This episode of Faith Made Welcome is the first of a two-part discussion leading us into Halloween! What do we see when we bring together Hocus Pocus (that’s right, the 1993 Disney film!) with themes of faith and explorations of Christianity?  Well, that’s what we aimed to find out with this pair of episodes!

Over the next two weeks you’ll hear Marty, Cheri, and Paul sit down and chat these topics out with three guests: Kelley Wool (back from Episode 3), and Zak Wool (Kelley’s “friend” - her word - and Hocus Pocus enthusiast), Eric Spiegel (Cheri’s “manfriend” - his word - and CBC Church Council Member).  

In this episode, we set the stage for next week’s more in depth exploration of the themes of Hocus Pocus and a deep dive into the tensions and points of connection between Christianity and Halloween. Listen in to hear us discuss our general impressions of Hocus Pocus, experiences with trick-or-treating (and parallel events put on by faith communities of our past), and frame some basic history of the Halloween holiday.  

Scripture Mentioned this Episode

The banter in today’s episode features a lot of indirect references to scripture. Here’s where you can read more about the passages we discuss:

• 2 Timothy 2:15

Additional Materials Mentioned this Episode

There are a whole bunch of pop culture references in this episode; here they are in the order of appearance:

• Hocus Pocus (obviously)

If you want to dive deeper into the historical concepts, rather than (or in addition to) the pop culture of this one, here are some of the holidays we discuss:

• All Hallo’s Eve

About This Podcast

This podcast was envisioned as means to foster spiritual growth and conversations about faith, both within and beyond the faith community at Commonwealth Baptist Church. At the open of this episode, we discuss what spiritual formation means to our CBC pastors and the role community plays in our concept of faith. 

Got a question or want to reach out to the Faith Made Welcome team?  You can reach us at [email protected].

Faith Made Welcome is produced by Cheri Spiegel, Paul Fitzgerald and This Most Unbelievable Life.