Doors of Light – Our Night to Shine - an invitation to every Christian home in America to string white Christmas lights over their front door on Halloween night as a welcome and a signal that this is a house of faith.
The Birth of Doors of Light
From the desk of Pastor Michael Cramer, Lead Pastor of PCFC
“As a believer in Jesus and then as a pastor, I have long struggled to find an accommodation with Halloween. I have participated in many years of ministry on this secular holiday at various churches, from Harvest festivals and Halloween outreaches to Trunk or Treats. But in the end, I felt like we, the church, weren’t getting it right. Our response to Halloween still has room to improve from the one extreme of legalistically exiling Halloween and all its trappings, to the other extreme of progressively hoping to use it as a point of contact, seeker-friendly strategy for reaching the yet-to-meet-Jesus folks.
For a Christian, Halloween is simply off-brand. Yet the church needs to love people, even when, and especially when, they are disconnected from a life-affirming relationship with God, so I believe there must be a better response for the church on this night.
All mixed into this questioning of what to do on Halloween as a Christian are years of fond memories of dressing up and going out to gather as much candy as could be found. Dodging the hazing of older kids and, at the same time, appreciating the kindness of my neighbors to show generosity to myself and my friends.
Throughout my life, I have seen great value in people having an annual outlet to be creative and put on a mask now and again, especially as someone who spent half their life pursuing the art of acting as a profession and thus growing to see the value of dressing up and playing make-believe, even for adults. I believed for a time that Halloween was a day for all those who never had that outlet of art and theater to express their inner child’s longing to become something or someone different for a day.
Yet, this always had a dark side, as Halloween is inescapably linked to darkness, death, and powerful images of evil. Over the decades that it has been an American institution, many vile acts have been linked to this night.
So, how can the church better serve? Better represent Christ on this battlefield? Through prayer and vision casting, the Holy Spirit has shown me this evangelism opportunity called Doors of Light.
What if every Christian home strung a strand of white Christmas lights over their door for Halloween to broadcast their loving faith to the stranger at their gate? A simple string of lights that is meant to invite families to visit our home because it is a safe and caring place, and we only want to bless others. The light we shine is a call to something so much more than candy.
Jesus said, “I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.” (Jn 8:12). And I believe that we, as His people, are called to follow that light and reflect it every day, everywhere. We are positioned at home, in our workplace, school, community, and everywhere to be people of open and inviting faith. Doors of Light is a simple, low-cost approach to signal to the world who we are. In a similar spirit to the ancient Israelites covering the doorways of their homes with the blood of the lamb so that the Angel of Death would pass over their domiciles and spare their children, I believe our generation should, in a similar way, mark our homes with the light, so that all the moms and dads, children and neighbors can, at a glance, identify the home of every person of faith on one of the darkest nights of the year.”
Ponca City Foursquare Church humbly asks that you and your church pray and consider joining us in this Doors of Light campaign.
Until all have heard, Pastor Michael and the PCFC family.
