Friday, Oct. 30, 2009

A refreshing new take on Halloween

For Halloweens past, Socastee Freewill Baptist Church tried to scare the Hell out of people.

This year, the church is taking a different tack - providing old-fashioned wrestling, with the main event a match between Ivan "The Russian Bear" Koloff and pastor the Rev. Darren Squires.

I remember Koloff from his National Wrestling Alliance days in the 1980s. He competed as a hated Russian, with "The Russian Sickle" his signature move. (He is Canadian and is a born-again Christian.)

I know Squires from the once-frequent vile messages on his church's marquee, including harsh admonitions against gay people, as well as signs demanding Satan leave the Burgess Community.

Fortunately, those messages haven't shown up in a while and Squires has decided to do Halloween different this year.

"We are not changing our approach towards Halloween," Squires said. "We are stepping up a notch against it. It is amazing that public schools are getting out on Friday for whatever they want to call it, but we all know it's to honor Halloween."

But Saturday, instead of the Hell rooms of years' past - which graphically illustrated abortions and school shootings and offered glimpses of Heaven and Hell - the church will be home to the squared circle, featuring the "Giant Djinn," "Charlie Dreamer," a substitute partner from the "Rock and Roll Express," and "2D Extreme," among others.

Squires is still an unapologetic fundamentalist Christian.

"God made Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve," he reminds.

The marquee messages and his pronouncements about not wanting gays in the woods with Boy Scouts garnered unwanted attention, he said. But his new Christian Wrestling Association might help to turn the page.

I've driven by this church hundreds of times and never seriously considered stopping. Those signs turned me off that much. Though Squires and I won't see eye-to-eye theologically, this weekend's event has softened my view. A bit. Admission is required for the wrestling; it's a fundraiser for the church and its Emergency Pantry and Christmas Toy Tent, through which canned food and toys are provided to the needy.

"We are not a hateful church. We have opened our arms to people of all backgrounds and color. Jesus loves us all; it's just that we don't love him through our actions," Squires said. "I have and still do stand against the sin of homosexuality but we do open our doors for them to come in and join us as we try through God's word to change ourselves into what God wants us to be."