Presbyterian churches around the country every year hold Halloween-alternative parties that attract hundreds, or even thousands, of children from the community.
St Andrew’s in Geraldine first held a small “light party” about three years ago. In 2008, more than 100 children attended, says organiser Lorraine Morgan.
Children attending dress up – but no witches, devils, ghosts or “scary” costumes are allowed.
Lorraine says most parents don’t want their kids walking around the streets and “trick or treating”, and are grateful to the church for providing another option.
The party, which attracts five- to 13-year-olds, is held in the school hall. A bouncy castle, 10-metre climbing wall and “human bowling ball”, all owned by the church, are among the attractions. Carnival-style games include picking from a bunch of keys to open a treasure chest, guessing the number of sweets in a jar, and fishing for ducks with a magnet. After the games, a disco runs till 7.30pm.
At the end of the night, each child leaves with a bag containing lollies, a chocolate bar and a bookmark with a Christian message. Lorraine says most of the children come from the community, with only a few church families taking part.
The church secures sponsorship from frozen food firm McCains and from local shops.
The congregation, which totals about 190, gets involved by donating lollies during the weeks leading up to the event, and helping out on the night with the food and games.
Lorraine says the event is mostly funded through proceeds from the church’s second-hand shop, which also funds its school holiday programme and other events like the successful “Fathers’ Day in the Park”.
Farther north, Auckland’s St Columba @ Botany has been running light parties for six years, and last year attracted between 3000 and 5000 children. Organiser Sue Ellis says accurate counting is difficult given the size of the crowd. “People queue for ages before the doors even open”.
Every part of the church buildings, ground and car parks are used for the event, which has a budget of $10,000.
Attractions include a vertical bungy, rock climbing wall, pirate ship, and “lots of bouncy castles.”
Children pay $2 to enter, with extra charges for some of the rides, which include a small train around the grounds. Games on offer include plate smashing and gumboot throwing, with about 20 different carnival games aimed at younger children.
Unlike some other light parties, at St Columba’s children must be accompanied by an adult.
Sue says the children get lollies “by the multitude”. “They go home feeling like they haven’t missed out.”
There’s also brochures and pamphlets about the church’s programmes on display through the venue, and included in goody bags.
“We get families that come along to church as a result,” Sue says. “People just need to see that we’re actually good guys; we’re quite fun, we enjoy ourselves.”
About 200 volunteers from the church make the light party happen. Some meet up weekly to put to put the thousands of goody bags together, others serve food or provide security. People take flyers to give out to friends or neighbours, and the local newspaper publicises the event.
“It really brings the congregation together. It’s completely owned by the church, and each year it’s grown.”
The light party at St Margaret’s Bishopdale, in Christchurch, attracts about 160 kids from the community and about 20 from the church, says organiser Andrew Howley.
Like the other light parties, carnival-style games, a bouncy castle and disco are key elements. New features this year include a bubble machine and lots of different wands for children to create their own bubbles.
The party includes a five-minute talk, pitched at seven-year-old level, perhaps about “why we’re not into celebrating scary Halloween”.
Childen pay $2 each, or $5 a family, for the party, and also get fed a sausage, drink and popsicle.
The St Margaret’s congregation of 120 people are “massively involved” in the event.
Each home group takes a different role; for example, looking after cooking and food, security, or assembling goody bags. Older kids from the youth programme run the carnival games.
By Amanda Wells