Milestone: Giving Our 1,000th Free Ride!

We've just given our 1000th free ride! #OneontaRides #seniorcrawl #ActOfKindness #milestone pic.twitter.com/WFwhxzYAQG

— Redemption Movement (@RedemptionNY) May 15, 201

Serving the Seniors

Oneonta’s Senior Bar Crawl was a perfect occasion to give our 1,000th free ride.

The SUNY Oneonta class of 2015 has played a big part in The Redemption Movement’s short history. Many of these seniors were sophomores when our church launched in the Spring of 2013. For half of their college careers, they've been shown God’s love on numerous occasions by our church outreach efforts. With this class, we've developed many meaningful relationships and taking 57 of them home during the crawl felt like an appropriate way to say our goodbyes.

Literally.

This was the first time that we've offered rides during the crawl, so I didn’t know quite what to expect. After learning about how busy of a yearly event it is, we committed to arriving much earlier than normal and parked in front of Choice Ultra Lounge around 6:30pm. Arriving early like this ensured that we would give our 1,000th ride during the crawl--our total going into the evening was 973. << Click here to read stories about the previous rides >>

What we didn’t know is that the bar crawl officially started at 6pm, so nobody needed a ride home that early. However, our time wasn't wasted. Parking in such a visible spot (outside of 3 bars), gave us a chance to interact with many of the crawl’s participants.

This was a very positive experience. We had a steady stream of students stop and talk with us (many of whom we've served and worked with in the past for various reasons), as well as pause to thank and high-five us. In all honesty, we felt like rock stars. This is amazing because we’re not seeking popularity, instead, our goal is to serve others in a dinigified manner. I think that us being shown honor in a setting like this gives merit to Jesus’ Golden Rule, “Treat others as you want to be treated.”

The Breathalyzer Was a Hit

We didn’t give very many rides during those first couple of hours, but we did get to provide another helpful service, breathalyzer tests. We bought a breathalyzer in March for such a reason as this. Up until now, we've only given a few tests for each outing, but for the Senior Pub Crawl, we had a constant crowd of people awaiting their turn to take the test. I feel like our new full-sized breathalyzer sign had something to do with it.

By the end of the night, we had administered 31 breathalyzer tests. 

Wow! We gave 31 breathalyzer tests for #barcrawl2015 #OneontaRides pic.twitter.com/IDHg3tL1F0

— Redemption Movement (@RedemptionNY) May 15, 2015

 It was a learning experience for many of the participants. As the device calculated each test result, I would point to the sign and explain what the BAC levels are for getting a DUI. Granted, few of these students were planning on driving that night, but, for future reference, these test takers now have a better idea of how much alcohol it takes (and what it feels like) to be beyond the legal limit for when they will drive.

The most dramatic test came from a petite young woman who blew a 0.2 (the highest BAC level of the night). Her jaw hit the sidewalk when she saw the result because she felt fine. I had the opportunity to explain to her how her small stature meant that she gets intoxicated quicker than her friends. I could tell that the test made her want to slow down (or even stop) her drinking for the evening.

Giving Our 1,000th Ride

Come 9pm and we had given only 7 rides and parked in front of multiple bars. This is when the “second shift” started and I swapped one helper for another (in keeping with our two-person volunteer policy). By now, the students were thinking pizza and Tino’s was filling up. Therefore, we made Tino’s our HQ from 10pm on. All the while, we had the magic number of 27 in mind--that’s when we would hit the big 1-triple-zero.

We gave our 1,000th ride before midnight. The ride was extra special because it was to two Music Industry Club students. The MIC students have been a huge help to our church when we tried our hand at booking shows. Our 999th rider (Mike), is the drummer in the student band “Living Proof,” a band that we booked for November’s Town & Gown Gala (their first show). Earlier that evening, other Living Proof band members made sure to find our car for a picture. 

#SeniorCrawl: 57 free rides given. Goodbye seniors & @Living_Proof_NY Lots of good friends graduating 😔 #OneontaRides pic.twitter.com/u3jZUn1gbf

— Redemption Movement (@RedemptionNY) May 15, 2015

It was neat to see how the 1,000th ride worked out. Knowing that the next carload would contain the special rider, I happened to get simultaneously flagged down on Main Street by two different groups. I parked the car at equal distance from the two groups and they both begin to approach. My MIC friends were in group #1, and some rowdy bros that I didn’t know where in group #2. Thankfully, my friends made it to the car first and hopped in the backseat. I told the bros that my car was full and I’d be back to get them. They requested that I instead pick them up at a house a few blocks away (which I attempted to a little later and they weren't to be found). 

