We Know How to Party!

The block party for the 6th Ward neighborhood in Oneonta NY was a success!

A big thank you goes out to everyone who volunteered their time to help set up and those who donated money, supplies, and food. We also want to thank the two rock bands, Atlas Arrows and Lightning Killed My Parents, for breakin' in the old storefront with some quality rock-n-roll. And let us not forget Laura Carpenter who made her musical debut as a solo artist.

All-in-all, there were over 70 people in attendance, and everybody seemed to really enjoy themselves. People in the community now know more about our little church and what we are about, whereas previously we might have only been known as, "I think somebody  is turning that old building into a church."  It was also nice to see neighbors coming together and building friendships, in this way the block party truly is a classic picture of community.

Prayer also played a big part with the success of the party. The power of prayer was most obviously seen with the weather. It was forecasted  to rain all day, and it did. It was also raining the previous day as well--when we went door-to-door to pass out invitations. And sure enough, 2 hours before the party was scheduled to start the storm passed and the weather cleared, just in time to set up a dry bounce house, and it remained
dry and even sunny throughout the entire party.

The party is also encouraging for us in that it forced us to work hard on certain projects needed to be done in order to host such an event, i.e., install a sink and toilet, lights, outlets, and a bathroom door. We are by no means done with our building project, but we are excited to finally be at a point were we can host more events like this for the community. With that said I encourage you to keep checking the blog for more updates on what we have planned next for The Redemption Movement, and please feel free to contact us if you want to be a part of our next event!

We Are Having Ourselves a Block Party!

Event: 6th Ward Block Party
Date: Tues., May 15
Address: The Redemption Movement, 148 River St., Oneonta, NY
Time: 3-7pm, (bands begin at 5pm)
Admission: Free, all ages.
Description: The Redemption Movement would like to introduce ourselves to our Oneonta neighborhood, the 6th ward, by hosting a family-friendly block party!
Parking: Gilbert Street (walking and carpooling is highly encouraged), After 5:15pm additional parking will also be available at Oneonta Christian Community School.
Activities: Live music, chili cook off, more food, bounce house, games and more! (Bring your own chair is you want to sit)
Live Bands:

Lightning Killed My Parents

The Redemption Movement is pleased to welcome Lightning Killed My Parents for their first show in Oneonta! LKMP is "a 9 piece ska/rock band from Fredonia, NY. Formed in late 2010, this band is based on three concepts: having fun, playing music, and producing enough energy to make the crowd pass out from sheer excitement."

Atlas Arrows

Also showing up for the party is the indie rock/alternative band Atlas Arrows! Hailing from the booming suburbs of Binghamton NY, Atlas Arrows began in the Fall of 2011 and includes former members of local indie band Where's Ulysses. In January of 2012 they released two songs now available for free download, and they are looking forward to touring and sharing their music with you.

Purpose: We want to be a blessing to Oneonta! Our heart is to be a church for the community, this means we value using our resources to bring people together, thus making our community stronger. A block party is intended to be a fun event where neighbors can come together and fellowship with each other. And in today's digital age, where it is easy to have hundreds of facebook "friends" without even knowing one's physical neighbors, we are excited to provide an event that creates an opportunity for neighbors to be introduced to each other for maybe even the first time. And in this spirit of friendly introductions, we at The Redemption Movement would like to introduce ourselves to our neighbors! We have been making plans and improving this old storefront of ours since 2009, and we now feel that we are finally in a position to open the doors to our work-in-progress and introduce ourselves to the community we love. This party is by no means our official launch (we are planning to launch Easter 2013); in fact, our facilities are still under construction--so please look past our mess, but the desire to host an event that blesses our community is so strong that we simply cannot wait until 2013! So construction messes and sound system glitches be darned, we are throwing ourselves a block party!

Update: The party was a success!