The gospel according to TK Maxx?
James Cary
I’m a regular at retail store TK Maxx. I get all my shirts there, so I go in regularly to rummage.
In early August, I was startled to see Halloween gear already on display. Doesn’t Halloween come earlier every year? No surprise really: it’s now reckoned to be the UK’s biggest festival after Christmas. That’s strange for a Gen-Xer like me. In the 1980s, Bonfire Night was far more exciting; sparklers, fireworks, a giant bonfire plus the thrill of burning “the guy,” usually made from second-hand clothes stuffed with straw or newspaper. Written down, it sounds a bit Wicker Man, doesn’t it?
Norfolk Church takes on Halloween
Anna Price
A church in Norfolk has ‘engaged directly with the forces of darkness’ at Halloween - to show the power of Christ.
At St Mary Magdalene Gorleston, Great Yarmouth, hundreds of queuing trick-or-treaters were challenged to enter a ‘battle zone’ to discover ‘Light on a Dark Night’. Around 400 of them climbed into the pitch black, smoke-filled church building and took on a series of battles against the darkness.
women in mission
Are you still hiding from Halloween?
Ruth Evans
As a family, for years, we avoided Halloween almost entirely. We made the deliberate choice not to get involved with things like Light Parties and, when we moved to our small village, our young children were very content to either just let me answer the door to the many trick or treaters (given the size of our village we have a disproportionately large number) or we would leave treats at the door and go out.
Although most children dressed up cute, we had some local teens who enjoyed dressing up as scarily as they could and my children became quite 'anti' everything Halloween.