I refrained from telling my riders the good news until I was a half mile from their apartment. Upon arriving, I gave them a “1,000th Rider” crown and gift bag with some chocolate and sparkling grape juice. They were excited to receive the prize and were good sports about letting us take their picture.

It was a fun experience that was enhanced by social media. After we gave the ride we posted the picture to Twitter. Throughout the course of the night we would tell other passengers about giving the 1,000th ride and they would reply that they saw it on their friend’s timeline. It’s reasons like this why we live tweet the night using #OneontaRides.

Keeping the Rides Free and Thinking about the Next 1,000 Rides

By the end of the night we had given 57 free rides to a variety of people (bringing the all-time ride total to 1,030). All the riders appreciated the act of kindness and many asked about how they could support the service.

That night, we did our best to turn down people’s money, insisting that the ride is free because we believe God’s love is free. Though we refused people’s money, we did plant a fundraising seed, telling them how we want to fundraise over the summer so we can expand the service and make an even bigger impact when the students come back next Fall. I asked the passengers to keep an eye on The Redemption Movement’s blog and social media pages for when we launch the fundraiser, which will be a good opportunity to give.

The best way to get the latest on our fundraising plans is to join The Oneonta Designated Driving Crew on Facebook. With what we've got planned, 1,000 rides is just the beginning!

The Future is Bright for RM with the Launch of Mobile Church

On April 26th, The Redemption Movement launched Mobile Church at Huntington Park, Oneonta. This is a whole new way to approach church by taking it to the people, instead of expecting people to come to us. In keeping with RM’s value of simplicity, it was a soft launch with a small turnout and not a lot of fanfare, but for the small group of RM faithful that’s been planning and praying about this Mobile Church venture since December, the small outing was filled with hope of much bigger things to come.

How Does Mobile Church Work?

Taking church to the people is a simple idea that’s in keeping with Jesus’ great commission (the basis of RM’s mission), and the format for Mobile Church is meant to make room for relationships (another RM value). This is done by opening the morning with a Bible study and worship, followed by a light lunch and an act of kindness for the neighborhood by a “kindness team.” During the AoK, another team hangs back at the meeting place (like a base camp) for the purpose of meeting and greeting new people that both teams encounter.

How Our First Mobile Church Went

The April launch date was picked with the hope that the weather would be good enough to meet outside. This particular day was a bit cool when the clouds came out and the wind picked up, but after such a long winter, it didn’t feel cold enough to call it off. Moving forward, the weather is sure to be one of the biggest challenges for Mobile Church.

One of our Mobile Church tents.

To help with this we bought some tents and we can always retreat to our River Street storefront if we need to. For our first Mobile Church Sunday, the new 10x10 pop up tent took us awhile to figure out, and there were a few other hang ups which caused us to get started at 11am instead of 10, but our group wasn’t deterred. In fact, we were expecting hang ups like this and made it a point to enjoy every moment of the launch, instead of stressing over the small stuff.

Once we were set up we sang worship songs in the park, led by my wife Laura. At first, it felt a little weird, especially when a group of students walked our direction en route to downtown. As we sang along with the first verse, I halfway expected to be heckled. Although, it didn’t take long for the world to fade away and to get lost in worship. This made for a kind of exhilarating and inspirational worship experience that you just can’t get within the four walls of the church. I look forward to more public displays of worship (PDW) with future Mobile Church outings.

The Bible study was on Luke 15 and likened the big effort of doing Mobile Church to the extra effort that the shepherd went through to find the one lost sheep in Jesus’ parable. We kept the music and the study short and sweet, due to the cool wind picking up. For future outings, we will make use of the tent walls and set these up too.

Lunch for the group consisted of $10 worth of subs from a block away (an easier solution than preparing a meal). We snacked on the subs while setting up for the act of kindness phase of the day, which was passing out free funnel cakes (one of our favorite and most delicious AoKs).

Meeting New People with Mobile Church

Doing the AoK in the same spot where we worshiped just moments before really highlighted the purpose of what we were trying to accomplish with Mobile Church. This was powerfully seen in the first person who approached us for a funnel cake, a middle-aged woman with a 5-year old at home. She was thankful for the gift and we hit it off in conversation.

Yard games are great for building relationships!

It was much easier for us to explain to the woman that we’ll be back at the park next week and she’s welcome to join us, than it used to be to try to explain to people where on River Street we’re located and what our Friday gatherings are like. The lady we gave a funnel cake to told us that her and her son will join us next week for Mobile Church, which I interpreted as a confirmation that we’re doing something right.

In addition to offering free funnel cakes in the park, I went downtown to meet people and offer to deliver fresh funnel cakes to them. I had the most success with this at The RedJug Pub (the bar we’ve been working closely with for our designated driving outreach). I got to deliver funnel cakes to the bartender and the people at the bar, and they all seemed very receptive and grateful for the gift.

Mobile Church Builds Off of Established Relationships Too

This kind of quality interaction is very encouraging and let’s us know that we’re onto something. For me, this was most clearly seen while I was in the park setting up for mobile church. While I was by myself, I was approached by 3 friends (on 2 separate occasions) that weren’t a part of our church. I got to tell them about Mobile Church and they all seemed receptive to it, one even bought me a coffee.

All three of these friends are people that I have personally invited to church events at our River Street location. In the past, even though all three of these friends acted interested in visiting my church, they never did. Now, here they are helping me set up for Mobile Church, just because they happened to be walking by and saw me, their friend, in the park.

The Value of Doing Mobile Church in Public Places

I predict that this kind of random interaction from passerbyers is going to make all the difference when it comes to Mobile Church. We never saw much interaction from passerbyers while on River Street, even if we had a free BBQ happening just a few feet from the sidewalk. This is primarily because the majority of people that walk by our River St. location (which isn’t too many), are often locked into their headphones and they don’t seem to have time to stop and chat, much less join us for a free meal.

I think Mobile Church opens up new doors of opportunity to meet new people by doing church in public places, people that we wouldn’t have otherwise met by limiting ourselves to a church building. We’re excited about doing Mobile Church throughout the month of May at Huntington Park, and as we go into uncharted territory in order to meet new people, who knows where else this mobile church idea will take us?

Truly, at the end of the day, doing church this way felt like we were doing church in the same way that people in the New Testament did church, which we view as our blueprint for church. What a pleasant surprise that doing church like they did in the Bible is actually a lot of fun!

An Update On Finding a New Music Venue and Our Plans For Mobile Church

By Kaler Carpenter

The question I seem to get asked the most these days is, "When will The Redemption Movement do shows again?" In this blog article, I want to update all of our wonderful supporters about this, and share plans regarding what we’re currently up to.

Fans of our live shows will be happy to learn that we've got plans to host live music again... but first, some things need to happen.

What We've Been Up the Past Year

One year ago we were asked by the City of Oneonta to cease hosting shows at our storefront venue. To this day, I still get show requests from bands from all over the U.S. and Canada. It pains me to have to tell these artists (many of whom I call friends) that I've got nothing for them, and it bums me out when I have to turn down my favorite bands, which means that they end up skipping Oneonta altogether. 

Booking at Bluefields's Cafe

Last summer, I tried my hand at booking shows at other local venues. Even though I was successful at this, I soon discovered that it's too time consuming to coordinate shows at places that I don't run. It was much easier for me to simply unlock the doors where I live and let bands play downstairs.

After getting our live music shut down, we immediately begin looking into what it would take to obtain a space downtown that we could use as an all-ages music venue/community center/worship space (moving downtown makes more sense than fixing up our River St. storefront to meet the code requirements for live music). After learning about what it would take to rent various spaces, it quickly became obvious that we couldn't afford to make the move.

What about Fundraising?

I considered fundraising. It seemed like an attractive option because virtually every musician I know wanted to play a benefit show. As totally awesome as it would have been to organize one giant fundraising show, I knew that, realistically, such a show wouldn’t raise enough money to cover even one month’s worth of rent.

A major move like this would require some serious fundraising, especially if the new venue were to continue our policy of giving bands 100% of the door. This level of fundraising would require me to hit up every person and business I know with letters, and I would have to do bake-sale-like stuff every weekend. This would literally take up all of my time. 

“Well then, how about delegating the fundraising work to others?” I’d love to. Herein we get to the heart of the matter. For the past year, my church never had enough committed people to assist with fundraising, and to this day, we're still shorthanded. 

Helpers like Mike Deyo are valuable.

Also, I'd like to point out  that, in order to run a live music venue, additional help is needed that goes beyond fundraising. Even if we miraculously were given enough money to purchase a new venue, or someone donated a space, we wouldn't have the personnel to run it. 

Running a show requires a team of people. Church services too need a dependable team. Plus, if we had a downtown venue, we would additionally have to come up with enough people to offer something when the space isn't being used for church services and shows. Unfortunately, it would be impossible for me to run a new church/music venue like this with the number of people we currently have coming to our church.  

A Case for Growing The Redemption Movement

I've always considered the shows to be an outreach ministry of The Redemption Movement. Therefore, moving our shows downtown would coincide with moving the church downtown, which would require a committed team from the church.

