The Promise in Glen Rose looking for a new home after contract negotiations fall through

Growing up, I remember all of my brothers and sisters piling into our family minivan and taking the short drive down 67 into Glen Rose at sunset so that we could watch a production of The Promise at the iconic Texas Amphitheater under the stars. That continued as an annual tradition into my adulthood, adding a stop at a local restaurant for dinner or ice cream before the show. Now, it seems like The Promise will be moving out of Glen Rose in search of a new home for the foreseeable future.

Photo: The Promise in Glen Rose

Last year, Somervell County opened the bidding process to sell the outdoor amphitheater. The venue had been purpose-built for The Promise in 1989, and had not undergone any significant renovations since then. The submitted a bid, but ultimately lost out to AJ Real Estate Investments, a private investment firm based in Killeen, TX.

This left the future of The Promise in question, and ultimately, to an announcement that the production would be looking for a new home for its Fall 2025 season. In a statement released by management confirmed that “The Promise is actively seeking new partners and—Lord willing—a new venue.”

After the announcement, I had the opportunity to speak with Josh Lee, the Executive Director of The Promise, and learn more about what the future might hold for the beloved production. “We’ve tried to negotiate a longer-term deal to keep The Promise in Glen Rose,” he told me. “But ultimately, we weren’t able to work out something that we felt was in the best interest of the ministry.”

The production is now looking for a new home somewhere in the region between Glen Rose and Fort Worth.

“This little production has had a global reach,” Lee said. The Promise has been broadcast live on TBN, performed at the Olympic Stadium in South Korea, and even translated into Russian for a performance in Moscow after the fall of the iron curtain. Even with millions of viewers from around the world, Josh insists that “the heart of it has always been here in Glen Rose.”

As for the future of the production, nothing is confirmed yet for 2025, but that the team remains committed to its mission of sharing the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ through their musical.

Until then, the ministry is asking for prayer. “We would definitely ask that people pray just that the right opportunities with materialize, and that our leadership would have wisdom in finding those right opportunities and making decisions that will be in the best interest of this ministry,” Lee says, adding that “if it's God's will that it would continue for years to come tell the story of Jesus the way that we've been doing for the last almost four decades.”

Hopefully, The Promise will find a new home soon, and be able to put on a fall season of their classic musical. Until then, we’ll be lifting them up in prayer that someday soon, we’ll be able to pile everyone in the car to watch the gospel story under the stars again.