"The Nicest Thing Ever Done for Me" --Receiving a Free Ride

One of my favorite church outreaches is providing Oneonta's downtown partygoers with free rides home. Almost every time we do it, I receive the same compliment from at least one person, "This is the nicest thing that anyone's ever done for me." Hearing this always strikes me as odd because I think to myself, "Really? You must be exaggerating, it's just a free ride home." But the more I think about it, the more I see that these rides are more than taking people home; they're about treating people with dignity.

Granted, I'm aware that an inebriated person has a tendency to make grandiose statements such as this, but when I hear this same grandiose statement over and over again, I begin to take it seriously and analyze the reasoning behind the compliment.

A Brief Lesson About Human Dignity 

To begin, let's look at the concept of human dignity. A simple definition of the word tells us that dignity is: The state or quality of being worthy of honor or respect. From a societal perspective, a person treated with dignity is dependent upon earning such honor and respect via their achievements or behavior. This is why foolish actions are seen as behavior that's undignified.

Now let's add to this definition Christianity's take on human dignity, which teaches that every single person is worthy of respect and honor and should be treated with dignity, even people that we may feel do not deserve it, like those guilty of foolish behavior and even our enemies. This stems from a fundamental teaching of Christian theology that says every person is created in the image of God, and therefore, every person should be treated as one would treat God--with honor and respect.

This idea of human dignity originating from God's image is what motivates Christan social work, and it's deeply tied to the mission of The Redemption Movement: "To restore lost and hurting people who are valued by God." This is why our church does so much community outreach, like the designated driving ministry.

Showing Dignity In a Very Undignified Society

Now, when we look at human dignity in light of our capitalistic society, it becomes obvious that an institution treating a person solely as a resource, commodity, or means to a financial end, strips the person of their God-given dignity by telling them, "You only have worth if I can profit from you." Any consumer-driven institution, business, or organization is guilty of this to some degree, and sadly, a church that's obsessed with results-oriented programs and professionalism can easily get off message and fall into this trap of only respecting and showing honor to those who can further their goals.

This lack of dignity is especially prevalent in a capitalistic society like America. I think this explains how it's possible for an upstate NY college student to be absolutely blown away by a simple act of kindness. We treat them with the honor and respect deserving of a holy God, despite the fact that they may perpetuate less-than-honorable behavior. It may actually be the case that no one has ever treated them in a truly dignified manner before.

What makes an act of kindness like a free ride extra powerful is the fact that we're showing unmerited favor to people participating in an environment where dignity is difficult, if not impossible to come by--the alcohol-fueled party scene.

Okay, before I expound further on this and critique the party scene and the behavior it celebrates, I feel like I should first mention that when we offer free rides to partygoers, we're totally nonjudemental about it. We'll give a ride and show respect and honor to anyone, no matter how inebriated they are, even if they're being a jerk to us about the whole God thing. Again, this goes back to human dignity originating from God's image instead of one's behavior.

Why You Won't Find the Respect You Deserve At a Party

That being said, here are just a few ways that the bar-hopping party scene lacks dignity (generalizations are obviously being made):

• Bars, restaurants, and cabs treat people as customers to profit from. There's nothing wrong with making a living, but there's something shallow about a relationship based off a transaction.
• Getting drunk shows a lack of respect to one's own body and personhood. From the standpoint of behavior-based dignity, there's nothing dignified about poisoning your body and putting yourself at risk by clouding your judgement. And the whole "your body is a temple thing," that's about God's spirit dwelling inside a person, and this temple idea goes back to finding dignity from being made in God's image. The drunkenness I've seen firsthand from  people downtown I've tried to comfort who have vomited and urinated on themselves isn't funny, it's sad.  
• Drinking buddies only stick around if there's booze, and they're quick to drop you if they meet someone better. I've seen this countless times when giving rides to partygoers feeling jilted after their friends left them behind, causing some serious drama. This is not a new problem; in Jesus' parable of the prodigal son, he tells of the younger brother character who left home with a ton of money and spent it on "wild-living." As soon as he ran out of money, his "friends" were nowhere to be found.
• In the hookup culture, people are treated like sexual objects that are disposable, instead of being fully honored by a committed mate. Participants of casual sex act like nothing is wrong about it. They're proud of their sexual conquests, claiming that it's part of their sexual identity. I believe that, eventually, the pain and heartbreak that accompanies a lifestyle of being used and abused by multiple partners will break through, causing one to long for a partner that shows them dignity by fully respecting them for who they are, instead of only for what their body can offer. 
• Many students feel like the entire community of Oneonta sees them only as a way to make money. As I drive students home and insist that the ride is free, many are blown away by the gesture because they feel like the city and its residents are trying to squeeze them for every nickel they have. Oneonta's young adults are hungry for a community where they feel valued and accepted for who they are, not for how much money they can cough up.

