This Halloween, a Calgary-based Christian organization is asking Toronto households to respond to trick-or-treaters with a simple phrase: Jesus Loves You.

JesusWeen, a non-profit founded in 2002, promotes the distribution of Bibles and other religious paraphernalia to trick-or-treaters. The movement doesn’t intend to deprive children of sweets, but wants parents to also consider doling out Jesus-themed postcards and pamphlets.

The initiative is an “alternative for anyone who chooses not to celebrate Halloween, and especially for most Christians,” according to the JesusWeen website.

For the past few weeks, Toronto organizers have been petitioning churches and canvassing at local shopping centres. Roughly 500 area churches have been made aware of the program, said John Crowne of JesusWeen’s Toronto office. Other grassroots marketers have posted flyers in grocery stores and on car windshields.

The website states that 2011 efforts are focused on Toronto, Calgary and Edmonton.

JesusWeen also encourages participants to forego “evil”-looking costumes in favour of all-white attire.

But anti-JesusWeen campaigners have taken to social media in the run-up to Halloween, criticizing the initiative for targeting children with religious dogma. “A Protest Against Jesus Ween” and “Stop the fascist Jesus-ween movement” are two Facebook groups. Late-night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel spoofed the program earlier this month, calling it “even lamer than it sounds” and depicting conservative Christian children promoting themselves as “Jesus wieners.”

Organization members are wary of being labelled as proselytizers, and instead see their work as an educational service.

“We feel that if kids get a postcard that says ‘Jesus loves you’ it expresses some form of information. They can embrace it or ignore it,” Crowne said. “They can have a choice.”

Jair Guerrero, the Kids Church director at Toronto City Church, which runs its own alternative, non-ghoulish Halloween event, said JesusWeen is an acceptable form of evangelization.

“I wouldn’t think that it’s invasive,” he said. “It’s what we as churches are supposed to be doing.”

Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading...

Read more about: