3 Successes and 3 Objections to Public Displays of Kindness

By Kaler Carpenter

It's rare when someone objects to an act of kindness, but we experience this from time to time as our church goes out and performs regular AoKs for our community in Oneonta, New York. At The Redemption Movement, we're not deterred by criticism. On the contrary, we welcome it because it gives us an opportunity to tell people why we do what we do.

Our favorite response that we like to give our critics is "kindness is contagious." What we mean by this, is that kindness is such a powerful force for good that it inspires those who experience it to do good themselves. This is why people that do random acts of kindness will tell recipients to "pay it forward." It's the givers hope that their single act of kindness will spread and the world will become a better place.

Free Sack Lunches for the Staff of a Local Hotel

When we do our act of kindness projects at The Redemption Movement, we hope for the same thing, but we're a little more specific with our acts. First off, our AoKs are not entirely random. We put a lot of thought and prayer into meeting specific needs with our actions. And secondly, instead of telling people to "pay it forward," we tell them, "We're doing this to show God's love." Either way you go about doing an act of kindness, the world becomes a better place and people are inspired to share kindness with others.

The criticisms we've faced with our AoKs isn't from spreading goodwill, or even serving in God's name, but the biggest objections we've heard are from people that are annoyed with how we show kindness in such a public manner. I will address this objection along with others at the end of the article, but first I want to highlight how one of our recent AoKs spread beyond the people that directly experienced it and impacted the world for good in a big way--because kindness is contagious!

The AoK that made such a positive impact was our outreach to retail workers having to work on Thanksgiving. We made 50 handmade "Thank You" cards that included an encouraging message and a $2 bill, and on Thanksgiving we went to various stores and passed the cards out to workers with a smile and message of God's love. In addition to the cheer that was spread, we have seen three more ways that this one AoK has successfully impacted the world.

Success 1: Our Local Community Took Notice

As soon as we got home from passing out the thank you cards, I wrote a blog article about the experience and posted it. I also submitted it to Oneonta's newspaper "The Daily Star," because I thought, "Hey, you never know." To my surprise, I received a call from a reporter the next day. She interviewed me about the AoK, asked me questions about other service projects that we have done, and she even inquired about what our goals are for these AoKs. Sure enough, the story was printed in the newspaper the very next day, on the front page!

Here is an excerpt from the story. You can read the full article on The Daily Star's website.

“As Christians, we are to show others the unconditional love of God, instead of displaying a holier-than-thou attitude and being insensitive with our religious practices,” Carpenter explained. “Ultimately, it is not about religion, it is about a personal relationship with God, lived out in a community of people known as the church.”

As a new church trying to get the word out to our city about who we are and what we are all about, we couldn't have asked for a better story. For years we have struggled to communicate to our community who we are, and with one AoK and a nice write up, this was achieved in a grand way. In fact, the article was better publicized and more attractive than if we had spent money on any form of marketing.

Success 2: A Long-Distance Friend was Inspired to Show Kindness

While we were making the cards for this Thanksgiving outreach, I  posted our plans and our progress on our Facebook page. One of my friends living over 2,000 miles away in New Mexico saw the post and felt inspired to perform an act of kindness in her local community for people having to work on Thanksgiving. She lives on an Air Force base and decided to bake cookies for the servicemen and servicewomen on duty during the holiday. There is no doubt that many people were cheered up upon receiving the kind gift, and I am amazed to think that those cookies in New Mexico wouldn't have been baked if we kept our kindness a private matter.

Success 3: Holiday Shoppers Were Reminded of God's Love

With the AoK receiving front page treatment in the local newspaper, the story was fresh on people's minds for the holiday shopping season. Speaking of shopping, one consequence of the Thanksgiving AoK is that we injected the local economy with fifty two-dollar bills. We chose two-dollar bills because you don't see them very often, which makes you pause and look at it when you come across one, and even think twice about spending it. With all of these bills being passed around during the holiday shopping season, you can bet that many shoppers came across a two-dollar bill and thought about the AoK our church did to show God's love. I got confirmation of this a few days after the outreach when a coworker approached me with a two-dollar bill he got back as change.

Kindness is contagious. We make extra efforts to tell of the world of our kindness in order to spread God's love and make the world a better place. I think that the objections we see with our public displays of kindness come from a misunderstanding of our motives. To clear things up, I want to address three specific objections that we have come across.

Objection 1: Public Acts of Kindness are Selfish

Some of our critics think that public acts of kindness are a selfish grab for attention, and that only kindness shown in private is acceptable. One woman posted this comment on our church Facebook page in response to our designated driving outreach. "Instill daily living participation in society is what's needed. Why does the generation born in the 1980s think they rule the f***in world?" And there was another young man (intoxicated) that scoffed at us when we gave him a free ride and handed him a kindness card with our contact information. He said, "I give people rides all the time but don't give out cards."

Giving Free Rides to Oneonta College Students

The point that these critics are making is that doing something nice for a person on a personal level is superior to doing it publicly. My response to them is this, of course doing quiet and regular acts of kindness is a good thing. At our church, we teach that kindness is a lifestyle and we encourage our people to show kindness every chance they get, in both big and small situations. And we're not trying to do public AoKs in an attempt to "rule the world;" on the contrary, we're trying to help bring healing to the world by making as big of an impact as possible with our service.  

Objection 2: The Bible Says that Good Works Should be Done in Secret

There are some Christians that will frown on public displays of kindness because of Jesus' teachings in Matthew 6 that says, "But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you." To put this verse into context, Jesus is talking about being discreet when giving money as a worship offering to a religious institution, not about doing good deeds in God's name.

Money complicates things and people are sensitive about it. This is why all of our AoKs are free (not fundraisers). We serve others for free so the message of God's love will come through clearly. Plus, Jesus is highlighting how Heaven's spiritual economy works by teaching that God rewards giving done in secret. This is in direct opposition to making a big public announcement about how much money one gave, which was the religious practice of the day. Also, Ephesians says that "We are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works." This truth, paired with Jesus' teachings to "let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven," makes it very clear that churches are to be loud and proud with their public displays of kindness.

Objection 3: Acts of Kindness do not Grow the Church or Get People Saved So they're Not Worth Doing

I have talked with some church leaders that will not consider doing AoK outreaches because they don't believe it will lead to people coming on Sunday morning. To be fair, these pastors are correct. It's a rare occurrence when we do an AoK for a person and then see them at our next church service (even though they often say they will come). But at our church, AoKs aren't a marketing gimmick to bring people into the fold. Instead, we do AoKs out of obedience to God's command to love the world, and we feel this command was given primarily to the church body, which is why we prefer to go out as a group representing the church instead of lone wolfing it.

The RM Kindness Team Moving Students into Dorms

I've also had conservative church leaders express disapproval to how we show God's love with our AoKs. Because we're not carrying Gospel tracts or trying to get the person saved right then and there, to them, this ministry is not valid, and to show love without an invitation to salvation is "liberalism" (btw, God liberally loves everybody, "for God so loved the world"). To be clear, we care about salvation and feel the need to evangelize the lost, but we don't feel the need to push salvation in every situation. We believe that salvation is a process, and for many of the strangers that we meet while doing AoKs, we understand that showing them God's love and proving to them that not all Christians are pushy and judgmental may be the first healing step needed for them to eventually come to faith in Jesus Christ. Salvation is the work of the Holy Spirit, not the preacher with a Gospel tract.

We've been doing AoKs for a few years now, and yes, we still have the smallest church in town, but that's not what it's about. For us, doing AoKs is about showing God's love in a practical way. While we can't boast of record-breaking attendance, we can tell you story after story of all the good that we've seen happen from showing kindness. And in the end, isn't that what kindness is all about?

To hear more act of kindness stories, you are welcome to visit The Redemption Movement's Friday Evening Gatherings. Doors open at 6pm at 148 River St., all are welcome. Or you can join us on Sunday to volunteer for the week's AoK project.

How $100 Cheered Up 50 Black Friday Workers

By Kaler Carpenter

"Working on Thanksgiving is no fun. We appreciate your hard work. Here is $2, we hope this act of kindness brightens your holiday. God bless, from your friends at The Redemption Movement."

This was written on the inside of 50 handmade Thank You cards given to Black Friday workers in Oneonta NY, along with a $2 bill and another card about God's love. With Black Friday sales pushed back to Thanksgiving, we saw an opportunity to do an act of kindness for workers that had to spend the holiday away from their families.

This AoK was near and dear to mine and Laura's hearts because we have both worked a combined 11 years in retail, including our share of Black Fridays. In preparation for this outreach, our new church spent the two previous months doing weekly acts of kindnesses that didn't take money from the outreach budget (like leaf raking and giving free rides to downtown bar patrons). We also raised additional funds from social media. Come Thanksgiving we had saved up $100 for this act of kindness!

We broke the $100 down to 50 two-dollar bills, and with the help of volunteers, we handmade fifty Thank You cards. When Thanksgiving rolled around, we put the cards together and went out to brave the crowds.

Our first stop was Stewarts' Shop at the end of River Street. We gave a card to the cashier, who admitted that he was bummed out today and this really made him feel better.

Our next stop was the epicenter of Black Friday shopping, Walmart.

Thanksgiving 2013 at Walmart, Oneonta, NY

It was 7pm on Thanksgiving and the parking lot was so full that the customers were parking on the grass. We right away begin giving Thank You cards to the workers pushing carts and directing traffic in the 20 degree weather. They were appreciative and I enjoyed reconnecting with some of my former coworkers.

Sharing God's love in the dairy aisle.

We then entered the store and began approaching Walmart workers; who were easy to spot due to the bright yellow vests they were wearing for the occasion. Most of the workers were very appreciative, yet there were a few that turned us down because it's Walmart's policy to not accept tips. To avoid future turn downs, we folded the money so that it wasn't sticking out of the card. This strategy worked and we ended up passing out cards to 35 Walmart workers in one hour.

The best experience I had at Walmart was with an old coworker and friend who had been following the activity of our church on Facebook. Upon seeing us, he got excited and began telling his coworker about our church and all the different outreaches we do for the community. It was really encouraging to talk with someone that's excited about the ministry I do week-in and and week-out. The encourager received encouragement!  

Laura showing the staff at McDonalds God's love.

Before leaving Walmart, we payed the McDonalds inside of Walmart a visit. Laura gave four cards away to workers that looked busy due to the Black Friday rush.

It was now 8pm and the Southside Mall across the parking lot was beginning their Black Friday sales. Laura and I took our 10 remaining cards and gave them out to workers in JC Penney, The Shoe Dept., Olympia Sports, and Subway.

For the most, all the workers we gave cards to were appreciative as evidenced by the smiles on their faces. But the best reaction we got was from the worker we gave our 50th card to (a sign to me that God was guiding our steps). When I gave this young lady the card, her countenance instantly changed from "retail-friendly" to "awww, holding back tears."

She then put out her arms, gave me a big hug, and told me about how hard today was because she was unable to spend it with her family. She then asked me lots of questions about the church and exclaimed how much better this made her feel!

The most difficult part of the night was having to stop because we ran out of cards and money. This act of kindness was a fun and powerful way to share God's love with 50 people, and we really look forward to doing it again next year with more funds and more volunteers so we can reach even more people.

The Redemption Movement does a different act of kindness every Sunday. If you want to help, be sure to check out Friday's post on our Facebook page in order to find out what AoK we're doing next. Or you can hear about our outreach plans firsthand by attending our weekly Friday Evening Gathering, as well as hear a testimony about how the previous week's AoK went. Serving others with kindness is a wonderful way to share God's love. You are welcome to join us. Feel free to contact us for more details.               

The Carpenter Family Builds a Community

Dan from Dirtpope performs solo. Photo credit Craig Jay Photo

By Brian Doran

It was a Saturday afternoon in September, and Laura Carpenter was putting the finishing touches on two chalkboard signs reading, “Redemption Movement Act of Kindness: Free Show & KYLE!” Inside, her husband, Kaler, was setting up the PA system, clearing the floor space, and rigging a drum kit.

Frank from Bray performs with Kyle (not pictured)

Only a few hours prior, the headlining band was forced to cancel the show, but for the couple that moved all the way from Missouri and renovated a whole venue by hand, this was no huge obstacle.

Chelsea reads poetry. 

The city of Oneonta has a rich history of music venues, from the Oneonta Theater, open since 1897, to the College’s music output, hosting such acts as F.U.N. and Childish Gambino. However, the town was in serious need of a middle ground, “I saw a need for a venue that was for the community and the students – a place that wasn’t a bar,” said Kaler.

Jesse from Baked Potatoes and KYLE!

Kaler remodeling in 2010

The Carpenters did exactly that, they purchased a vacant storefront and for three years they taught themselves and went to work on constructing their hybrid church, community center, and venue. In 2012, the Redemption Movement was able to have its first show, which became a block party for the whole neighborhood, even including a bounce castle for kids.

6th Ward Block Party May 2012

Far from the pay-to-play ethos of some other venues, Kaler said that the shows are entirely non-profit. The storefront runs on donations and the helping hands of volunteers, with every cent going to touring bands or renovations.

What the Carpenters want most of all, is for their church to serve the community, and they don’t just mean religious services. Aside from the shows and services, The Redemption Movement hosts 30 Days of Kindness, wherein volunteers do what they can to help the city, from cleaning up the street to giving free taxi rides on the weekends.

Lou from Deadwood

Though it may seem like a lot, Kaler certainly doesn’t mind the work, ”I don’t watch football, I don’t watch sports, this is my hobby. It’s exciting because I don’t know exactly what to expect!”

With the help of students and residents alike, Saturday was punctuated with a colorful night of music. From acoustic sing-alongs, to live poetry, to the melting blues-rock of the band Deadwood. The Redemption Movement had another successful show, made all the sweeter by the grassroots that grew it.

Elio from The Longest Monday. Craig Jay Photo

Brian Doran is a student at SUNY Oneonta and wrote this article for a Photo Journalism class. 

2 Radical Acts of Kindness to Show God's Love

By Kaler Carpenter

How can a small church make a big impact? By serving their community with the passion and love of Jesus Christ. It's a simple idea that yields powerful results. On a Friday evening in August, a small group of Christians meeting in an old storefront in Oneonta's lower deck neighborhood, showed their upstate New York town just how much God cares for them with two radical acts of kindness.

A Typical Friday Evening Church Gathering

The evening started off like a typical Friday Gathering at The Redemption Movement. People trickled in as a free spaghetti and meatball dinner was served, and the weather was nice so people ate and fellowshiped outside. The group even had some fun as one member shared a custom cake made to look like the Pastor's old pickup truck used to accomplish service projects (The Big Blue Ministry Machine), which made for a fun photo op.

After the meal was cleaned up, people found their way into the meeting room and shared stories from the week's previous service projects. The last week of August is a big week for Oneonta and The Redemption Movement as SUNY Oneonta students return for the Fall Semester. The group shared their experiences of helping students move into the dorms on the previous Sunday, and providing free rides in downtown Oneonta the night before to help keep the roads safe. The church was in the middle of Welcome Week 2013, which calls for 6 service projects in 1 week to help make the returning students feel welcomed.

But with a Not-so-Typical Church Message

After sharing stories, an acoustic worship set was played and then the Pastor taught from the Bible. The lesson looked at Jesus' Great Commission to the church in Matthew 28:18-20, and related it back to The Redemption Movement's own commission of Connect --> Discover --> Impact. For this lesson, attention was given to the Impact portion. The kind of impact The Redemption Movement tries to make in their community is: "Moving people out of a self-centered lifestyle and into a new self-sacrificial life in order to impact a broken world with the Gospel."

The Gospel declares that, when a person believes and follows Jesus, they are made new and called to live like Jesus did. There is a verse in Matthew that clearly explains Jesus' motivation,  "Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave--just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many (Mt. 20:26-28)." Just like Jesus made a big impact on the world by being a servant, so too are Christians called to make a great impact on their community through service.

How then Are Christians to Serve?

What does this service look like? Christian service is sacrificial, as seen ultimately with Jesus giving his life on the cross. Even day-to-day Christian service is supposed to be sacrificial and practical, as seen in John 13 when Jesus (who is exalted over all creation) humbled himself by stripping down to his undergarments and washing the feet of his disciples. Jesus explained this act of service, "I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another's feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you (Jn. 13:14-15)."

The thing about feet washing in the first century, is that people wore sandals on dirty roads filled with animal feces. It's fair to assume that the disciples' feet were dirty, sweaty, smelly, and in need of a good wash. At the Redemption Movement, we want to impact the world for God by serving our community, and nobody amongst us had stinky feet; but, if our city had feet, then the stairwells of the Oneonta downtown parking garage would be the modern equivalent of a well-traveled foot from first century Palestine.

Radical Service Project #1: Cleaning the Parking Garage

With the 3 day weekend ahead, this pile of sawdust and urine would have sat for 3 days before a city employee could take care of it.

Motivated by Jesus' example, we wanted to serve Oneonta in a practical and humble way. So we ended our church gathering early, loaded up some cleaning supplies in the ministry machine, and headed downtown on a Friday night to deodorize the stairwells. It was the Friday before a busy Labor Day weekend, and the stairwells were in dire need of a good scrubbing just as they were when we cleaned them last July as part of a Sunday Act of Kindness.

Locals using the stairwells understand the need to hold your breath as you pass through them, primarily because some individuals often confuse stairwells for urinals. While much of the town was partying only a block away, a team of five motivated Christians quietly pulled up and scrubbed the stairwells with bleach and lavender-fragranced cleaner. Within an hour, the stairwells smelt pleasant, which means the visiting Labor Day tourist would be spared a smelly surprise.

Radical Service Project #2: Offering Free Rides

By the time the cleaning team was done it was late, around 10pm, but the night of service was not over. Everybody went back to church, only to clean up for a second service project. You see, this Friday was the first Friday night the college students were back, which means the downtown, with it's ten or so bars, was the hot spot for well over a thousand people. As part of Welcome Week 2013, The Redemption Movement committed to be right in the middle of the party zone to help keep students safe and show them God's love by offering free rides.

It's an act of kindness we have done a few times before; in fact, we did it as recently as the previous night. Only tonight was different because we were teaming up with a student Christian group from SUNY Oneonta called BASIC (Brothers and Sisters In Christ). This is the second time The Redemption Movement and BASIC teamed up for Welcome Week as both groups helped move students into their dorms on the previous Sunday.

For this act of kindness, BASIC brought their 16 passenger van and we parked it directly in front of one of the most popular bars on Main Street, The Red Jug Pub--which coincidentally, uses the image of the devil as its logo. As students took us up on our offer for free rides, we got to explain that we were doing this as an act of kindness to show God's love and answer their questions about faith. It was also a great time of sharing God's grace and meeting new people as we stood outside the van with a sign that said "FREE RIDES."

One student from BASIC was able to relate to several of the students we gave rides to because she already knew them from class, and she would explain to them her passion for the Bible during the ride home. Several students tried to offer money for tips, and they where amazed when we told them, "Keep your money, this is free because God's love is freely given."

The most dramatic impact we made that night was with a young man who was so intoxicated that he could barely walk and talk. We convinced him to get into the car (the van broke down and we had to swap vehicles), and after driving a few blocks, it became obvious that he didn't know where he was or how to get home. After incoherently giving us his address he passed out. We called the Oneonta city police to assist us in getting him home, and they were able to wake him up and determine where he lived. The police then helped us find his apartment and we walked him to his door. The young man got home safe and he was left with information about our church and God's love for him.

Welcome Week 2013 was a success. We were too exhausted to go out for a third night of designated driving as planned, but all-in-all, we feel like we made quite the impact by completing 5/6 service projects in welcoming back the students and serving the community.

You are welcome to make an impact for God with us and participate in an act of kindness every Sunday at The Redemption Movement. See Friday's Facebook post for the upcoming AoK project. You are also welcome to come on Fridays and hear about the previous Sunday's AoK, along with teachings from the Bible geared towards anybody seeking truth, starting at 6pm at 148 River St., Oneonta, NY. Contact us if you want to know more, and if you do visit our church, be sure not to wear nice clothes because you never know what radical service project we might end up doing!

Welcome Week for SUNY Oneonta Students 2013!

The last week of August in Oneonta is busy as the town doubles in size with the return of college students. At the Redemption Movement, we love working with and ministering to students. We believe students are a valuable asset to our community and we want to honor them with a week of special service projects! 

Here's what we have planned for Welcome Week 2013:

• Sunday, August 24th: Help students move into their dorms.
• Thursday, August 29th: Invite students to BASIC's Kickoff Event, 7pm at LEE Hall.
• Thursday, August 29th: Offer free rides as designated drivers downtown.
• Friday, August 30th: Our weekly Gathering, 6pm at 148 River St., followed by a community service project.
• Friday, August 30th: Offer free rides as designated drivers downtown.
• Saturday, August 31st: Offer free rides as designated drivers downtown.
• Sunday, September 1st: A special Sunday Act of Kindness project, details TBA.

We believe college ministry is important for churches to support. Statistics show that 50-70% of students that go to church before college, stop going to church while attending college. The first week of college is important because students will be more open to making new connections than any other time of the year, and these connections will greatly influence their decision to include church as part of their college experience.

The Redemption Movement Partnering with BASIC

Connecting with college students is a big part of The Redemption Movement's heart. In fact, the two local colleges helped draw Pastors Kaler and Laura to Oneonta back in 2009. As a new church, we lack the resources to start and lead a Christian student group on campus. Therefore, we were excited to learn about a new Christian group at SUNY Oneonta called Brothers and Sisters in Christ (BASIC), and we are even more excited to partner with BASIC for Welcome Week 2013.

Kaler Carpenter from The Redemption Movement, and Ryan Alsheimer from BASIC Oneonta are all smiles in welcoming back the students.

On Sunday, August 24th, The Redemption Movement and a team from BASIC will be moving students into the dorms, and we will be passing out invites to BASIC's kick off event on Thursday, along with our kindness cards. On Friday, BASIC will also be participating in the Designated Driver outreach. We believe that having more designated drivers on the road will make the night safer for the entire community, and the more churches participating in a project like this will show more people God's love.

3 Nights of Designated Driving

On August 29-31st, we will be parking our vehicles in downtown Oneonta and offering students and members of the community free rides when the bars close. This is a successful outreach we have done in the past. We have found it to be a great way to show God's love and help keep the roads safe. Contact us for times and locations if you are interested in helping.

A Friday Evening Community Service Project

On Friday, August 30th, we will have our regularly scheduled Friday Evening Gathering at The Redemption Movement, except, instead of staying open late into the night, we will end the evening early and take a team downtown for a community service project. We will once again be deodorizing the stairwells at the downtown parking garage. In July, we cleaned out all three stairwells, and now, 2/3 are again in need of a good scrub down. We will also be trimming overgrown bushes off Water St. to help beautify the downtown. Any volunteers remaining after the cleaning will be welcome to participate in the following Designated Driving outreach. 

We will be trimming these overgrown bushes along Water St., and cleaning the stairwells in the parking garage.

Our reasoning behind doing a community service project in downtown Oneonta on a Friday evening is that it's a great way to show God's love, and a unique event to invite students to participate in. During the first week of college, every student group and organization is hosting some kind of big party or event to draw new students in. We don't have the resources or location to throw a big bash, but there is one thing our little church is good at: service. We feel that inviting students to serve the community alongside of us, will be a refreshing and unique invitation to receive in midst of the week's big events, and a great opportunity for the community to see students giving back.

Sunday Act of Kindness

Every Sunday The Redemption Movement does an act of kindness to show God's love. The next two Sundays will be no different, except these two Sundays will be geared towards welcoming back college students. On August 25th we will be helping students move into the dorms, and on September 1st we will have another student-oriented AoK project, details TBD. 

Serving the students and the community; we can think of no better way to welcome the students back to Oneonta. If you wish to participate in any of these activities, or if you want to learn more about our church, then reach out to us for more details!     

10 Ways We Help Connect People to God

The Redemption Movement is a God-centered church.  Movement for us means moving to, in, and for God by: Connecting People to God --> Discovering Purpose in God --> Impacting the World for God. Each step with Connect, Discover, and Impact, is taken directly from the Great Commission of Jesus Christ found in Matthew 28:18-20. Because we are a church that intentionally lives out Jesus' commission, we refer to ourselves as a church that's "on mission."

While every believer has the individual responsibility to "go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you;" we believe the most successful way to do Jesus' mission is by working together, side-by-side in the church, with everybody in the body dedicated to seeing the mission through.

Therefore, because the great commission is a corporate responsibility, we are very intentional about how we enact Jesus' plan. When it comes to Connecting People to God ("Go and make disciples"), we believe that the church should take every effort to make this connection easy and the love of God accessible--this is in contrast with some churches, intentionally or unintentionally, that do religious things to make connecting with God difficult, or even turn people away from God. 

The Redemption Movement pays attention to the objections unchurched people have with "going to church." We believe these grievances are serious because, ultimately, they keep people away from seeking a relationship with Jesus Christ. We are making strong efforts to address these objections and by presenting the Gospel in a culturally relevant way, which for us, means doing church differently. 

Here are 10 ways The Redemption Movement intentionally makes it easy for people to connect with God.

Seeker Sensitive

The Redemption Movement is sensitive to those who are not familiar with church, and are seeking truth and spirituality. We make room for questions, doubts, and provide a place where you can seek truth with others who are also looking for answers. We do our best to explain everything, cut out the "Christianese," while being open-minded and tolerant to those that believe differently than us. Ultimately, being seeker sensitive (which is different than seeker driven) means being authentic with everything we do.
If we make efforts to be sensitive to the beliefs and needs of people unfamiliar with church, Christian culture, or God, it will make it easier for people to connect with God.

Relational

Church should reflect the reality of the family of God where believers are brothers and sisters in Christ and God is our Father. This means church should be a place that's warm, welcoming, and easy to make caring friendships. We believe positive change happens through authentic relationships, and we want the relationships in our church to be more powerful than the cultural divisions that divide people everywhere else--differences like class, politics, age, faith backgrounds, etc.
A church that is more than a social club of like-minded people, but instead, reflects the diversity of the city, will stand as a testimony of the unifying power of the Gospel and make it easier for people to connect with God.

Casual Church

We don't want to be so focused on our image, looking good, and even being 'overly-professional,' that people who are unprofessional, or not hot, will feel judged or left out. It's easy for outsiders to feel this way when visiting a church that's overly-professional or too traditional. The Redemption Movement is a church that's casual in dress, casual in preaching, and casual in ministry. We are a church where the old adage “come as you are” applies.
If we create a church environment that's comfortable, enjoyable, simple, and free of judgment, it will make it easier for people to connect with God.

Open-to-Close Gatherings

Our weekly public gatherings on Fridays have been overhauled to make church more convenient. We meet on Fridays to give people a different time during the week to meet that may work better than Sunday morning, and we hold our meetings with an open-to-close format where you can come and go as you please, instead of a start-to-finish church service where you can be late. Our Friday evening gatherings can be hard to describe because it's different and the flow of the night varies week-to-week. You can think of it kind of like a hybrid between a church service, a coffee shop, and a living room.
You are welcome to check out Fridays at The Redemption Movement yourself and tell us what you think. To help make it easy for you to join us, we open our doors at 6pm and lock up the Ol' Storefront late into the night.

No Pressure Ministry

When a church tries to make a spiritual experience happen, the methods can be interpreted as negative religious pressure from a visiting seeker. It can be easy to view the preacher as using manipulative tactics to "push God," which will actually push new people away from God. At The Redemption Movement, we value spiritual experiences, and we want to make room for them at our church, but we desire authentic encounters with God, not forced religious motions. The Bible teaches that The Holy Spirit is the evangelist and the initiator of salvation, not us and our methods of persuasion.
By leaving the spiritual experiences to the Holy Spirit, people will have authentic connections with God that will produce spiritual fruit of better quality and make us a stronger church, and make it easier for people to connect with God.

Experimental Ministry

We want to keep it fresh. Routine leads to religion and boredom, which keep people from connecting to God. At the heart of experimental ministry is the idea that it's good to be challenged, because it produces growth; and by challenging people to rethink their routines and boundaries, God will be found to be bigger than previously thought.
Trying new ideas because people and culture are always changing, will improve how we connect with new people, and helps new people connect to God.

Technology

Technology is a wonderful tool. By taking advantage of it we can maximize our effectiveness in communicating our message and connect people to the life of the church. We are trying to connect to a generation raised on technology, so much so that it has become their second language.
We must learn to speak this second language and use technology to help people connect to God.

No Politics

We are not going to try to “take America back for Christ,” or give political commentary that will influence elections. In America today, political issues are divided with 50/50 support; therefore, if a church takes a side, then its effectiveness in reaching people is cut in half. A church full of people who have different political views will be a testimony of the unity of the church. Jesus' stance on politics was "Render unto Ceaser what is Ceaser's, and to God what is God's." This means prioritizing the Kingdom of God above all others. People are passionate about politics because they believe it can bring change, but we believe God meant the church to be the agent of change people need, and this change happens with the power of the Gospel transforming lives.
If we make separate the churches mission from the politics of the day, it will make it easier for people to connect with God.

Community Outreach

In many social circles, Christians are ridiculed and not taken seriously. The church has to prove itself before people will listen because actions speak louder than words. Doing regular community outreaches means less time warming a pew, and more time ministering to people where they are at. From a theological standpoint, the idea of outreach is tied to redemption with God reaching out to lost and hurting people who are in need, with the love of His Son Jesus Christ.
If we outreach and serve those in our community, it will make it easier for people to connect with the servant God, Jesus Christ.

Love

Everything the church does must be done in love. Love for each other and love for those who are different than us. "If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing" (1 Corinthians 13:2). Translation: if we do church out of any other motivation then loving people, then our church will be nothing.
The best thing you can do to help connect people to God, is show them love.

We call these our "10 Connection Intentions." We have discovered that these 10 connections gives our church a unique feel that helps us effectively live out Jesus' mission by making it easy for people in our post-modern culture to connect with God.

Click Here to Watch a Short Video of What these 10 Connection Intentions Looks like in Action!

These 10 Connection Intentions are important to how The Redemption Movement "does church," but because they are designed with the changing needs of our changing culture in mind, they are subject to change in favor of better ways that will help people better connect with God. What doesn't change is the Gospel message, the mission of Jesus, and the 7 values the Redemption Movement is founded upon.

Doing One Act of Kindness Every Week!

By Laura Carpenter

In April, we started a weekly Acts of Kindness ministry where we do one church-wide AoK every Sunday. On Sunday mornings, we gather together with a team and venture out into our community, wanting bless the people of Oneonta, NY with God's love. Faithful helpers have been joining us every week, which has been a great source of encouragement, and helped us to reach many more people than if it were just Kaler and I. Here is a kindness report of all the different AoKs we have accomplished in the past 3 months.

Cold Drink Giveaway

This has been a frequently used Aok because it works so well. Passing out cold drinks on a hot summer day is a great way for us to reach 30 to 100 people in just a few short hours. For this project, we made a "Kindness Cart," which is basically a cooler and a whiteboard bungee corded to a dolly. We simply load up our cooler with ice and beverages and then hit the streets of downtown Oneonta, the parks, and even the summer festivals, with a big sign strapped to the cart that says “Free Cold Drinks.” Many people stop us to take us up on our offer, and if they don't see us, then we roll over to them and ask them, "Would you like a free cold drink?"

Hotdog Sack Lunch Giveaway

This is a repeat project from our 30 Days of Kindness Campaign. We cook dozens of hot dogs, pack them up in a bag with chips and a soda, and find businesses with hungry employees. For our most recent hot dog giveaway, we called The Hampton Inn on River Street and asked if their employees would like a free lunch. We told them we had 25 lunches to give away, and they just happened to have 25 hungry employees on staff that were taking a lunch break within the hour. The management was surprised and grateful, and a few days later they walked down the street and personally thanked us.

Funnel Cake Giveaway

This giveaway is a classic Redemption Movement AoK. Passing out funnel cakes always proves to be a crowd pleaser. We've discovered a great park near downtown where there is a lot of foot traffic. People of all ages stop in for a cake and a chat. The last time we passed out funnel cakes we met several families of high school graduates that were visiting the college and the town, trying to select the right college for their kids. We made sure to talk up our town and helped persuade them to pick Oneonta with delicious funnel cake.

During a second funnel cake giveaway, we made free funnel cakes for people who attended a Sunday afternoon rock show that we hosted. Band members and concert goers alike enjoyed having some delicious funnel cake to munch on while listening to some great live music.

Mowing Lawns

An Oneonta elderly couple and a landlord who were crunched for time both appreciated free lawn care. We mowed, trimmed, cut down wild saplings, and collected downed limbs by the curb. A great way to beatify our community and help others.

Scrubbing Stairwells

The Oneonta downtown parking garage has three stories with three separate stairwells. Despite the cities best efforts, these well-traveled stairwells are easily soiled by pigeons, and individuals who confuse the stairwells as a public restroom.With the Oneonta's big 4^th of July celebration taking place in a only a few days, we thought it would be a great time to deodorize the stairwells. We bought some lilac cleaner, bleach, and brushes, and The Black Oak Tavern hooked us up with buckets of water.

With everything in order, we spent a few hours showing Oneonta God's love by scrubbing the stairs, the walls, and replacing the foul smells with pleasant fragrances. This AoK was noticed by a city representative. Moved by our service, he invited us to an Oneonta city council meeting and formally introduced us to Oneonta's civic leaders. The city council was very appreciative, and went on record to ask us, "Are you the couple from the YouTube video?"

Baked Goods Delivery

For both Mother's Day and Father's Day, we delivered homemade cookies and brownies to Moms and Dads in the hospital, to both the sick and the staff. It felt really good to bless those who had to be away from home on these special days. On Father's Day, we didn't quite get rid of all of the goodies at the hospital, so we stopped in at a few bars, a tattoo parlor, and the Oneonta police station and found some fathers that appreciated the food.

Picnic in the Park

This was a fun and relaxing AoK. Friends met us in Neahwa park and we grilled hot dogs, played music and horse shoes, and welcomed passersbyers to join us for some free food. A group of skaters from the nearby skatepark, and a boy with his caretaker stopped by to join us. It was a pleasure to meet them and to share God's love.

It's been a joy to meet so many people doing this ministry. By doing one act of kindness every week, we are starting to see several new people visit our church during our Friday Night Gatherings. As we go out and giveaway food or perform a service project, we are beginning to run into people that we have blessed from a previous act of kindness project, and more people are hearing about our church from this context of community service. We have found this to be a much more powerful and effective way to tell others about the church than by dumping money into traditional marketing.

Doing act of kindness as a weekly ministry adds up. By reaching 10-100 people every Sunday, at a time when most Christians are in church, we are able to meet and share God's love with many people who are in need of a warm smile and a blessing. It's difficult to say how many people we have reached in 3 months, one evidence that we can look at is a box of kindess cards that we bought was depleted within 2 months, and we are seeing our church grow.

If you want to join us for an Act of Kindness Sunday, then check out Friday's post on our Facebook page. This is where you can find details for the next AoK project, or contact us for more information.