The Reformation of Halloween - new book October 1, 2018

I've just completed the work on a new book release. On October 1st, The Reformation of Halloween: rethinking Christianity's response to Halloween is coming out.

As you know, or maybe you don't, Halloween and Reformation Day share something in common - they are on the same day. Martin Luther nailed his 95 these to the Wittenburg door on the day Americans now celebrate as Halloween. It turns out that Martin Luther and I have a couple things in common: 1) we were born on the same day - November 10th, and 2) we have both done our most notable work on Halloween.

After 19 years in Salem, Massachusetts with 31 days of Halloween every year, and nearly a million visitors, I know something about how the church ought to respond to Halloween. I am passionate about this topic. The church has been missing one of the greatest opportunities to love our neighbors and share the Gospel. Halloween is a missional goldmine. Following me on this journey to mission this October.

Here is a description of the book:

Halloween has presented a difficult challenge for Churches and Christians over the last 50 to 60 years. It has often been described as an ancient occult holiday celebrated by modern evil-doing Witches, Pagans, and Satanists. It has been avoided, protested, prayed against, and denounced, and meanwhile it has grown to become the second largest holiday in American culture. The Reformation of Halloween rethinks Christian involvement with the holiday by seeing it as an opportunity for the Gospel. Living in Salem, Massachusetts with its thirty-one days of Halloween each year, Pastor Phil Wyman has experienced the equivalent of almost 600 Halloweens, and has used the day as a launchpad for Christian mission.

The Reformation of Halloween reimagines the holiday as the best season of the year for missional engagement. The horror themes found in the films, stories, and costuming are seen in the light of biblical truth. Topics normally evaded by postmodern culture are celebrated once year by rapidly growing numbers of people, and are described in their biblical themes. Stories from nineteen years of public ministry on the streets of Salem during the month of October highlight the transformational power of taking the Gospel into carnival settings. This is more than a theoretical book on reimagining Halloween for the Churches and Christians; it is filled with evidence that Halloween is one of the most open days of the year for those who would learn how to have fun and share both the love and the hard truths of scripture in dialogical and creative ways.

If you’ve wondered how Halloween might become a season of opportunity for touching our world with the love of God, The Reformation of Halloween will give you insight to a phenomenon that has touched one of the largest Halloween events in the world since 1999, and is beginning to reach into the rest of the globe.

You can pre-order the book now on Amazon.com:
in Kindle 
or in Print

My Three Day Story

I placed a post on our church blog following my experiences over three recent days. These were not three typical days, but then there really are not typical days in Salem. (I am convinced there really are no typical days anywhere, but that's another story.) So to stop from blathering on here's the link to that story.

Blood Ritual and TV Cameras

This last Saturday, I was asked to speak on camera about the subject of Salem's Witches for a show on Treasure HD, which is part of VOOM network. They came to Salem to do a show on Witchcraft highlighting Christian Day, Leanne Marrama, Sandra Power, and the rest of the gang.

I was not sure what the show was about, and did not have any talking points. I simply arrived at the shop Christian recently purchased, asked a few questions concerning context, and was placed in front of a camera.

Kevin, the director of the show "Magnificent Obsessions" asked a few questions: Who I was, and some basic info about the our church The Gathering. Our history of being excommunicated from our previous denomination, because they were afraid of Christians who were on friendly terms with Witches came up.

After a few questions Kevin mentioned that they just finished filming a ritual, and it included the use of blood. He wanted to know what "the church" thought of that.

Now I wasn't particularly prepared for that question, but I did a good job of hiding a moment of surprise. My eyebrows were raising on the inside, but on the outside I held a calm collected unsurprised expression.

You see, I was wondering how to respond to this one. I have many friends who are Witches, and many friends who are Christians. Typically they do not get along with one another, and so I figured this was a question which could leave me up a creek without a paddle with one camp or the other.

If I said that blood ritual is satanic I would alienate many of my Pagan friends. If I said it was acceptable to practice blood ritual I would alienate all my Christian friends. Yet most importantly I had to say what I believe is true, and not play some kind of popularity game.

So, what was I to do?

First of all I did condemn the practice of animal and human sacrifice, but quickly added that this was not what my Neo-Pagan friends were practicing.

