark, and as close to Halloween as possible; most definitely, it should be done sometime in the month of October. The event can be done on the night of the holiday itself (and marketed as an “Alternative Halloween Experience” for young adults in the community), or during the weekend immediately preceding October 31. If it is held on Halloween night, consider having a Vigil Mass for All Saints Day as the prayer portion of the program.
- Who is this for? This event is appropriate for all young adults.
- Supplies Needed: candles; liturgical supplies based on order of service (and especially for mass: sacred vessels, lectionary, missal); wood and igniter for bonfire; plates, napkins, cups, drinks, and some food dishes (less necessary if doing potluck); s’mores fixings (chocolate, marshmallows, graham crackers, twigs/sticks)
- Reserve the Space: The ideal setting would be a parish with a chapel or church that can be used for the prayer service, an area for the food to be served and/or eaten, and an outdoor area to be used for the bonfire. Variations on this could include hosting the prayer service outdoors or instead of a bonfire, use an indoor s’mores maker or fireplace.
- Publicize the Program:Like many other young adult ministry programs, the best course of marketing and publicity for this event will involve:
- Traditional parish communications: bulletin, pulpit announcements, posters and flyers around the parish, handouts at the back of the church, etc.
- Digital marketing via Facebook, Twitter, and an event website (or more effectively, a Facebook event page).
- E-mail communication to young adults in the parish community, or who have come to previous activities; in addition to this, encourage “regulars” to bring along their friends, especially those detached from the practice of the faith.
- Put up flyers around the local community, in favorite coffee shops and stores.
- Put up flyers at and collaborate with area Halloween costume shops, Hallmark-type stores, local corn mazes and pumpkin farms, and other businesses that are popular in autumn and in advance of Halloween.
- Send out a press release to the local newspapers, with a “pitch” that this is a Catholic perspective on Halloween; it might get picked up as a unique approach to the season, apart from the traditional Halloween news stories.
- Collaborate with other parish ministries such as Adult Faith Formation, Marriage and Baptism Prep Ministries, Welcome Ministries, RCIA, among other groups in the parish that intersect with young adults.
- Collaborate with other local parishes, the diocese, and other Christian churches who might welcome a creative idea at this time of year.
Tip: Promotion for this event should begin in September, when people are thinking about Halloween, and get more intense in the weeks leading up to the holiday.
Prayer for Program Planner: Almighty God, creator of the universe and lord of the harvest, be with us as we plan this special evening for young adults. Help us to grow closer to You through the saints and souls who have gone before us. Give us courage to face our fears and hope through the darkness. Strengthen us for the mission that You have called us to this night — to reach out to those in their 20s and 30s, sharing with them the Good News of Christ Jesus Your Son. In His name we pray. Amen.
Community Building: Because this program includes time for food and fellowship around the bonfire, the event will lend itself to good community building among the participants. To further enhance the social aspects, the following ideas can be added to the program:
- Invite young adults to dress up in Halloween costumes
- Have opportunities for bobbing for apples or other games/icebreakers
- Invite young adults to bring a dish for a potluck (in particular, they can also bring their favorite Halloween candy or harvest-time food)
- Share stories (scary stories, Halloween memories, etc.) around the bonfire
Make It Happen
This event allows young adults to experience the fun and excitement of Halloween along with understanding and appreciating the Catholic and Christian aspects to this time of the year. Program planners have a variety of options for this event (having a Mass or prayer service, supplying food or making it potluck), but the core value underneath the activity is to use the Halloween experience as a chance to pray and learn more about the sacred dimensions to an otherwise secular holiday.
Here are the steps for an effective, and fun, young adult event:
- First, decide exactly what you want to do. Since there are a variety of choices and options in hosting this program, some decisions will need to be made regarding whether you will celebrate Mass (and whether that will be with the parish community or separate) or host a prayer service.
