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.

Pastors Blog: Stardate 2009

It is hard to believe that Laura and I are actually doing it, we have committed ourselves to moving to Oneonta New York and starting a new church! Doing a church plant feels like a big/scary/exciting (take every emotion and put it in a blender) adventure, especially when we are rookies at this sort of thing, but I know this gut-wrentching conquest is actually the typical experience from following the adventureus Lord of Creation.

As we all know, every good adventure has a logbook, and just like Captain Kirk, I too feel compelled to chronicle my findings and happenings as I encounter new life, but unlike Kirk I will be reporting all this to you, not the Star Fleet Federation; although, if the Federation wishes to help fund this church plant I do accept Federation credits.
On a serious note, I desire this blog to serve as a communication tool to help the new church plant. Here are a few purposes I see with the blog.

1. Church History: this blog will be a step-by-step record of how a new church started. And what a valuable resource this will be for church members to look back on and read. I also hope it might inspire others to church plant and learn from the early successes and failures of the Oneonta church.
2. Missionary Newsletter: for all practical definitions of the word, Laura and I definitly feel like we are doing the work of missionaries. I grew up in churches that finically supported foriegn missionaries, and they always sent the church newletters of their progress. I hope this blog can be accessible to our friends and loved ones who care about my wife and I. May this blog act as a virtual newsletter for us to communicate our progress and share our needs.
3. Valuable Feedback: I welcome all feedback from all peoples. If you have some solid advice or you see something I do not, please post a comment and share with me your thoughts. I have some big descions to make coming up, and I would like my descions to be highly informed and smart sounding.

Also, I am thrilled to finally have something worth blogging about! For years I have wanted to sign up for a blog, but until now I felt I never did anything big enough with my life worth sharing with the world. It would have read something like this: Today, I played Nintendo, worked at Wal-Mart, went to church, and now I am going to ramble a few pages about politics...I think the interent has plenty of these blogs.
I will try to stay current with this thing, and I pray some good will come out of it and I hope it is not a time-waster. Please, feel free to contact me, and thank you for adventureing with me on the first steps of this incredible God journey.