Would You Like a Free Ride Home? 

Now put yourself in the middle of this nightlife environment: You're with your flaky friends going from bar to bar being pressured to buy drinks. You've been hit on by some scummy people and you're feeling sick from drinking too much. Meanwhile, half your friends ditched you and you're considering going home with a stranger. All the while, you're frustrated that you're still living in this small town because you feel like nobody here appreciates the skills and passions you have to offer.

At 2AM, you step outside the bar and see an odd sight: Two guys wearing matching blazers holding a sign that reads "Act of Kindness, FREE RIDE, Don't Drink & Drive."

"What is this? No way. This can't be free. Nothing is free. Who would do such a thing? Why? What's the catch?"

Curiosity gets the best of you and you approach the duo standing in front of the clean blue car with a handmade "Free Ride" sign on the door and tap light on the roof. You ask them twenty questions and they assure you that's it's really free and that they're just trying to help people. You're on the fence about it until a random student walks by, high fives the guy holding the sign, and then emphatically tells you, "This guy is legit, he gave me a ride last week!" (This happens quite a bit)

You cautiously get in the backseat of the car with your cell phone at the ready, just in case. The driver says "Where to?" You tell him, he replies, "Not a problem," and pulls onto Main Street. That's when you spot a sign in the car pointing to a backseat pocket stocked full of free bottled water. You're thirsty, so ask if it's okay to have one. You're told to help yourself and you do, after making sure that the seal isn't broken.

As the ride continues, you learn that the driver is the pastor of a local church, this is his personal car, and he and his friend are volunteering their time to "show people God's love." On top of that, the driver won't stop asking you questions about yourself, "Where are you from?" "What's your major?" "What are your plans for after you graduate?" "What do you think about Oneonta?" It's like the guy genuinely cares about you, and it's obviously not in a sexual way or anything like that because he won't shut up about his family.

You think to yourself, "What's going on here? Why's he being so nice? Does he actually care about me? Why is he being so respectful of me when he doesn't even know me? Isn't he a religious person? Shouldn't he hate me for being such a 'bad person' according to all of his stupid religious rules?"

This is all too much so you offer to pay him. He refuses. You flash a dollar bill and insist, but he turns your money down a second time and goes on a bit more about God's love and insists that the ride is free "because God's love is free."

Then it hits you. It's such an epiphany that you can't help but speak it aloud, "Wow, this is the nicest thing that anyone has ever done for me."

A few miles later, you're dropped off at your home safe and sound. You thank the two gentlemen for the ride and walk to your front door with a water bottle in hand, along with what he calls a "kindness card." What a unique experience that was. You're not even bothered by all the drama of the night because it all seems rather silly in light of this act of kindness.

Showing Diginity Changes Hearts

I see this story all the time. It shows the power of a small act of kindness and how treating a person with love, respect, honor, and dignity can cause them to reevaluate what kindness really looks like in the midst of a cynical culture that just doesn't seem to care.

Our church does this outreach for the good people of downtown Onenta as often as we can. We're closing in on 500 free rides given at the time of this writing. Check out our designated driving page to read a report about every one of our DD outings, and join the Oneonta Designated Driving Crew on Facebook to help serve the community with free rides.

-Kaler      

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.

Welcome to Our Church

We are often asked, "What type of of church is The Redemption Movement?" Or, "What makes your church different?" Here is a short video that does a great job answering these questions. 

God's Radical and Unconditional Love

At our church, we believe God's love is for everybody. It is His love that changes us and draws people unto Him. God's love is powerful and can piece back together those who are broken, heal the sick, and give life meaning.

The Redemption Movement is a participation in the Divine movement, composed to restore lost and hurting people who are valued by God, with the hope and freedom paid for and found in Jesus Christ.

And it is through the church, through His people, how God has chosen to show his love to all people.

We believe that Jesus is God and the Bible is the Word of God.

While our methods may be different, experimental, and new, our message is in line with the ancient scriptures and we believe, teach, and live out the Gospel of Jesus Christ. At the core of our beliefs is a conviction that Jesus is God, and that he lived a perfect life that was willed by God to end on a cross, dying for the sins of mankind. But Jesus' story does not end on the cross, for He gloriously rose from the grave, established His church, and now rules and reigns at God's right hand.

Converting vs. Inviting

While we do believe that salvation is available to those who repent and believe, we are not going to pressure people to convert. We will love people, invite them to know the Savior that we personally know, and let God's Holy Spirit do the work of changing lives (not us and our methodologies). 

Connecting People to God. Moving people from wherever they might be on their spiritual journey, to a relationship with God.

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

Our Dreams, Passions, and Desires are for God's Glory

Discovering Purpose in God. Moving people into an adventure of discovery within a community of believers. Where God's purpose is discovered through participation in discipleship, worship, giving, evangelism and prayer.
Impacting the World for God. Moving people from a self-centered lifestyle and into a new self-sacrificial life in order to impact a broken world with the Gospel.

The Gospel is Safe Yet Dangerous 

While God's love does change us for the better, living in obedience to God is not without pain and suffering. Yet it is the love of God that gives meaning to our suffering and gives us the strength to make it through. 

Good Friday 2013 Public Launch Planned for The Redemption Movement!

We are happy to announce that we are on track for a Good Friday public launch for March 29, 2013! This will also be day number 30 of our 30 Days of Kindness project. Good Friday will be huge day for The Redemption Movement because it will mark the beginning of a weekly Friday night ministry for our Oneonta community. Up until this point, we have been active with an Acts of Kindness ministry, and discipled a small group of people with a home Bible study, but we have always lacked an entry point to our church where people from the public can plan a visit around. Starting March 29, you will be able to visit The Redemption Movement any Friday night in our remodeled storefront at 148 River St., Oneonta, N.Y.

A Friday evening is an unconventional time to launch a church service, but as a new church, we have the freedom to be unconventional in order to better connect with our culture. To help you know what to expect on a Friday visit to The Redemption Movement, we are going to answer a few frequently asked questions.

Isn't church supposed to be on a Sunday? Why is the RM launching on a Friday?

Church can be any day. The early church actually met every day, and even met in each other's homes. Sunday is an important day in the tradition of the church, but it is not the only day church is allowed to meet. We would also like to point at that Sunday morning services are a part of our long term plan; we hoping that a Friday ministry will build a solid group of people who can lead quality Sunday morning church services in the future.
As a new church, we have a strong focus on inviting new people to church. People who are attending a church on Sunday morning, already belong to a community of believers; and as a new church, we do not want to break up existing faith communities by "stealing" people away from other local churches. We have also noticed that it is difficult to invite people who are not in the habit of attending church, to come to a Sunday morning church service. We have also noticed that most people in our culture have Friday evenings off, and they are open to trying new activities while "going out," especially in a small town.

What will Friday evenings at The Redemption Movement look like? 

Our Friday evening ministry is an exciting attempt to try a new format of ministry designed to maximize all five ministries that we see the early church doing (unconventionally) in Acts 2:42-47. These five ministries include Worship, Prayer, Fellowship, Discipleship, and Evangelism.
Our Friday night ministry can be described as a coffee shop/living room/church service hybrid. We are trying to make church a full and rich experience where you come and connect with people and God, instead of simply watching a performance.

Click Here to Watch a Short Video About What Kind of Church We Are

What time does it start?

Tentatively, we are looking at starting at 6pm. Unlike a traditional church service, there will not be a start time and a stop time, instead there will be an open and close time, and we will close late into the night. This approach will give you the freedom to come and go at your convenience, stay for 30 minutes or even stay for 5 hours if you like. You can now plan on attending church around your previously made Friday commitments, and never again be late to church!

Do I have to participate? 

You will not be forced to sing or pray or do anything that you are uncomfortable with. You can even hang out in the lobby and eat snacks and play games all night, the choice is up to you. On the other hand, there is also room to participate in everything, to be prayed for and pray for others, to participate in group discussions, and worship for an extended period of time.
We want people's experiences to be authentic, and although we do no pressure people to participate, we do encourage it. This is because the Friday night model is an attempt to break away from the church service model where you attend, sit and consume preaching and music and then go home without being challenged. Friday nights at The Redemption Movement will provide people lots of opportunities to participate and even ask tough questions to help people grow in their faith.  

Do I need to dress up?

Come as you are. The staff will be wearing jeans and you can wear what you want to. We want to make it possible to visit us after work on Friday, without having to go home get "all prettied up."

Will I be preached at?

Instead of a preacher talking at you for 45 minutes, there will be 3 sessions where a Pastor will teach for 15-20 minutes each. After each teaching session, there will be a time set aside for group discussion, prayer, worship, or anything else that may be appropriate based on the theme of the night. Between these sessions we will take breaks to encourage fellowship and build relationships. Get to know everybody over a cup of coffee, snacks, or even make a friend while playing a board game.
As a Bible based church, the topic will always be teachings from the Bible, applied practically to your life. The teaching style of the Pastor will be casual, similar to a college lecture, and will often incorporate illustrations with both props and media.    

What kind of music will there be?