Christianity, and its mother religion Judaism have their own connection to blood ritual. We are by our own admittance, and with great pride bloody religions. Sacrifices and war fill the scriptures from Genesis to Malachi. The sacrifice of Christ with an emphasis upon His blood becomes the central point of the Gospel in the New Testament. We sing hymns and choruses about the "Power in the Blood,"

Does the pricking of a finger and the drop of blood in chalice, or the more peculiar use of menstrual blood in spell casting post-figuratively speak to the power of the blood of which I have joyously sung in the comparatively tame church services of my Pentecostal tradition?

As I responded to this question from the producer of the show, and since then have pondered it further it causes to me consider the issue of blood in the religion I practice, and causes me to place it in a position which makes sense both of the power aspect, and of the lack of actual blood in today's Christian services.

Yes, blood has power. As Moses reminds us, "the life is in the blood." Christ's blood has the power of forgiveness, cleansing, and healing in it, and even though we celebrate the Lord's Cup regularly, we look back to the sacrifice which was "once and for all."

As Christians we primarily look back to the blood (even though Orthodox and Catholic Communions may beg to differ here). The blood of Christ was shed two millenia ago, and it has become the focal point of our religious experience. We pursue becoming "peacemakers" to evidence our identification with Christ, and reject the idea that the shedding of blood in war has any eternally effective power in the solving the problems of this world. In terms of identifying power in blood we look back.

As the Mosaic laws of sacrifice prefigured the power in Christ's blood, it may be that blood ritual of the Neo-Paganism post-figuratively speaks in the same manner - There is power in the blood.

Beyond the Pall (Part 8): Living in a Pagan World

(Beyond the Pall is a continuing series following missional engagement with the Neo-Pagan community in Salem, MA and beyond. The story began with the death of a friend who was a prominent Witch in Salem. I was a pall-bearer at his funeral, and so this series carries the title with its not un-purposeful similarity to the term “beyond the pale.”)

Photo by Christine Cleere found at The Druid NetworkWe were six in number. They were 250. I've been out numbered by far larger odds in ministry outreach settings before, but these numbers were more intimidating for the average Christian than when I was one of 12 Christians among 5,000 Mormons. We were six Christians among 250 Druids. Some pastors would have felt like Elijah among the prophets of Baal. I felt at home and among friends. The five others with me would feel that way at the end of three days.

We offered to hold a Dream Interpretation booth at the Lammas Games. They accepted, and we planned the first few days of our mission trip to join the Druids in South Oxfordshire. Daniel interpreted dreams in Pagan Babylon. Certainly we could try to do so in a Neo-Pagan gathering in Britain.

We arrived early, and found a campsite location in the afternoon shade. We helped haul the roughhewn wood, and put our hands to building the stage. We got to know the leaders of the event, and then we built our own booth from the same roughhewn lumber.

From our shady location we could watch all the happenings for the event. The food and ale were to the left of us, and ferret racing was near the stage directly across from us. The sound system was powered by two stationary bicycles, which volunteers took turns pedaling.

In the center of the event a circle was formed with eight tall flags. This would be the location of the ritual at the end of the day.

As people began to fill the site, we interpreted dreams for a few. Others simply wanted to know what we were doing there. They heard we were Christians, and asked us how it was that we could attend the event. Each time this question was asked, I asked in return, "do you think Jesus would avoid coming here?" Of course, no one thought that Jesus would have avoided the event, and we began to wonder how it was that Christianity and Jesus were not perceived in the same light.

As the day wore on, a small cadre of vendors and attendees began to gather around us. They sat and talked with us, and shared their life stories. With some regularity, people shared their interest in, and sometimes even their love for Jesus, but their dislike, and wholesale rejection of Church and Christianity was evident. Again we wondered how Jesus and Christianity became so detached from one another in the eyes of those outside the church.

Our little troupe was relatively comfortable in this strange setting of hippies, spear chucking, the mention of Pagan deities, and ale drinking. The booth next to us heard me play my guitar and sing. They asked if I was joining the competition for the "Spear of Lugh." The holder of the Spear of Lugh would stand as the Druidic Bard for the year. I put my five pound entry fee into the pot, assuming that a Christian Pastor would not be allowed to hold the Spear of Lugh, and become the Druidic Bard, but it would be fun to perform for a large gathering of Druids nonetheless.

