TEXAS CITY — Ambitious goals are nothing new to Bobbie Gass, a pastor of Texas City’s Baypoint Community Church. Eight years ago, he began with nothing and now leads one of the fastest growing churches in the Mid-County area.
“We think Halloween isn’t a bad thing, but that the devil stole it,” Gass said. “We want to take this holiday back.”
History.com portrays Halloween as a merged celebration that sprouted from two Roman and one Celtic winter observance. A religion of the time was Druidism, and the joint fears of death and winter provided the catalyst for attempts to both appease and interrogate the spirits of the dead.
For centuries, the Christian church has taken widely disparate views on Halloween. Pope Boniface IV’s seventh century declaration of Nov. 1 as All Saints’ Day made Oct. 31 All Hallows’ Eve. So, in some sense, Boniface could be considered to have made the first attempt to provide a Christian alternative to what the church had considered a pagan practice.
Susie Dennard, executive pastor of Baypoint, is heading the launch of Ghost Bustin’ Blowout on Oct. 31 but has been forced to oversee plans from her easy chair.
“I severely broke my ankle a week ago and had to have surgery,” she said. “I can’t put any weight on my ankle for four months.”
She said though some churches would avoid any acknowledgment of Halloween, she takes a different tack.
“The Scripture says, ‘This is the day that the Lord has made,’ so every day belongs to God,” she said.
The church stressed the event would be the safest place in town. Church officials were careful about candy custody — more than a ton has been purchased directly from the manufacturer — and plan to have uniformed and plain clothes security.
Carnival rides, Belgian horses and military vehicles will be part of the celebration, which is sponsored by No Limits Outreach.
In spite of the outreach name, Joshua Smith, Baypoint’s youth pastor, said: “No one would be hit over the head with a Bible. We won’t be proselytizing but will offer a warm greeting and friendly face.”
Organizers said that they have more than 200 volunteers for the event and expect the turnout to exceed 3,000.
“Kids grow up with this custom, and they are going to go trick-or-treating one way or the others, so we want to provide a good, clean, safe place to do that,” Gass said.
“We’ll give them a Christian environment with nothing witchy or scary.”
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At A Glance
WHAT: Ghost Bustin’ Blowout
WHEN: 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Oct. 31
WHERE: Baypoint Community Church parking lot, 2801 Palmer Highway
SHUTTLE PARKING: Texas City High School, 1800 Ninth Ave. N., and Stingray Stadium, 1500 Ninth Ave. N.