- Another early decision is what topic or theme you will focus on for the overall event, and especially for the conversations around the bonfire. Ideally, you will want to choose a topic popular with young adults and relevant to the season. Options can include, but aren’t limited to:
- Understanding All Saints and All Souls Days
- The Catholic Understanding of Saints and Sainthood
- The Sacred History of Halloween
- Death and Dying, The Afterlife, Heaven and Hell, Purgatory
- Fear and Anxiety, The Masks We Wear
- Angels and Demons, Spiritual Battles, Exorcism and the Devil
- A Christian Approach to Ghosts, Monsters, and Zombies
- Saint Strangeness: Incorruptables, Miracles, Stigmata, Levitation
- The Unknown Future, The End Times, The Book of Revelation
- The Concept of Blood in Judeo-Christian History
- Dark Forces: Cults, Wicca, Witchcraft, and Magic
- Spiritual Connections in Popular Halloween Movies
- Reserve the spaces, including the church, parish center, and/or outdoor facilities. Be sure to let people know that you will be including a bonfire with this program, and check out any church or community regulations regarding this (and if there are, see if another location is available or find alternative ways to have a bonfire-like experience).
- Line up the presider, readers, and liturgical ministers (and musicians, as needed) for the Mass or prayer service. Arrange for a bonfire discussion facilitator and/or speaker (perhaps a local expert on the topic or a young adult skilled at facilitating discussion). Recruit a team of volunteers to coordinate the food and drinks, as well as other logistical tasks.
- Seek out or develop an order of service for the Mass or prayer service, including selecting readings, music, and prayers of the faithful. The easiest prep work would be the liturgy of the day since these readings are already set up. However, for those wanting to be creative and tying it in with the theme, a prayer service would be a great alternative choice here.
- Promote and publicize this event at the church, as well as to the local community, to other parishes (or other Christian churches in the area), with the diocese, and via social media.
- On the day of the event, organize and set up the various spaces according to your needs: the liturgy space, the food space, and the bonfire space. In addition, make sure there is good signage leading to the parish (i.e. signs on the roads around the church and in town), as well as signs within the facility (directing people to the next portion of the program, as well as to accessible restrooms).
- Arrange to meet volunteers and liturgical ministers at least one hour before the scheduled start of the event, if not sooner. Go over with them the logistics and any other preparation details. Allow readers and musicians to practice.
- Make sure greeters are in place early to welcome the first people to arrive. If you have a check-in table, have sign-in forms or sheets or nametags available for all who attend.
- Start the event as close to on time as possible. Be flexible as the event unfolds, and have one person on hand to handle any issues that arise.
- During the Mass or prayer service, have volunteers bring out the food and drink and begin to start the bonfire, lay out the s’mores fixings, etc.
- After the event is finished, clean up the spaces (first the liturgy space after the Mass or prayer service has ended and then the food and bonfire space once those have concluded for the night). Consider sending out thank you notes or e-mails to the people who attended.
Ideas
- Encourage participants to wear costumes, dress as their favorite saint, or dress in orange and black.
- Ask participants to bring canned food items for the local pantry.
- Ask participants to bring Halloween candy for less fortunate children.
- Incorporate the Sacrament of Reconciliation in the prayer service, to focus on the cleansing of our sinfulness so we can be more open to saintliness.
- During the prayer service, have participants write something on a piece of paper (depending on the topic of the night: their fears, their masks, etc.), which they will toss into the bonfire that night.
- Have autumn-themed food options available during the dinner/potluck such as caramel apples, pumpkin pie, cinnamon treats, hot apple cider or cocoa, chili or harvest vegetable stews, Halloween candies, sweet potatoes, etc.
Help: Here are some websites that connect the sacred and secular celebrations of Halloween, and some Catholic web resources on All Saints and All Souls Days:
- American Catholic overview of Halloween season resources, includes prayers, etc.
- AmericanCatholic newsletter on Making Halloween Sacred
- Catholic Mom’s overview of Halloween resources
- Origins of Halloween from EWTN
- Busted Halo Video: “You Don’t Know Jack … about Halloween”
- Busted Halo Video: “Saints and All Hallow’s Eve” with Fr. Jim Martin, SJ
- Catholic Education Resource Center’s feature on All Hallow’s Eve
- Prayers for All Hallow’s Eve from ChurchYear.net
In addition, you might use resources such as My Life with the Saints by Fr. Jim Martin, SJ (Loyola Press, 2006) as well as Death Makes a Holiday: A Cultural History of Halloween by David J. Skal (Bloomsbury, 2002).
Recommends
- Sample schedule for prayer service
- Sample poster and postcards for publicity
