Putting the clues together during the Journey to the Promise Land. Photos courtesy of Wall UMC.

The ten plagues, the Passover, the parting of the Red Sea, the fearsome majesty of God's presence at Mount Sinai, the giving of the Ten Commandments, and the building of the Tabernacle... these events from Exodus are foundational to the Christian faith. These stories told through an escape room journey at the United Methodist Church in Wall, South Dakota, inspired the community and filled a need of the congregation.

"It all started out as a need," said Pastor Justin Trent, Wall UMC. "We needed new classroom Bibles."

Wall UMC has a rich history of fostering children and youth in their faith journey. The congregation has two active youth ministries that take place in the Morrison Education Wing, constructed in 1985 in honor of Reverend Vernon Morrison. In total, there are eight designated classrooms and a meeting room. The classrooms are filled each Wednesday with 25-30 elementary-age children, followed by middle and high school youth from the congregation and the community, as well as other groups throughout the week, including an adult Bible study and a recovery program.

"The present Bibles being used were probably purchased when the education wing was built. If not, they looked like they were. Paperback Bibles, some with missing covers, some with duct tape covers, differing translations. Many had missing or torn-out pages, and the bindings were only continuing to get worse. One evening during confirmation class, a student opened a bible, and a third of the Old Testament fell out of the book and landed on the table," Pastor Justin described.

During the school year, the church offers church school on Wednesday afternoons, a release time program done in cooperation with the school and the other churches in the community.  In the evening, the youth group meets for two hours to enjoy a meal, participate in an activity, and spend time on lessons, devotions, and prayer. On a typical Wednesday, more than forty middle and high school youth of the community are present.

Crossing the Red Sea room.

Last fall, Madi Grenstiner, Kyle Barber, Trevor Ficke, Karol Patterson, and Pastor Justin, youth group leaders at Wall UMC, started discussing different ways in which to raise money to help replace these older "well-loved" and "well-used" Bibles. The goal was to earn money to help financially support the church's youth ministries.  Someone mentioned the idea of an escape room.

The research began. In November, the youth leaders decided to take an afternoon to visit an escape room, partly as a team-building exercise and also to determine if it was something they could actually pull off at Wall United Methodist Church.

After a fun afternoon out, the leaders discussed the possibilities over a pizza, and the ideas began to flow.

At the beginning of the year, the decision was made to proceed with the plan. The date was set for March 21-23.

"We had no idea that our boys' basketball team would make the state tournament scheduled for the same weekend," said Pastor Justin.

After researching different ideas and plans that could be purchased online, Madi Grensliner believed that the team of youth leaders could make one around the Exodus Story of the Israelites, utilizing several of the classrooms.

Madi developed an outline of what this "journey" might look like. She and Pastor Justin met, working through the outline, creating a storyline, discussing what clues might look like, and presenting a plan to the rest of the leaders.

Following the youth group meeting on March 19, the leaders took action—moving furniture, emptying classrooms, and recreating five of the classrooms to resemble the Exodus journey, beginning in Egypt and ending at the Promised Land.

To begin the journey, participants entered the room of the ten plagues, followed by the room of the Passover feast. Following the Passover, it was off to cross the Red Sea and then off to spend some time wandering in the desert, and if you were able to find all the clues successfully, you made it to the promised land.

The Passover at the Exodus Escape Room.

Each room contained clues and hints, from cleverly hidden scrolls and passages in the Bible that revealed keys and combinations for locks throughout the room, which led to another clue.  After successfully completing one room, the participants were then escorted to the next room to continue the journey.

Several people from the Wall and Wasta communities attended the event. The average time for teams to complete the journey was one hour and thirty minutes. There were an estimated 30 to 40 participants.

Due to the schedule conflict with the South Dakota Boys State Basketball Tournament, an area was designated for those attending to host a watch party.  Because several high school students were involved in the tournament, the youth group got the honor of going through the journey the following Wednesday evening.

Enough money was raised to purchase 40 Bibles with hard covers and heavier, tear-resistant paper.

Here are some of the comments from participants:
"Thank you for such a fun time! It was cool!" —Gwen McConnell.
"This was a lot of fun!" —Jody Denke.
"It was very well thought out, interesting and fun! I enjoyed it!" —Jane Jensen.
"Carol, Sue, and I did a trial run…had a few chuckles, a few wrong turns, but we made it through and even learned something." —Barb Reckling.
"You really should go. It is so fun!" —Carol Hodge.

Pastor Justin looks forward to the fall when children and youth ministries get back into full swing. "This congregation and community really support our youth. The escape room is just one example. The youth leaders are great. I let them come up with the ideas, and I support them!"