Pray for Oregon: Christian vs Pagan

Woodson area, Columbia County, Oregon

Walk as children of light (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth), finding out what is acceptable to the Lord. And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness…Ephesians 5: 8-9

County Focus: Columbia County

Columbia County is the final County in the Northwest region of Oregon. Along with Multnomah, Clackamas, and Washington, it makes up the four-county region along the Columbia River and into the upper Willamette Valley between the Cascade Mountains and the Coast Range. The other three counties are mostly part of the Portland urban area, while Columbia County is more rural.

It is the third smallest in geographical size, but 18^th largest in population in Oregon. The county seat is the pretty town of St. Helens, which lies along the Columbia River.

The County is governed by a three-person non-partisan board elected every four years. The Board is responsible for some of the most important issues in the county pertaining to the prosperity and well-being of the community. The current commissioners are Casey Garrett, Margaret Magruder, and Kellie Jo Smith.

The County Sheriff is Brian E. Pixley.

Legislator of the week:  Rick Scholl, Mayor of St. Helens

Mayor Scholl is a third-generation St. Helen’s resident, graduating from St. Helens High School, and then going to Portland Community College to study landscaping and irrigation. He owns his own yard maintenance business. His concerns include investing in the community youth, and in increasing affordable housing.

Columbia County, Oregon

Halloweentown is a batch of films released by the Disney Channel from 1998 - 2006. The Columbia County town of St. Helens was the setting for the movies. (Also, some scenes from the vampire movie Twilight were filmed in St. Helens.) The premise of the Halloweentown movies is that mythical creatures such as warlocks, vampires, trolls, mummies, ghosts, etc. have their own world to avoid persecution from those in the ordinary world known as “The Mortal World.” The plot revolves around what happens when the portal between the two worlds is opened and citizens from one begin to visit the other.

Since the filming of the movies, the town of St. Helens has hosted an annual event called 'Halloweentown' for the month of October (on the weekends) that includes various activities around the traditional themes of Halloween. Due to Covid the event was cancelled for a time but is making a comeback this year. It is scheduled for September 16 through October 31, so various events are underway now.

This is promoted as a fun, family-friendly event that plays up the usual Halloween traditions with costumes, witches, a haunted house, a pumpkin lighting ceremony, and all the usual mythical creatures. And I’m not here to debate that or come across as a Puritan killjoy. But as Christians…

Christians interacting with various celebrations that have pagan roots is a long-standing debate. Halloween, most notoriously, has obvious pagan roots, barely disguised by the Catholic attempt in the 8^th Century to preempt it with All Saints’ Day. In modern times we have wrestled with whether to participate or not, some concluding to join in and hand out tracts with their candy. My church tended to move in that direction. We also hosted “Harvest Parties,” to join in the fun sans the ghosts and witches. One of my favorite alternatives when I was in a position as Education Director for my church, was to have a Reformation celebration. Martin Luther posted his 95 Thesis on the Wittenberg Church door on October 31, 1517, and launched the Protestant Reformation. We had a lot of fun with that, dressing in medieval costumes, “smuggling” the Bible into places, sampling foods of the time, and learning more about Martin Luther. A good time was had by all.

It is interesting that the plot for Halloweentown involves a portal between two worlds. The Celtic festival Samhain, which Halloween is based around, celebrated the end of their year – October 31 – and the Druids believed it was a time when the portal between the natural world and the spirit world opened, allowing movement between the two.  And that, really, is where the rub is with Christians and pagan celebrations. We believe there truly is a spirit realm, and that not everything that comes into our world from there is friendly.

When I was a kid at Halloween, we simply took a sack and a plain face mask and went door-to-door for treats. Sometimes there was a Harvest Party with apple dunking, and cider and donuts. The tv shows never took ghosts seriously – it was all pretty benign, back in the day. Not so much, now.

'Halloweentown' has grown as a festival. They are now running for 6 weeks and offering more elaborate events. The parking this year is limited to one location, and shuttle service is mandatory. 

Are we seeing a growing hunger for the supernatural?

What is our task as prayer warriors?

For several years at this time of year, we have seen a call among prayer groups to double down on prayers against witchcraft and other demonic activity as we go into the holidays. That is still a good idea. And while I want to avoid the “Puritan killjoy” label or sound some kind of alarm over “family-friendly” events and folks just out having a good time, we, as Christians, should be aware of darker forces behind some of our celebrations as well as our entertainment industry, and stand in the gap.

Plead the blood, bind and loose, intercede for Columbia County, St. Helens, and the state of Oregon this fall.