There will be a variety of music. Before each teaching session, we will play a few songs with the words on a screen for you to follow along with. Many of the songs will be modern, but we are also very open to trying out different styles and different genres of music. In fact, some nights we will try out different art-forms to worship with besides music. Looking at creation, we know God enjoys variety. 

Will you be asking me for money?

We will not pass a collection plate with an Usher watching over you. But we will have a giving box where you can drop off a donation. We may talk about money from time-to-time during the lessons, but it is not our intention to manipulate people into giving.

What about Communion (Lord's supper/Eucharist)? 

We will be offering communion most Friday nights. Typically, it will be sometime during the second half of the night. Anybody who considers themselves a follower of Christ is free to take Communion with us. Instructions will be provided during the Lord's Supper, and we will be serving grape juice with bread. 

What about children?

We will have educational activities provided for kids. If a child is mature enough to participate, then we encourage them to learn and worship alongside their parents.
  
Good Friday 2013 is a very appropriate day for The Redemption Movement to begin public ministry, this is because we are a Gospel-centered church, and everything we do is because of the redeeming work of Jesus Christ sacrificing himself on the cross. This will be the topic of our grand opening, as well as the topic every time we meet.

Seasons of Ministry, Spring & Summer 2012 Recap

The pace of this Oneonta mission seems to be like waves of activity that change with the seasons.

• In the spring of 2012 we had a big push with our outreach ministry: doing funnel cake giveaways, throwing a neighborhood block party, and hosting a free rock show.
•  Summer and fall of 2012 we shifted gears and focused on the remodeling of our building, working mostly on the ceiling: new lights, new insulation, and stabilizing the structure. 
• During these seasons, we also cleared some major administrative hurdles, electing a board of officers and filing 501c3 paperwork for the IRS in order to achieve nonprofit status with the Federal Government.

We have found one of the challenges of church planting as tent-makers (ministers who support themselves with an outside job) is that it forces us to pick one ministry to focus on per season. This means it is hard to accomplish ministries like outreach, worship services, administrative duties, dynamic Bible studies, and remodeling work all at the same time. Ministering part time forces you to pick one area, give it lots of love and attention, and then move on to the next area that has the biggest need.

This fall and winter we plan to get back into doing more community outreach ministry (this is really where our hearts are at), but there is still a lot of work on the building yet to do. We have plans to launch for Good Friday 2013, hopefully as the building becomes more ready for people, it will become easier to find time to ramp up outreach efforts and promotional activities for the 2013 launch.

         

Kindness Act 1

Last Sunday, with toilet brushes in hand, Laura and I kicked off the church's acts of kindness ministry. The idea behind this is to share God's love to our community by having small teams of people go out and serve others by meeting their practical needs. Serving in this capacity has the potential for an almost limitless amount of ministry endeavors based on the amount of needs within a community. The first need Laura and I took on was a glamorous one: cleaning public restrooms.

Showing up at a business with a cleaning bucket in hand and asking permission to clean the bathrooms, “because we want to show you God's love,” takes a bit of boldness and a lot of humility, but the results were surprisingly energizing. We cleaned with no-strings-attached and we got the expected response of, “How much is this going to cost?” We enjoyed seeing their rigidness crumble when we replied, “It's free. We just want to show you God's love.”

In two hours we cleaned a bar, a sports equipment store, a pizza joint, and a gas station. That may seem like slow progress as far as the workload goes, but we were pleasantly surprised to find the recipients of our kind acts were full of questions about us and the church. Herein lies a strength for this ministry: we did not set out to invite people to church or use this as a promotional tactic. Instead, we set out to show people God's love, and in doing so by such a simple and radical way, the grace-filled act naturally invokes questions as to why, setting a stage to tell of the church without all the typical barriers involved.

Not everyone was inquisitive as to why. Some people simply said “thank you” and went on with their work, but the neatest thing I found by doing this was an appreciation shown by everybody involved--nobody was rude. This experience was quite emboldening for a Christian like myself who has become discouraged over the years with the responses I've received with traditional approaches like door-to-door evangelism. I think acts of kindness better suit our reserved culture and makes evangelism easy for Christians who aren't naturally inclined to preach a powerful sermon to a complete stranger (which is like 99% of the flock).

Overall, it was a wonderful and even fun way to spend an afternoon, and I am looking  forward to doing it again and getting more people involved.

The Couch and the Pew

At this early stage in the life of The Redemption Movement, we are meeting in living rooms. This practice is widely known throughout the church world as “home groups,” or “small groups.” Some churches operate exclusively in this manner and call themselves “home churches.” Other churches offer traditional church services in conjunction with small groups in members homes.

