"Secular" celebrations and their potential for building bridges

While waiting for Patrick to sort out the alumni e-mail list ... thought it might be good to post a few things to "keep" the ball rolling by hopefully starting a "conversation" . :-)

My question: What are some "secular celebrations" that you have used to help build bridges with those outside the Christian faith?

Since coming to New Zealand, I have (in the church I minister in) been using "Chinese New Year" and "Halloween" as two such celebrations.

Chinese  New Year 

On the surface, it would seem that not much needs to be said about Chinese New Year celebrations as this is something most Malaysian churches would use as a means to connect with the Chinese community.  But I wonder about the different approaches we each may have found helpful that we could perhaps share with each other. I am keen to read about your different experiences. Let me begin with a brief sharing on mine.

For the two times I have used the Chinese New Year celebration here, I have approached it from the general aspect of our being an International Church and promoting this special meeting from two angles. 

The first as an opportunity for friends and family members of Chinese people (migrants from various countries) to get together to have fun and celebrate the non religious aspects of CNY. 

The second as an opportunity to expose our non Chinese members and friends to aspects of the Chinese culture. This is to help us better appreciate and understand each other as we build an international (multi-cultural) church community.

So the list of activities in the programme over the last two years has been:

1. CNY cultural quiz (and prizes)

2. Cultural presentations (song / dance etc)

3. Games and competitions (I design them based on Chinese cultural stuff)

4. Magic show with Gospel message (since this is my area of "expertise")

5. Food

I have found that non-Christian friends look forward to our CNY meetings.

Halloween 31st October

We have adopted the idea of the "Light Party" and personalized it for our context. The basic idea is to offer a wholesome alternative to the creepy and dark Halloween trick or treat activity. Over the last 2 years we have refined 

/ changed some aspects of our Light Party but essentially, we use it to try to make friends with our neighbours - last year we targeted the children and this year also their parents, with more emphasis on connecting with the local 

schools and kindergartens. Interesting feedback is that some parents and teachers have mentioned to me that they are glad for this activity option as they are not happy with the Halloween emphasis.

See http://www.lightparty.org/for more details.

Basic programme this year was:

1. Balloons, bubbles, face painting

2. Games

3. Puppet Show

4. BBQ

5. Magic show

6. Best Costume competition (we had a "superhero theme)

7. "Lolly scramble"

Okay, it is 5.30 AM now and I think I should go to sleep :-) God bless.