Two months out
treaters; kids who need an afternoon, traffic- free place to trick or treat; and people with disabilities who need an accessible place to participate.
Member Judy Young was just looking forward to an excuse to enjoy Halloween and break out her 1949 black Nash classic car, but was surprised by the giggles, love and laughter she experienced. “We discov- ered we belong to a very fun-loving, innova- tive congregation,” she said.
This October, members such as Jo and Jim Derouin of People of Hope Lutheran Church, Rochester, Minn., will open their trunks to trick or treaters.
Members open car trunks to trick or treaters
Trunk or Treat A
tion was Trunk or Treat.
On the Sunday afternoon before Halloween (or day of if the 31st is a Sunday), members bring their vehicles to the church parking lot. There they break out the cobwebs, jack-o’-lanterns, gravestones and skeletons to decorate their vehicles. From 4 to 6 p.m., neighborhood kids flood the parking lot to trick or treat at the car trunks. Brenda Refsland, a member at People of Hope, has brought her car for two years and appreciates that it is a fun, community-wide event. She also hands out candy to trick or treaters at home, but “at Trunk or Treat you’re able to relax and talk with kids and banter back and forth,” she said. “It’s fun. At home it’s ‘trick or treat,’ hand out candy and they’re gone.”
About 300 kids participated in Trunk or Treat in each of the first two years, most of whom were not from People of Hope, a congrega- tion of about 600 members.
People of Hope has a good relationship with the elementary school and sends fliers home with all the students the week before the event. All kids are welcome. It is not, as Dan Doering, pastor of People of Hope, said, an event where people will be “preached to.” “We don’t hand out Bible tracts or Jesus tattoos,” Doering added. This event, as well its Easter egg hunt, allows People of Hope to
live out its mission of community welcome. Doering said the congre- gation is “not just a place to explore issues of faith and spirituality, but also to help people meet their needs, whatever they are.” Trunk or Treat is safe and accessible. All benefit, including mem- bers who enjoy seeing children on Halloween but don’t get trick or
few years ago, members of People of Hope Lutheran Church, Rochester, Minn., asked themselves: “How can we be more present in our neighborhood?” One result of exploring this ques-
Katie Livingood
Livingood is The Lutheran’s correspondent in the Southeastern Minnesota Synod.
For more information, contact Dan Doering at
pastordan@peopleofhope.com.
Good one!
Little Free Library All Saints Lutheran Church, Cottage Grove, Minn., in May dedicated a “Little Free Library” in its rain garden. The library is stocked with secular children’s books for preschoolers through elementary ages. Visitors are asked to “take a book, leave a book.” It is part of a larger, interna- tional program (
www.littlefreelibrary. org) started in Wisconsin that’s now in 40 states and 20 countries. Pictured above from All Saints (www.
allsaintscg.org) are Rebecca Holz, Little Free Library chair, and Dennis Anderson, carpenter.
Does your congregation do a specific ministry in December, January or February? Send details (or your best timeless idea) to
julie.sevig@
thelutheran.org. August 2012 39
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