We will use both models; our main gatherings will be in homes until we grow to the point where we can add Friday evening gatherings, and eventually Sunday morning church services. We also plan to continue to meet in homes for small groups with the addition of these two gatherings.

Church services and small groups each have their own strengths and weaknesses when compared to each other. Neither model is perfect, and this is the logic behind our future Friday night gatherings as we attempt to marry the two models of ministry—more on this another time. For now, I want to compare small groups and church services.

Fellowship: Strength—Small Groups.

Meeting in a home, sitting on a couch, sharing a meal. A persons house fosters strong relationships as opening up a home to a stranger is symbolic of making available one's own life. Church services on the other hand give off a more corporate feel (unless the church is super intentional to make their services otherwise), and with this impersonal feel comes the possibility to be just a part of a crowd, duck in late and leave early, and even avoid people (which some people like). It is near impossible to avoid people when you are part of a small group sitting in somebody's living room.

Inviting People: Strength—Church Services

Culturally speaking, church services are the norm, they are what people expect out of church. Even though home groups are how the New Testament church was founded, and have been practiced all throughout church history, they are still perceived as something of an oddity to those outside the church. And it is for this reason it is easier to invite somebody to a church service, where they will know what to expect, as opposed to inviting somebody to a small group in a home and trying to convince them it is real and legitimate church.

Teaching: Strength—Small Groups

With the greater relational intimacy small groups provide, comes a higher level of trust for one to engage in the teachings. This means more questions, group discussion, and greater participation in the lesson. This style of learning is more natural, and engages the student in ways that sitting through a sermon cannot. Although, preaching a sermon is still valuable and is prescribed by the Bible and therefore cannot be cast aside, preaching therefore is a strength of the church service.

Worship: Strength—Church Services

Most homes do not have a stage and sound system, nor can they accommodate large crowds. And it is for this reason church services provide better worship settings. Using the metaphor as the church as the body of Christ, the bigger the body, the bigger the worship bang, and with the American culture entrenched with a performance-concert mindset, most people prefer the worship music of church services. Although, small groups can provide very intimate and simple worship that can also be attractive on it's own merits.

All the other aspects of church, like prayer and communion for example, work nicely in both small groups and church services. Overall, neither model is better than the other, but the strengths and weaknesses do cater to different purposes.

And so it is with this distinction that I announce that we are meeting for small groups every Sunday night at 6pm in the second story apartment. We start with a meal or snacks, followed by Bible teaching with group discussion, and sing a song or two with a guitar. It is a simple time of strong fellowship, very casual, and provides a great opportunity to make new friends. Laura and I both welcome you into our home and into our lives.

2010: The Building of a Movement

(click to enlarge)

2010 looks to be the year the Redemption Movement will begin, and like the word "movement" indicates, it will start with something small, like Bible studies and acts of kindness, that will move forward into a full blown church with several life-giving ministries. Our approach will be less focused on a time table and more geared toward a one-step-at-a-time strategy. This ties in better with the idea of movement, and allows us to grow at a healthy and authentic pace.
To better communicate this movement, we have created a step-by-step illustration that captures the vision of growing us from a small group of believers meeting in homes, into a public church with weekly ministries and local outreaches, and finally, into a church that has worship services, provides aide internationally, and plants new churches.

Information Meetings Step one: build a group of committed people who are passionate about Jesus and His church. Information meetings act as a great way to introduce new people to the Redemption Movement by laying everything out about our purpose, doctrine, vision, etc. This way, an informed and prayerful decision can be made on whether or not one would feel this is the right time to join the movement. People who sign up at this stage will make up the founding core group of the church. They will be challenged with the founding work of the church and enjoy the spiritual growth of watching the fruits of their labor blossom into a church that blesses others.

Small Groups
Small to medium-sized groups will weekly meet in each others homes and enjoy meals, Bible studies, worship, and good old fashioned hanging out. This will be key to building a strong faith community. Small groups will provide a believer with several important ministries of the church including discipleship, worship, prayer, fellowship, and giving.

Acts of Kindness
This is a simple idea that can make a huge impact: teams of people regularly going out into the community to show others the love of Jesus by serving them in practical ways. Passing out food, raking leaves, washing cars, the possibilities to make a difference in peoples lives is enormous. Not only will the acts of kindness teams help others, but this outreach ministry will be even more rewarding for the people who serve.

Weeknight Gatherings
Think of this like a hybrid of a church service/coffee house/family living room. This will be an experimental and casual model of public ministry that can be enjoyed by both the super spiritual Christian and the open minded skeptic. The gatherings will operate with an open-to-close format, have short teaching and worship sessions throughout, allow time for prayer and discussion, as well as provide an area for games and snacks. It is a rather new way of doing ministry, and a more detailed blog post will be made before it premiers.

