Ghouls and the gospel
Scaremare director reflects on his past 16 years leading the local outreach
Each October, Professor Steve Vandegriff plays a crucial role in not only directing Scaremare, but also impacting the Lynchburg college and teenage community with the gospel.
“I’ve been doing Scaremare here in Lynchburg for 16 years now,” Scaremare Director Steve Vandegriff said. “We are definitely a unique activity, and I love it.”
DIRECTOR — Steve Vandegriff has directed Scaremare for 16 years. Photo provided
Vandegriff said that as the event director, he has a variety of roles during Scaremare.
He said that a lot of his job takes place behind the scenes, and he often works with the hiring of staff, event marketing and the upkeep of the event buildings and grounds.
“I was originally drawn to Lynchburg’s Scaremare because I had done a couple of these types of events in previous ministries,” Vandegriff said.
“I really loved that this is completely non-profit, and the main idea is for outreach and evangelism.”
Additionally, Vandegriff said that aside from a few paid staff members, the main event crew consists of volunteer workers, including many students from Liberty University.
He said he assigns roles based on each individual’s comfort level and the specific needs for each event.
Not only are volunteers assigned to play characters in each scene, but staff is also required to help with security, parking, ticket sales and crowd control.
“There are obviously a lot of roles needed here at Scaremare,” Vandegriff said.
“Overall, my main job is to make sure things and people are in place, and everything functions as normally as possible.”
Vandegriff said with a production as large as Scaremare, it is not surprising that the team sometimes runs into problems during the event.
However, he adds that the leadership and staff always try to keep the main goal of evangelism in mind.
“No matter what happens or goes wrong, we try to push through as best we can,” Vandegriff said. “As long as the students have a good time and the gospel message is crystal-clear, it’s a success.”
FRIGHT — Students were led through two buildings and the surrounding woods during the Scaremare event. Photo credit: Mitchell Bryant
Scaremare supervisor Joshua Coldren has worked at Scaremare for 12 years and said he enjoys interacting with the event staff, as well as learning about a unique way to share the gospel with the community.
“Scaremare is just out of the norm,” Coldren said. “It’s not a typical type of church event or evangelistic event, … and I love this approach of being able to share God with others.”
Coldren says that he works closely with Vandegriff and has seen firsthand the effect his ministry has on the staff volunteers, and the Lynchburg community.
“Dr. V is a great guy to work for,” Coldren said. “He is funny and personable and always keeps the mission of Scaremare in front of us and makes sure that we never deviate from the mission of the gospel.”
Vandegriff said about 10 percent of Scaremare attendees receive Christ each year.
In fact, more than 2,800 students became Christians after last year’s Scaremare event.
“My favorite part is just the whole aspect of seeing a lot of people working hard, putting everything together and seeing it coming to fruition,” Vandegriff said. “We sometimes wonder if it will all come together, but it’s so rewarding seeing the kids out here coming to faith, and that’s really why we do it.”
Scaremare will open at 7:30 p.m. during the weekends of Oct. 13-15, Oct. 20-22 and Oct. 27-29.
Rutt is the assist. news editor.