Church helps community ‘Face the Fear’ at Halloween Alternative Event

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Engaging the culture with the Gospel is always on Jeff Dixon’s mind. As pastor of The Church @ 434 in Winter Springs, Dixon is careful to design ways for his congregation to interact with their community authentically, opening doors for Gospel conversations that might not otherwise take place.

So it’s no surprise that the church puts on an award-winning haunted house-type experience every year called ‘Face the Fear.’

“We are trying to open up a conversation by finding some common ground – like being fearful,” Dixon said. “That allows us to share openly about how Jesus moves into our life so we don’t face fear alone.”

With a theme that changes every year, the ‘Face the Fear’ house invites people to experience a friendly, all-in-good-fun scare. At the end of the experience, guests are handed a DVD that moves from how we experience fear in our every day lives to how we can overcome it through the power of the Gospel. Dixon said the DVD has opened up many avenues of conversation that allow him and his volunteers to interact with people who might otherwise never darken the doors of a church.

“People will accept Christ or they will reconnect to the faith of their childhood,” Dixon said. “They also are actively seeking some additional resources for help in facing their fears and this gives us the freedom to recommend some Christian-based counseling environments, which again, allows us to keep a Gospel conversation going forward.”

Though certainly unconventional, there’s no denying that ‘Face the Fear’ is an effective way to reach the community – the event, which only runs two weekends a year, sells out consistently.

“I am convinced we have to earn the right to be heard and engage the culture by finding the best entry point,” he said. “If we do it right, do it well, and embrace the moment – then the conversation can begin.”

Want to find out more about ‘Face the Fear’? Visit them at www.facethefearhouse.com

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