Mt. Pleasant Community Church in Crawford will bring back a Judgment House after a four-year hiatus.
The Judgment House, which is open from 7-9 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 21 through Monday, Oct. 23, is less about fear for Pastor Levi Taylor and more about spreading the word of a loving, merciful God.
“I don’t preach scare tactics,” Taylor said. “I don’t believe you can scare somebody into not going to hell or into going to heaven … scaring somebody is only going to last for so long.”
Instead, Taylor said he wants to “open people’s eyes to what possibilities could be” if they aren’t allowed into heaven on their judgment day.
Judgment houses, which crop up in October at churches around the country, are similar to haunted houses, often using a combination of masked actors, jump scares and fake blood to spook attendees.
However, the Christian attractions have a different intention.
Pastors and volunteers hope attendees leave having realized the importance of salvation and making it to heaven.
Mt. Pleasant’s Judgment House will follow the story of a waitress and her two friends who are involved in a car accident, and the plot will emphasize the dangers of texting and driving, Taylor said.
The actors will use a wrecked car provided by Gabriel’s Towing in Winterville, a dummy and backboard donated by Oglethorpe County Emergency Medical Services and a squad car from the Oglethorpe County Sheriff’s Office to set the scene.
“I think the most (the Judgment House) has ever cost us was $500,” Taylor said. “But you can’t put a price on the impact it has on people’s souls.”
Attendees will navigate a 15-20 minute route both indoors and outside, watching the characters’ journey to heaven’s gates.
“In order to get a judgment scene, there’s got to be a death,” Taylor said.
An actor playing God will read 2 Corinthians 5:9-10, demons will hiss, and at the end, attendees will have the chance to pray or ask questions in a prayer room.
Because of potentially disturbing scenes, attendees must be older than 12 or accompanied by a parent.
The Judgment House is free. Attendees can leave cash donations or donate food to Mt. Pleasant’s CAYA (Come As You Are) food pantry.
Around 1,000 people attended the event over the course of the weekend in past years, Taylor said.
Planning for the Judgment House began in May. Taylor said getting the attraction together was a relatively smooth process; the hardest part was getting the volunteers together to practice.
The Judgment House is a chance for Taylor, who has been the pastor at Mt. Pleasant for four years, to show the community the intentions for his ministry and for Mt. Pleasant.
“The biggest thing I want people to know when they leave the Judgment House is, No. 1, that there’s a God that loves them, and No. 2, that if they don’t have a church, there’s a church — Mt. Pleasant Community Church — that loves them,” Taylor said.