Is Your Church Hosting a Trunk or Treat, Harvest Fest, or Other Fall Event?

Hi Staci,

First CRC of Prinsburg, MN is holding such a gathering.  Our bulletin announcement reads as follows: 

"A Reformation Celebration will again be held in our church the evening of Wednesday, Oct. 31. Join us for a free barbecue supper from 5:30 – 7:00 p.m. in the church basement. At 6:00 p.m., you are invited to hear the Reformation story as told by Pastor Chris Alle and to sing hymns of the Reformation.  Throughout the evening, there will also be indoor and outdoor activities, snacks and games for kids of all ages as well as an opportunity to throw a “pie-in-a-Council-member’s- face”! Join us for an evening of fun, food and fellowship!"

Last year it was pie in the face of the pastor, and several area pastors were recruited to help bear the burden.  Interestingly, the Pastor helping us out (as we are currently vacant) is Pastor Chris Alle, who was recently featured in this Banner article: https://www.thebanner.org/news/2018/10/church-reaching-the-broken-receives-crc-support

Yes!  We had about 4,000 members of the community come by during our Fall Festival last year.  Here is how we announced it this year:

Join us for our FREE Fall Festival at Sunlight Community Church on Oct. 27 from 4 until 7 p.m. We'll have trunk-or-treat, bounce houses, hay rides, food for purchase, games, live performances, and more! Admission and activities are FREE; however, we encourage each family to bring a jar of peanut butter to drop off at the Grace Packs table to help feed hungry children in our area. All who donate a jar will be entered into a drawing for an awesome prize!

Rosewood Church has been hosting our "Outrageous Pumpkin Party" every October 31 since 2002, which attracts 3,000-4,000 people from the community. Admission is free, but every child must be registered in order to play the games using a "treasure map" that is hole-punched at each game booth. We have about 20-some game booths, each staffed with church members who give prizes or candy. We also have face painting, Bible give-away, a maze crawl, and a photo booth, and at the end children may turn in their treasure map with a minimum of 10 hole punches to receive a treasure sack full of candy as a bonus! The treasure sack includes a brochure highlighting our ministries for/with families. With the registration data, we follow up with invitations to our midweek ministries for children and youth, and of course Sunday worship (but that is not usually the first entry point).
Our "OPP" provides a light, bright alternative for children and families on Halloween night, and is our biggest outreach of the year. Many people from the community call Rosewood their church because they come here on Halloween and Easter (Easter-egg hunt and pancake breakfast).
The OPP is funded by donations from church members (candy, cupcakes, and money), and our food booth featuring tacos, nachos, hot dogs, and drinks for purchase.

We do host an event for the community - games, trunks open with candy/displays, etc. We've been having probably 2500 + each of the past couple of years. Good exposure and a safe alternative....

Gateway Community CRC, Merced, CA

River Terrace Church in East Lansing, Michigan held a Fall Potluck on October 17. Church provided homemade roast beef sandwiches, hot dogs,  & homemade apple crisp topped with vanilla ice cream. Attendees shared a side dish. We had games, a craft for kids, & our Cadet club led a bonfire with Smore's at our outdoor fire pit. The best part of the night though was was a homemade pie contest. We had 9 people enter their made from scratch pies, and they brought 3 of it so everyone could sample all 9 pies. Our dessert table was filled with a total of 27 pies! Everyone then voted & we had a winner! It was a tasty Autumn event!