In the late afternoon, a ritual was held. They formed a circle and gave thanks for the events of the year, for the giving of the harvest, for the gentle breezes, for the warmth of the sun, and for the rains. They laughed about the rains, because floods had happened all across the UK that year. They called to the East, South, West, and North, but nothing in their gathering required a person to declare allegiance to Pagan gods or goddesses. It was simply a remembrance, and celebration of life. A few of us from the missions trip joined the circle, and gave thanks with them.

In the early evening, while the sun was still fairly high in the sky the eisteddfod began. The eisteddfod was the competition of musicians and poets. The current holder of the Spear of Lugh, the first Bardic champion of the games, and a leader of the Druid Network sat as judges. The crowd gathered in the circle of flags, and faced the stage. Poets recited, and musicians sang - some quite professionally, and others joyously in need of a shepherd's crook, or a final buzzer. Much like a church talent contest it had a wide range of skills.

When my turn came, I sang a song about a Gargoyle. I wrote it in response to seeing the cathedrals in the UK some years before. Its theme was that of a mysterious message long forgotten by people, despite the fact that they walk under its shadow every day - a bit like the Gospel itself. Treeman, and Spacegirl thought that I most certainly would be the winner, even though we had been bantering in good jest about who was going outperform whom.

In the end Treeman won, and our little cadre of Pagan friends felt I got shafted. I smiled knowing that a Christian Pastor holding the Spear of Lugh for a year would be a weird experience.

Later that night we sat around the fire with our new Druid friends. People were drinking, and songs were sung, stories told, and poems recited. Everyone got involved, and we laughed, and sometimes we cried, and somehow our little Christian troupe felt strangely at home.

In the morning Paul was still sitting by the fire. He kept it burning all night as the tradition warranted. Paul had been the winner of the Spear of Lugh and the Bard for the previous year. I learned that Paul was a Druid, and a Mormon. He shared how he had been a Christian minister at one time, and that I had encouraged him to return to prayer, and to considering ministry once again. I smiled, and wondered how a person could be a Mormon, a Christian Minister and a Neo-Pagan Druid. He smiled, and I am sure he wondered how an Evangelical Christian Pastor could hang out at the Lammas Games.

As we left the Lammas Games to travel to our next location we considered how this event would change our reading of the New Testament. We were among the few people in America who would read the writings of St. Paul, and know exactly how he felt when he spoke of struggling over eating meat offered to idols, and dealing with the celebration of Pagan holydays. Paul the Apostle lived in a Pagan world, and if only for just a few days - so did we.

Greetings from the Fringe

Here we are in Edinburgh Today. I'm sitting in a pub with wireless access near High Street where the action is centered in this combination of over half a diozen festivals which occur in August. My city of Salem could learn a lot from this larger city of Edinburgh, Scotland on how to create a festival - or a series of them over month.

We are on a recon mission to see who we might crash The Fringe in the future. This is one of those locations from which someone could reach the world. Great city - great festival - tons of opportunity to present the Gospel in unique ways.

O'r Eisteddfod yn Gogledd Cymru - From the Eisteddfod in North Wales

Shwmae Frinddiau,

I am able to access my Blogger account for the first time since being here at the fiirst time since being here in thee UK. The WiFi internet access is desperately slow here on Maes B at the Welsh National Eisteddfod, but perhaps I can get a few words out before I disappear into a kinder, gentler medeival existence once again.

Here's what we have done since being in the UK as of August 3rd:

First we traveled from Gatwick Airport in south London to South Oxfordshire, an area recently in the news for being among the flooding which has occurred in the UK. The Lammas Games were being set up. The Games is a gathering of Druids organized by the Druid Network. We offered to interpret dreams for people for free, and we arrived with no resources to host our space on the event. But help arrived. Our dear friend Stephen Nicholson brought tents to sleep in, chairs, and a table for our set up. We then built our own table from rough hewn logs on the property of Brazier's Park. We then helped set up the stage for the event. The stage was to host a competition for the Spear of Lugh. This would be held for the year by the Druidic Bard.

