Originally Published Here

I neither celebrate Halloween nor condemn it. However, for those who (understandably) want to replace it with Reformation Day, the challenge isn’t just to replace it; the challenge is to outdo it. Less than this, and Reformation Day stays what it is right now: the holiday for ‘Christians Against Halloween,’ a second-string tagalong stuck being ‘what I celebrate instead of Halloween.’ The lifeblood of a holiday is its traditions, and better traditions make a better holiday. No matter how stridently you try, Columbus Day would still pale next to Thanksgiving, Christmas, or the 4th of July (the comparison is a little unfair and hardly scientific proof, but take it as illustrative).

So if you want Reformation Day to become an enduring tradition, find a tradition that is exceptionally fun. Draw weight from the history, in all its flamboyance. Dress up as a martyr, complete with method of murder. Find a food (something you don’t do regularly, so it’s special) that becomes the Reformation Day Feast). Go outside. Sing Reformation hymns, with context on their writers and the music’s writers (look up the history of the Old 100th and the Old 124th); tell stories about the triumphs and terrors of the Reformation, all the parts of history that get the blood pumping (or the tears flowing, if that’s your preference).

Pull on the periphery, too: Londonderry’s siege, the Hussite wars, etc. Tell of the martyrs, perhaps not just the Reformation martyrs. Play games like ‘St. Bartholomew’s Massacre’, a version of freeze tag I just made up (or borrow the theme for any game you have the personnel (the kids) and the space to play: tag, sharks and minnows, etc.). Be more inventive and come up with your own game (the kids might love it).

The point is, if you want Reformation Day to be more than a kookie protest vote, make it a holiday worth remembering on its own merits. Make the day outshine Halloween, not just ignore it.