The crew at the River Region Judgment House was getting ready to shut down for the night when young Annye Bennett walked through the door that day in 2012.
“We were closing up, but we talked about it and got things together so that she could go through,” said Brian Gay, minister of missions at First Baptist Church, Montgomery.
Annye’s friend, Mary Olivia, was an actor in the judgment house — that’s how she got there.
“I had no idea what a judgment house was, I just knew she worked there, so my dad took me to see her,” Annye said.
Groups who walk through the judgment house follow the story of two teenagers killed in an accident who are faced with the fate of judgment and then heaven or hell.
Gay said the point of the production isn’t to scare people, even though there may be some scariness involved. It is intended to help people see their need for a Savior and then set them on the path of discipleship, he said.
That’s exactly what happened for Annye, now a ninth grader.
“As I went through it, especially the hell scene, I realized that I really needed to be saved,” she said.
Beyond the event
First, Montgomery, got her plugged in, and she got baptized and began to be discipled in her new faith.
The next year, she was an actress in the judgment house, and she convinced her two brothers to come.
They both got saved.
And about a month ago, thanks to the family’s involvement, her mom became involved in church too and gave her life to Christ.
“It’s amazing,” Gay said. “There have been so many amazing stories out of this event.”
River Region House
And that’s why five years after Annye came — the first year of the River Region Judgment House — the production is still going strong.
“The judgment house concept has been around for more than 30 years, and there used to be one in Montgomery, but they took a break for a while,” Gay said. “A few years ago, some guys said, ‘Let’s restart this in the area.’”
And so they did — with a partnership that’s now grown to more than 20 area churches of different denominations.
“It’s really cool seeing the whole body of Christ come together for this,” Gay said.
Since they reopened in 2012, nearly 2,000 people have made decisions either to follow Christ for the first time or rededicate their life, he said.
About 500 visitors come through on any given night. And from parking and security to set design and registration, it takes a couple hundred volunteers to run the production.
“We also have a prayer room with people constantly praying,” Gay said. “Prayer is not part of our strategy — it is our strategy.”
The judgment house has been an effective tool to share the gospel with neighbors like Annye, he said. “Bottom line, it’s about seeing lives changed and lost people come to Christ.”
In 2015 one man who was driving by saw the sign and decided to stop by with his kid, Gay said.
“He got saved, ended up joining the church and got baptized,” he said. “And then when the pastor went out to visit him and follow up, he met the man’s brother, and his brother received Christ too.”
A week later, that brother passed away.
Hearing the gospel
“Just because that man came to the Judgment House, his brother heard the gospel. And that’s just one story of the hundreds and hundreds who come through the judgment house,” Gay said.
It really works, he said.
“It’s not just a flash in the pan where people raise their hands. We’re doing our very best to follow up with people and make sure they get plugged in and become real disciples of Christ,” Gay said. “It’s an amazing ministry that has seen amazing fruit.”
Reed DePace, pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Montgomery, said his church has chosen to partner with First, Montgomery, and other churches to put on the Judgment House because it builds up the body of Christ in the church and community.
Taking the next step
“It’s a phenomenal ministry,” he said. “It encourages the people in our church to share the gospel, and it presents that message in a very clear way for the community.”
At the end of the Judgment House walk through, every visitor who raises his or her hand and asks to learn more, that’s an easy witnessing opportunity, DePace said. “This event is a good way to get back to the basics — the reality of judgment, the reality of hell and the reality of Jesus as the solution.”
The River Region Judgment House will be open 6–9 p.m. Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays beginning Oct. 12. Starting Oct. 26, it will run every night through Oct. 31.
It is located at 4003 Eastern Boulevard in Montgomery.
For more information or to register a group, visit www.judgmenthouse.org.
Share with others: