3 Run-Ins Our Church Had with the Law

By Kaler Carpenter

Doing church outreach doesn't have to be boring. Faith is an adventure, and sometimes living out your faith means getting questioned by the police at 1AM with a car full of intoxicated bar patrons. This was what happened to me on a cold night in January when doing an act of kindness in Oneonta, NY, and this wasn't the first time my ministry efforts have been stopped by the Five-O. Being questioned by the police really isn't a big deal to me, from my perspective, it's a blessing because I have a very captive audience to share God's love with--which is exactly what I pray for.

When being questioned by the authorities, I think the testing of one's faith isn't in the questions from the police, but the test is in how we respond to the questioning. Doing the work of church planting, I've had three run-ins with the law and they have each turned out well. I attribute this to my faith, which instructs me to be cooperative with the enforcers of the law, and to even to show them honor (1Peter 2:13-14). In each situation, if I had gone with my gut and argued about fairness and fought the law, I am pretty sure that the law would have won.  

For Taking People Home Without a Taxi License

Back to that eventful and cold January night. The outreach was a free designated driving service. This is one of my favorite acts of kindnesses to do because we get to meet so many people, and at the end of the night I feel good knowing that I helped keep the roads safe. It's always a positive experience, even though it might sound a little dangerous (the God of the Bible is good, but not safe).

The way we do this AoK is to have two people go out during a busy bar night, usually it is myself and another volunteer from the church, and we use my personal car. We'll go out to downtown around sometime before midnight, and we'll park the car along Main Street, typically in front of a busy bar or pizza joint. We'll then hang out in front of the car with a chalkboard sign that reads "The Redemption Movement, Act of Kindness, FREE RIDE, Don't Drink & Drive." People will then approach us for a ride and we'll take them where they need to go for free. And when we're not driving people home, we're hanging out and meeting new people on the sidewalk.

Partnering with BASIC

This is an overwhelmingly positive ministry to do. Each time we go out, we get 10-to-30+ people home safe, and we get to meet more people just from hanging out. Many people will walk by and give us high fives. Sometimes strangers will give us money or pizza, and we have even gotten to pray with several hurting people. We do this ministry sporadically, and we have done it for almost one year without incident, with our first time being last St. Patrick's Day. On one occasion, we even partnered with another local church group and used their 16-passenger van, and we have aspirations of partnering with more local churches for this ministry in the future.

So what's the problem? On the night in question, we stepped up our efforts and added a new magnetic sign to the car that read "FREE TAXI." Which worked out spectacularly, as evidenced by people flagging us down for rides. However, it turns out that the City of Oneonta has ordinances in place about Taxi services, so the police pulled us over that night.

We were only one block away from our passenger's home, so they were allowed to exit the car and walk the rest of the way. We explained to the officer who we were and what we were doing. He informed us that he pulled us over because we didn't have a taxi license to do what we were doing. I explained to him that I didn't know I needed a taxi license to perform a free service, and instead of arguing with him about it, I trusted the teachings of scripture and I made efforts to be extra cooperative.

The officer told us to not continue the designated driving outreach until we made arrangements first with City Hall. He let us finish out the night, but his verdict meant that I had to cancel my plans to go out and do it again the next night.

The following week I contacted City Hall about the issue. Instead of making things difficult for us by having us apply for a taxi license, or instead of turning the issue into a city council public debate, the city quickly got an attorney involved who determined that the taxi ordinance only applied to services that charge money. City Hall then notified the police department about this, and the OPD informed their night officers about the law and even offered their protection and support to us for whenever we go out and do it again. We couldn't have asked for a better outcome, all because we were cooperative and honored the authorities God placed in our lives.          

For a Noise Complaint

The taxi license incident wasn't our first run-in with the police, nor was it our first dealings with city hall due to the police. In October, our church hosted a rock show that drew a noise complaint.

Hosting rock shows isn't something that a traditional church does, but it's an activity that a new church has the freedom to. We host rock shows as a way to connect with our community and to make a positive impact with our culture (RM value #6). Plus, they're just plain fun! Doing events like rock shows is also a great way to communicate that the church is people, not a building, and therefore, we have no qualms using our space for community events like shows. And it turns out that there's a need for an all-ages DIY venue in Oneonta that will give up-and-coming local bands a chance to play.

The rock shows were never part of our original church plan. In the Spring of 2012 we did our first show as part of a community block party, and by the time October 2013 rolled around, we had 12 shows under our belt. In DIY punk rock fashion, I didn't feel the need to check with the city about hosting shows. We have a newly remodeled building that's up to code, and we had the space approved for church use. I just assumed that playing music would fall under "church use."  And out of respect for our neighbors, we make it a point to stop playing loud music by 9PM.

In October, we hosted our first hardcore show, which is a louder kind of music than what we have had in the past. And out of the twelve shows we've previously done, this show happened to be our best attended and drew a rough looking crowd that wore black and had tattoos and piercings--a new cultural dynamic for our quiet neighborhood (with the exception of the Beer Barrel Inn just a few blocks away). I was not surprised when the cops were called on us that night, I'll be the first to admit that it was loud.

The reaction of the two officers responding to the noise complaint was priceless. They stood outside of the building and observed everything through our big glass windows and they seemed thrilled that the crowd was under control and no one was drinking. The police were cool enough to let the band finish their set, and I took talked to them about how we could do shows in the future so that we can avoid noise complaints.    

They told me that we needed to run these shows by city hall by obtaining an amplified noise permit. The next week, I visited the office of the City Clerk and asked about the required permit. It turns out that the permits cost $50 each, and would need to be submitted for each show that we do. This information was disheartening because it would mean an end to the shows. But I've got the stubborn faith of a church planter and a cooperative attitude, and I knew that this combination would bring about a reasonable resolution.

For the next few months, I worked with the city clerk and submitted a permit for each show and I even found a loophole that waived the $50 fee for nonprofit events. In the end, the city lawyer was consulted and it turned out that we didn't need an amplified noise permit for an indoor event. Plus, the city seemed impressed that, in response to the noise complaint, I took sound-cancellation precautions by temporarily boarding up the windows for each show with 5/8 sheetrock layered with foam mattresses--a homemade solution that cost me $100.

Since adding the soundproofing window covers, we've not had another noise complaint, and the city is totally okay with our church using the space to host rock music. This is another perfect solution brought to you by working with the authorities instead of trying to fight them, which makes me think that the Bible is on to something ;)      

For Being Just Plain Suspicious 

The first run-in I had with the law was actually fairly comical and didn't turn into a big deal that required the services of the city attorney. Back in March, I was in the middle of our 30 Days of Kindness campaign, and one of the acts of kindnesses had me go door-to-door offering homeowners free batteries as a way to show them God's love. I've already blogged about this outreach, you can read about it here.

Here's an excerpt from the battery blog telling of my run-in that I had with police while giving away free batteries:

I had a police officer stop me because of a complaint. Seriously. Knowing the ridiculousness of the situation, I answered every one of the officer’s questions with a big smile on my face, I even offered him some batteries. I was more than happy to tell him about everything that I was doing and how much God cares for him, at least someone was willing to listen to me.
After the officer processed my identification and everything checked out, he then reported to the dispatcher in his walkie-talkie, “It’s just a guy spreading happiness and kindness, over.” He let me go and I went on my way.

Living out your faith can be adventurous and even fun, and when you do outreach to your community in ways that nobody has done before, you're going to encounter people that won't initially understand what you're doing and their reaction will be to call the police. But if you're doing the right thing and serving the community with the best intentions, then the police and the authorities will be on your side and will want to work with you. There's no need to fight with the police, complain about them being unfair, and turning a complaint into a crusade against authority. Because when it comes down to it, both the church and the police share the same mission of serving and helping their local community, and I believe a big impact for good can be made when the two groups work together.

The faith the Bible presents is one of submission to our authorities. The presumption to this civic command is that a believer has already fully submitted themselves to God, and therefore, trusting and cooperating with the authorities is a faith exercise in trusting God, who is ultimately responsible for placing the authorities in our lives. From the experiences that I have just shared, I can say that trusting God by cooperating with the authorities instead of fighting with them produces much better results.

At The Redemption Movement, we will continue to pray for the safety of the brave men and women of the Oneonta Police Department and we appreciate their service to our community.