Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities

Religion feature: Churches offer trick-or-treat alternatives

With October comes the guessing game of who’s going to dress up as what for Halloween.

Churches in Portales and Clovis take the opportunity to provide families with a fun, safe place for children to wear those costumes.

Lola McVey with Central Christian Church in Portales said their fall festival is a chance for families to do something together.

“Our thinking is that we want to do activities that get parents involved with their kids and friends,” she said.

The church will be holding their fall festival from 6 p.m.-8 p.m. Oct. 31 inside and outside the church. McVey said the event is free and come and go style.

“A lot of parents would prefer to do something safer than trick or treating. It’s a fun, safe environment for families,” McVey said.

She said the event serves people of all ages with activities ranging from adult bingo to games for kids and hay rides for the whole family. There will also be jumping houses, a hay bale maze, hot dogs and snacks, face painting and a photo booth. Children can win tickets from games to spend at the prize store.

“It’s just a fun thing for the whole family unit to come to. We aren’t telling anybody not to wear scary costumes, we’re not trying to do this because we think Halloween is evil. We just want to provide a safe place for families to come,” McVey said.

Immanuel Lutheran Church of Clovis is celebrating Reformation Day on Oct. 31 with a Reformation Walking Tour.

Pastor Scott Blazek said the event consists four rooms for attendees to walk through, each showing different scenes from Christian and secular history.

The first room will show the death and resurrection of Jesus, the Pentecost and the journeys of Paul. The second will show Christopher Columbus landing on the Americas The third will show Martin Luther nailing the 95 thesis to the church door. The fourth will show modern missionaries.

“This is not just to offer an alternative to Halloween. It’s to show the significance of Reformation Day. That day changed the direction of western civilization,” he said.

Each room will have a game and each attendee will get a coloring book made by the church.

“We want to celebrate the day in a positive sense and learn a little something,” Blazek said. “In the end, we want to share the gospel of Jesus.”

The Reformation Walking Tour will be held from 6:40 p.m.-8 p.m. Oct. 31 at the church.

 
 
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