Let light shine out of darkness
For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ. (2 Corinthians 4:6)
For the last five or so years, St John’s Lutheran Church, Unley, has been reaching out to its local community with a ‘Light Up Halloween’ event. The event serves two purposes: offering an alternative to the commercial celebration of darkness, and a free gift to the neighbourhood in an area which attracts a large number of trick-or-treaters.
The night is full of free activities, food, and plenty of lollies! Some families are drawn by the smell of a BBQ and stay for facepainting for the whole family. Others have been coming every year since we started and depend on the donut game, craft activities, and hot popcorn to celebrate the night together.
We’ve been blessed by our community coming together to partner in this event, with the St John’s Coffee Kart in action for barista coffees, as well as students from Concordia College making decorations and stickers to give away, and much of the BBQ food and healthy snacks donated or discounted by local businesses: Woolworths Unley, Tony & Mark’s Unley, Baker’s Delight Unley, and Unley Meat Wholesalers. We also received a funding grant from the City of Unley Council to help support the event.
This year, we estimate that 700-800 people came through our church gates, with many families expressing their thanks and commenting on the generosity of a church. Approximately 200 donuts were eaten off strings (with varying levels of mess and success!), 500 sausages sustained families and volunteers, and trick-or-treaters enjoyed 400 glowsticks, 400 Light Up Halloween stickers, and 1000 treats.
We had a team of 55 passionate volunteers who came together to share the love of Jesus with our local community through hospitality, welcome, connection and conversation. With designated roles focused on welcoming people and starting conversations, volunteers had the opportunity to get to know members of the community and build relationships.
Rather than focusing on encouraging people to attend our worship services or ministry groups, our aim was simply to connect with people where they are and make them feel welcome. It was about accepting, loving and serving all people, as Jesus calls us to do.
Ultimately, our hope is that through these connections, people will come to know Jesus. For some, an event like this might be the first step, or one of many steps, on that journey. We may never know the impact of a warm smile, a welcoming space or a simple conversation, but we trust that God can work through these moments in ways we may not see.
A good summary of our mission and purpose for this event can be found in the devotion and prayer that our volunteers shared at the start of the night. We delved into 2 Corinthians chapter 4 and heard that ‘the place of the church is never to ignore the darkness of the world but to meet it and shine God’s light in it,’ following in the footsteps of Jesus who entered into the darkness of the world, in order to defeat the darkness on the cross and bring us into God’s light.
This year, for the second time, we had a discussion board posing the question, ‘Where do you find light in the world?’ By the end of the night, the board was brimming with answers ranging from ‘the sun’, ‘bacon’, and ‘soccer’, to ‘friends’ and ‘my baby sister’s smile’, as well as ‘God’, ‘prayer’, ‘the Word’, and ‘Jesus loves you’.
It is a joy to serve and connect with our local community each year through our ‘Light Up Halloween’ event, and invite our neighbours to explore where we can find light in the world.
If your community is looking for ideas for an event or resources about what we do at St John’s, please contact the St John’s office. We would be more than happy to share our resources and experiences.
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