History of Halloween

The date was chosen on purpose to rival Samhain and involved similar traditions, including dressing up as a saint, an angel or a devil and joining a parade, with the aim of weaning people off of the pagan festival. By the 9th century, Samhain traditions were still going strong, so the church tried to take-over the evening of the 31st of October itself by making it another feast day, "All Hallows Even" (evening) and this and Samhain (remember, it's pronounced something like "sow-een") merged to become "Halloween". Because of it's Celtic history it is only popular in the UK, and the USA and Canada, taken there by the Irish who emigrated to America in their tens of thousands after the 1845 potato famine.



richmondparkchurch.org.uk an evangelical pentecostal church in Boscombe, Bournemouth, Dorset, UK

History of Halloween

People tried to protect themselves from attack by disguising themselves as witches, devils and ghosts, and carved grotesque faces in things like pumpkins, which they kept illuminated by candlelight, to ward off evil spirits. They also left out treats, like cakes, as a peace offering. When the Romans came to Britain (successfully in 43AD after failed attempts in 55BC and 54BC) they added the traditions of their own harvest festival, "Pomona", to Samhain, such as bobbing for apples in water barrels and putting nuts in the fire to watch where they jump to.

Meanwhile, after the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus in 30AD, the "new" controversial religion, Christianity, spread to Asia Minor, Greece and to Rome, and so through the Roman Empire, largely as a result of persecuted Christians having to flee Jerusalem. As Christians were killed for preaching about Jesus and standing up for their beliefs, those surviving chose to commemorate the death of these martyrs or saints by celebrating "martyrs days" or "saints days". These were usually local festivals, though the martyrdom of some of the apostles were more widely celebrated. Pope Gregory III (731-741AD) decided to have one day a year in the church calendar to celebrate all the martyrs or saints, instead of lots of different regional saint's days, and this was set as the 1st of November, and known as the "Feast of All Saints" or "All Saint's Day" or "All Hallows Day" ("hallow" is an old English word for saint or holy person).



richmondparkchurch.org.uk an evangelical pentecostal church in Boscombe, Bournemouth, Dorset, UK

What is Halloween?

Halloween was originally called "Samhain" -a Gaelic word pronounced "sow-in" (in Ireland), or "sow-een" (in Wales), or "sav-en" (in Scotland) - meaning "summer's end." The Celtic culture had established itself throughout the British Isles from approx. 600 BC to 50 AD, and Samhain was an ancient Celtic type of harvest festival, marking the beginning of winter and the first day of the Celtic new year, celebrated on the evening of the 31st of October. The Druids (Celtic priests) also believed that on this day (exactly between the Autumnal Equinox and the Winter Solstice) the barriers between the human and supernatural worlds were broken, allowing demons, witches and lost souls to harass the living and play tricks on them.

richmondparkchurch.org.uk an evangelical pentecostal church in Boscombe, Bournemouth, Dorset, UK

October 2011 Events at Richmond Park Church

What’s Happening This Month

Bible conference at RPC - 8-9th October - Speaker Rev Sandy McMeekin.
Saturday 8th— Starting at 7.30pm
Sunday 9th– Both morning and evening services at our normal times.
(In order to make it easier for us to attend this special weekend we have cancelled the Care group meeting.)

‘No ticket needed’- Hosted at the Wessex Christian Centre. The Kings Chamber Orchestra on Friday 7th Oct & Pilgrims Progress by the Saltmine Theatre Company on 14th Oct. For further details and too reserve your free place please see the notice board.

‘How Great is our God’- Sunday AM 30th October - A DVD by Louie Giglio focusing on the greatness of God and his love for human kind. This is a guest service, so please invite your friends.

Halloween Alternative– 31 October– We are planning to have a little something for the children on this night. Details to follow.

Thank you!- Sylvia would like to thank everyone who has bought cards from her box. £50 has been sent to Open Doors. Keep buying!

Clocks go back one hour! - Sunday 30th October.


richmondparkchurch.org.uk an evangelical pentecostal church in Boscombe, Bournemouth, Dorset, UK

Parents & Toddlers

We warmly invite you to our Parents & Toddlers morning, "Step By Step", Tuesdays term time from 9.30 to 11.30am.This is a great time to come together in a secure, relaxed and informal atmosphere where parents and carers can unwind as their children enjoy playing with toys, creating different things, sliding down the slide, singing and learning to relate to one another at a young age.

We are aware that during our get-togethers lasting relationships have been formed among the parents and the children are often asking them when the next "toy time at that church" is!

We follow normal child protection guidelines and all staff are CRB checked.



richmondparkchurch.org.uk an evangelical pentecostal church in Boscombe, Bournemouth, Dorset, UK