Partnering with Local Charities
We want to be a church that helps the poor, one the most effective ways of doing this is to partner with an existing local charity that is already doing a great job.

Establish Church Ministries
In this stage we will start several different ministries and programs that churches typically have. Ministries for kids and teenagers, men's and women's groups, worship teams, all of these groups and more will be added as we go along and have need, instead of having every one in place before we start.

Public Launch Event
Everything until now has been invitation-only or semi-public. When we finally enter into the public arena we want to go big with a an event called a "launch." It would be ideal if we could coincide the public launch event with the grand opening of a new location that can accommodate more people, preferably something in the downtown of Oneonta. This event will be very celebratory and heavily promoted, it will also be set apart from the weekly routine.

Weeknight Gatherings (New Location)
The format of these meetings will be unchanged, and they will continue to be the churches main gatherings, but by moving to a new location that is closer to the downtown, we are hoping to add the dynamic of picking up more casual passer-byers and being more in the public eye. This will mean beefing up the coffee house element of the meetings and include more introductory aspects to the teachings.

Start a Church Charity
At this stage, we hope to have the numbers and resources to start our own charity for the community, while continuing support of other charities and the work of our acts of kindness teams.

Public Launch Event
Another heavily promoted launch event will be used, this time to promote the next phase, which is the addition of church services.

Church Services
For us, the church service will not be the foundation of everything we do; but rather, the gooey celebration-flavored icing on the moist and delicious cake of who we are. I think it will be a healthy approach to not put all of our energy from the beginning, into trying to put on a perfect church service every week, for a culture that may be tired of simply "going to church." But by adding the church service element after years of strong ministry and healthy relationship building, I think the services will be more meaningful for everybody who is participating.

Meeting International Social Concerns
By now, the influence of The Redemption Movement will have gone well past the doors of our church and even the borders of Otsego County, New York. At this stage the church should be able to address big problems that are facing our world. We may not be able to solve every issue, but I believe God intended His church to make a big difference.

Plant a Church
Spreading the movement through replication. We want to be a church that is planting new churches, and then the new churches plant new churches, and so on. As a church plant we believe in church planting, and we would especially like to start new churches in communities in the area that could benefit most from a new church.

Meet the Carpenters!

Meet Pastor Kaler

Kaler's story begins in the small farm community of Carrollton Missouri (4,000 people, county seat). His parents, Tom and Nancy, owned and operated a true "mom & pop" business called "Carpenter Nursery Landscaping and Greenhouse." Kaler and his sister Roxanna were raised helping the small company, and Kaler's experience left a good impression on him about hard work and the importance of striving for the betterment of the community. In High School Kaler was in several activities: he was president of Key Club--which left a big impression about civic responsibility, and started a Bible Club that met every morning for devotions and prayer; but music was his favorite, where he played the alto saxophone and continues to play it in church to this day.
Church was always apart of Kaler's life. Up until the age of 11 he was raised in a nearby newly-started Charismatic church called "Victory Christian Fellowship." From 11-14 his family spent time in the Presbyterian church, and then a new independent Evangelical church. In Jr. High Kaler's family landed in the local Assemblies of God church where he felt called to go into ministry at a summer camp in 1999. This led him to attend Central Bible College in Springfield MO where he met his wife Laura. Unbeknown to both of them until years later, Kaler and Laura both attended the same summer camp as teenagers.
In Bible College Kaler was active with an evangelism team that ministered to new army recruits, played his saxophone on a worship band, and wrote humor columns for the school newspaper. But it was at a Springfield church called "Timbercreek Community Church" where Kaler spent most of his time, attending for 5 years and participating in an internship program that lasted 3.5 years, in which time he helped Timbercreek plant a new church called "Timbercreek West."
During the summers Kaler would go back to Carrollton and lead a summer youth ministry at his home church. In 2005 Kaler saw the need for a more permanent youth ministry in his home town (no professional youth ministers in a county of 10,000 people) so he moved back to start a youth group and called it "3rd Place Youth Group." When the group began there were only 2 teenagers and within a year there were over 30 in regular attendance, most of whom had never been to church before.
It was during this time in Carrollton that Kaler married his girlfriend Laura, who had moved to Carrollton to help with the youth ministry. In 2007 Kaler and Laura felt that it was time to move on to Senior Pastoring and left the youth ministry to look for a new church to lead. It was during this search for open ministry positions that Kaler and Laura felt the Lord pointing them in a more specific direction: church planting. Kaler and Laura had a new mission from God, but did not have a specific place to start a new church yet. So in order to prepare for this venture the couple moved to Washington Missouri to be a part of First Assembly of God Church, pastored by Laura's brother, Rev. Paul Scheperle. After living in Washington for 1.5 years, the Lord gave them direction to plant in Oneonta New York, and they are greatly anticipating this completely new chapter in their lives.

Kaler's hobbies include: All things Nintendo, movies (both watching and making them)--actually he likes anything involving a flashing screen, board games & ultimate board games, taking care of his classic truck, playing his saxophone, and making new friends.

Meet Pastor Laura

Laura Scheperle grew up in Missouri's capitol, Jefferson City. She too grew up in church, as a kid her family attended the Lutheran Church, but the most life-changing decision for the Scheperle family is when her parents Gary and Brenda switched to the Assemblies of God church. It was a church that challenged it's people in holiness and offered vibrant worship; and consequently, Laura and two of her brothers (Paul and Steve) felt called to full-time vocational ministry and all 3 Scheperle siblings pursued that goal at Central Bible College in Springfield Mo. Laura's 3rd brother Bill is an engineer at Missouri University and helps her Dad Gary on the family farm with the help of 4 beautiful kids.
In High School Laura was a music whiz. Playing her trombone all the way to the Missouri All-State band 2 years in a row, it probably helped a little that Brenda her mom was a music teacher. Like Kaler, Laura also started a Bible club at her High School called "Youth Alive," where they had devotions and planned evangelistic events. Most of Laura's time as a teenager was spent with her church youth group where she made strong friends that she still keeps in contact with.
At Central Bible College she continued to pursue her two passions: youth ministry and music. In 2004 she graduated with a bachelor degree in each field of study. While at CBC Laura spent 3 years on a traveling school music team called "Heartsong" and was the president of the group her last year. She also learned new instruments: guitar and keyboard, and learned how to direct a choir. In her last year at CBC she began to date Kaler, this happened after a 2 year friendship blossomed through a fan club she started for the Christian rock band "Five Iron Frenzy."
After graduating, Laura moved to Radcliff Kentucky to Youth Pastor at a Korean-American church. Laura spent a year working with Korean-American teenagers, but as things got serious with Kaler she moved to Carrollton Missouri to help him with his youth group. Laura was a key part of the growth of 3rd Place Youth Group, relating well to the teenage girls, and teaching several young people how to play instruments. Laura also started an all-church choir and directed 3 holiday cantatas. During this time Laura married Kaler in July of 2006 at her old church in Jefferson City.
In 2007 Laura left the Carrollton church with Kaler and moved to Washington Missouri to help her brother Paul at his church. At First Assembly of God, Washington MO, she has been active playing guitar on the worship team, leading a youth worship band, and leading a new small group for young adults. Currently, Laura is saying her goodbyes to her Missouri friends and family and preparing for the move of faith to start a new church in Oneonta New York with her husband Kaler. She looks forward to taking day trips and visiting New York City.

Laura's hobbies include: song writing and recording, being with her hubbie Kaler, watching movies, cooking, shopping, and hanging out with friends and family.

Why Oneonta New York?

My wife and I moving to New York will be a total change for us, especially because we will not know anybody who lives in Oneonta. This begs the question, why did I pick Oneonta New York to start a church? What makes this small community of 15,000 people so special?
For almost 2 years now I have been called to church plant but did not have a location. During this time I have worked to save money to church plant, and researched where and how to plant. At first I looked locally, but not finding what I was looking for I broadened my search to include the entire mainland United States. My search was intense, and I believe God led my search, I also believe God leads different people in different ways. Maybe for some pastors they can pray and hear the voice of God say, "Move here." But it didn't work that way for me. The Lord chose to lead me by placeing values on my heart that pointed me into the direction of researching these values in order to find a specific community. This was mainly done through researching city statistics. Statistics tell important facts and clues about what a community is like, and I recognize that different communities produce different types of churches. Knowing this, I asked the Lord what city statistics and cultural values to look for so that the new church can make the strongest impact possible for the Gospel.

1. College Town

• Colleges produce leaders, “reach the university, reach the world (Chi Alpha mission statement)”

• College students want to make a difference, and are willing to volunteer. A church that does heavy outreach ministry will connect with this young crowd.

• College towns are made up of educated people with critical thinking skills. I believe this group to be attracted to exegetical/seeker-sensitive preaching.

• Young college communities are generally more open to new out-side-the-box ministry ideas that church plants are known for.

Colleges in Oneonta:

• 2 Colleges: SUNY College: public college, 5333 students, and Hartwick College: private college, 1170 students.

• 1/3 of population has a bachelor's degree.

2. Poverty

• A community with physical needs is ripe for outreach. Asthe apostle Paul said, "I am eager to help the poor," and I generally believe those who are impoverished to be more open to the Gospel.