We did not have many takers for Dream Interpretation during the Saturday of the event, but the few we had were profitable and helpful to people. We did however hold many discussions, and were asked many questions about our faith. People who were raised Christian, but have since embraced alternative spiritualities such as Druidism, and Witchcraft came to ask us questions. They wondered why we were there, sometimes even wondering how we could be there, but after some time we thankful for our presence, and admitted to still admiring (even loving Jesus) although rejecting the Church. We will be continuining to keep in contact with these people in the future. Later that day I competed in the bardic competition. I did not expect to even be considered among the possible winners, because I am not a Druid, but some of the people considered me a crowd favoriet with my song Cum Tacent Clamant, and its Latin chant whicch I taught the crowd.

Later that night we sat raound the fire and swapped tales, and songs, and poetry which Pagans are often known to do, and once again discussions of our faith, and stories of our life in Jesus became the order of the evening. I am so thankful for a team of people who are able mix with a Pagan crowd and feel confortable being themselves, and sharing their life in a manner which is simple, gentle, more like Jesus, and less like the expectations of typical evangelistic campaigning. Kudos to Carlos, Josh, Mizumi, Elizabeth, and Kevin. Each person has their own tales to tell about this event.

On the third day we arrived at Y Gorlan at the Welsh National Eisteddfod late at night. Since then we have been supporting the team of evangelical Christians who run the food service tent on the Youth Field (Maes B), which is an all Welsh Speaking week long concert series. We have been preparing, and serving food at a drunken youth event for the week now. The food tent (Y Gorlan - meaning The sheepfold) is a 24 hour service, and so we are keeping strange hours to help out. I have been working from midnight to 4am, which is the rush hour strangely. No one on this trip has ever seen such drunkenness with so many people all at once, and most of them under age. I warned them that this would be what the Maes B was like, but they were still surprised. It is surrealistic to find this in the middle of an otherwise squeaky clean event which the Welsh National Eisteddfod is, but relationships are developing, and we are able to help those who speak Welsh to do more serve food, but to share their faith with others. The opportunity to reach people here is great, and as of yet relatively untapped, and I hope for great thigns in coming years. I would like to return for next year's event which will be in Caerdydd (Cardiff, South Wales).

Alternative Festivals, and Us

Thursday we head off to the UK. Well 6 of us are leaving. We will land at Gatwick Airport south of London, and head to South Oxfordshire to the Lammas Games. At the Lammas Games we will offer free Dream Interpretation. The Lammas Games are organized by the Druid Network run by Emm Restall Orr (aka Bobcat).

On the issue of ministering at alternative festivals such as the Lammas Games, Matt Stone has a nice post on his blog from yesterday. Check it out, and get a feel for the places we like to bring our faith.

Following the Lammas Games we will head to the Eisteddfod in North Wales, and work there for a week. I'm looking forward to being in a place I love so much.

In the World?

Among the most common quoted references which is thought to be in the Bible is this quote which tells us we should be "in the world but not of it." It is extrapolated from John 17:14-15, but as quoted is not in the Biblical text. A quick Google search of the phrase highlights some interesting groups which utilize this quote as wisdom from their own religious tradition: Christianity, Sufism, evolutionary spirituality, the Yoga Sutras of Patanjal, and even a Channeling Course.

So, how does this concept apply to us? How does it relate to our engagement with the cultures of this world? and how do we understand it in respect to being missional?

Beyond the Pall (Part 2) at Relevant

A previous post Beyond the Pall (Part 2): Standing Between the Worlds has been published at Relevant Magazine online, and just came up today - 5/2/07.

Here is the link to the article at Relevant.

The original without the editing is found here.

Check it out at Relevant, and leave a comment. I am hoping to create a series based upon my growing interaction with the Pagan community, and have a larger audience like the readers of Relevant follow it. I have presented the idea to the editors of Relevant, and they are willing to look at it an article at a time right now.

Are We Americans Really This Stupid?

I wonder if it is a peculiar American passion to offend entire countries, or have we learned this only recently from our movie star role models. I am appalled at the lack of consideration for a culture as this story about Hollywood meeting Bollywood.

How do we learn from this kind of negative role model, and gain insight for missions?