Poverty in Oneonta:

• 30.3% of residents had an income below the poverty level in 2007. That is more than twice the state avg.

• 17.4% of residents had an income below 50% of the poverty level in 2007. Also more than twice the state average.

3. Community Growth: Stagnant or in Decline

• Similar idea behind poverty. I believe a town that lacks new commerce and growth may not be as positive about the future as a fast growing community and would appreciate a new positive church preaching the hope of Christ.
  

• Towns in decline do not typically attract new churches. A new church would be big news.

Town Growth for Oneonta:

• Population change -0.4% since 2000.

• An average of 16 building permits are issued per year. For a town of of 16,000+.

4. Unchurched People

• My biggest target group are those who are unaffiliated with any religion.

Unchurched in Oneonta:

• 61.1% of people in the county are unaffiliated with any religion, this number is most likely higher in the main town of Oneonta. This percentage is significantly higher than most counties in the U.S.
  

• The 2009 American Religious Identification Survey recognizes the Northeast as the most irreligious part of the country.

*This desk was "Church Planting Headquarters." Discerning God's will on where to start a new church: it took me over 3 months to compile and assess approximately 500 pages of research. The project was fueled by gallons of Mountain Dew and required 6 seasons of "Stargate SG-1" playing in the background to keep me company. And I looked at enough church websites across the nation that they all began to look alike. Of course, prayer was also very much involved.

5. Church-to-People Ratio

• This contributes directly to the unchurched percentage. The higher saturation of churches in a community, makes the element of church competition stronger. I desire a ministry that minimizes the need to compete with neighboring churches, and instead, has a greater freedom to stay on mission and do what's important.

Oneonta Churches:

• There are around 17* Christian churches in a town of 16,000+. That is almost 1 church per 1000 people. Compared to national averages, this ratio is significantly high. For example, in Missouri, where I am from, almost every town has 1 church per 200-500 people.

*Update 6-6-09: The number of churches within city limits varies with different websites and sources. Some sites have the number as low as 12, I've heard other reports saying it is as high as 33. And it is hard to determine the doctrine and mission of the church based solely off the church name. But the point of this statistic is the "Church-to-people" ratio, which is still considerably lower than the rest of the nation. Here are some sites listing the different churches in Oneonta:
Church Angel National Church Directory (12 Churches, 9 Protestant)
Sweet Home Oneonta Houses of Worship (23 Churches, 17 Protestant)
Daily Star White Pages (26 Churches, 16 Protestant)

6. Ministeries offered by Churches

• There are some very specific ministeries I envision this new church doing. It does not make sense to plop a specific style/type of church next to an existing church that is already doing the things the new church plans to do.

Churches in Oneonta:

• After reviewing the churches websites of Oneonta, I came to the conclusion that there are good churches in the town, but they are not doing some of the ministeries I would like to do (this goes back to lowering the element of church competition.)

7. Lack of New Churches

• Every church planting organization has produced statistics that show dozens of benefits a new church can bring to a community, and the effectiveness of new churches reaching new people. Click here to find out more.
  

New Churches in Oneonta:

• *I've heard there have been 3 recent attempts at church planting in Oneonta, and none are around today. This tells me planting a new church in Oneonta will be hard, but I also feel it is needed. Please feel free to contact me with more information about new churches in Oneonta.
  

*Update 6-6-09

8. Geographical Influence

• The type of ministry that I want to do, is most effective within a close-knit community.

• I believe that the higher percentage of people that live and work in a town, the more responsive the town will be to a church dedicated to helping the community.

• I would also like to be a part of a church that plants new churches in the surrounding area. I believe a church that is headquartered in the most influential town in the county, has a responsibility to minister to the surrounding smaller communities.
  

Oneontas' Influence:

• 70.6% of the people that live in Oneonta also work in Oneonta. This number is significantly high, especially for the New York.

• The town population increases by +34.2% every day with commuting traffic, making Oneonta very influential for the area.

9. Town size

• I have a town size that I am personally comfortable with, and Oneonta fits that range. I would prefer a town that is big enough that you don't have to send talented young people away to have a good future. And small enough to have that close-knit small community feel to it. I am rural at heart and not a fan of the suburbs or the big city.

Oneonta Population:

• Town population is 13,225, add the dorm residents and the population is 16,761. And over 61,000 people live in the county.

This is a very brief overview of the reasons we are moving to Oneonta New York to start a church. I could write tons more about all this, but I understand blogs are supposed to be rather short. Some of these statistics are objective, and some are subjective, and some are more clear than others. But what makes Oneonta rise above all other towns in this search, is it ranked very high in all 10 of these catigories, something no other town in America pulled off. Go Oneonta!