Given our current church attendance, the responsibility of organizing and doing the fundraising to move RM would fall on its Pastor (me). Even though I am capable of making this move happen, given the fact that I'm a bi-vocational minister with a family, finding a new space for RM could only happen at the expense of something else, namely, my time pastoring the church.

Keep in  mind that The Redemption Movement’s primary role is to be a church where worship and discipleship take place. Hosting shows isn't our primary purpose (but is sure is a fun secondary activity!). Therefore, if the primary purpose of the church isn't being met, then it’s irresponsible for the church leadership to focus their limited energy on secondary things, like super-fun shows.

I think this lack-of-help situation highlights the importance of why people should commit to a local church. A small church like The Redemption Movement has plans to do some pretty big things in order to bless and better our community. Hosting small shows for local artists is just the beginning. We've got it on our hearts to tackle some of the worst societal issues plaguing our community, which includes the implementation of needed social service programs and spearheading social justice initiatives. However, we can only do as much as our limited numbers and resources will allow.

RM founding plans from 2010. We're on track to do a lot of good.

Not to boast, but consider all of the outreach and good things that The Redemption Movement has done for the Oneonta community. Whether it’s making the city a nicer place through acts of kindness, organizing events that bring the city together like The Town & Gown Gala, giving musicians a place to play and sleep, assisting people with their personal issues through Bible teachings and counseling, and even going so far as literally saving lives by taking intoxicated people home at night, all of these good works have been achieved with a group of motivated people from The Redemption Movement that rarely exceeds more than 10!

Hosting and feeding touring bands at The Ol' Storefront.

Can you image how big of an impact The Redemption Movement can make if we had double the number of church members? Triple? Or even if we had 100 people committed to what we're doing down here on River Street? Doing something like establishing a new all-ages arts venue would be a piece of cake. And take for example our designated driving service. Right now we're safely getting about 40 people home per week with just our small group and my personal car. If we had a large group of committed church members, we could get a fleet of vans and do the DD service multiple times per week and see those ride numbers skyrocket.

This doesn't even begin to cover what 100 motivated people could do about addressing poverty and social issues in our community. Big things can happen when the church is united with a clear mission. This is why we include the word "movement" in our name.

Growing the Church By Going Mobile

Therefore, my primary concern right now isn't moving downtown so that I can do shows again, it is to grow The Redemption Movement. To that end, we have a new model of ministry that we will be premiering this Spring called Mobile Church. After spending 18 months unsuccessfully trying to grow the church by inviting people to Friday gatherings at our River Street storefront, we have gone back to the drawing board and come up with a ministry where we go to different neighborhoods, parks, and public places to “have church” where the people are, instead of begging, pleading, and imploring the world to come to us.

Last Sunday our #church met at the park on a nice Spring day and worshipped under a big tree. Much more of this to come with #MobileChurch
— Redemption Movement  (@RedemptionNY) April 20, 2015

It’s my prayer that this new mobile church model will grow and produce committed people that will desire to lead additional incarnations of mobile church. This multiplication plan will hopefully yield a committed group that will take on the work of moving The Redemption Movement to a downtown venue so that we can one day do shows again.

To Recap 

Putting on shows is still a part of our plans, but we need your help in order to pull it off. 

If you would like to help us find a new music venue and participate in our community outreach efforts, then we encourage you to  talk to us about making a commitment to join The Redemption Movement, and you're welcome to visit us on a Sunday for Mobile Church in order to experience what we're all about.

Mobile Church kicks off this Spring, premiering at Huntington Park at 10am on April 26th. Through May, we'll continue hosting Mobile Church at Huntington Park for the following Sundays: May 3rd, 10th, and 17th. After that, we'll move Mobile Church to a new location which we'll post on this blog and to our social media pages. When it comes to our new Mobile Church model, “If you can find us, you can worship with us.” 

You're Invited to RM's Easter Service!

A Simple Easter Service at The Ol' Storefront

On Sunday, April 5th, 10am, The Redemption Movement will host a simple Easter service at our storefront location, located at 148 River St., Oneonta, NY. You and your family and friends are welcome to celebrate with us.

We've chosen "A Simple Easter" as our theme because 1) The teaching will be about the simplicity of faith and how Jesus' resurrection is the foundation for Christian belief, and 2), Simplicity is a value of The Redemption Movement, which might appeal to those who are hesitant to attend an Easter church service because they feel pressure to dress up or intimidated by religious ritual and ornate buildings. Instead, we offer to our community a simple option that's laid back, relational, and free of judgement. So come as you are, dress how you'd like, and spend Easter with us in an old storefront.

Bonus: Hear Firsthand about RM's New Direction!

For us, Easter is a special occasion that's worthy of putting on a Sunday morning church service. Our church isn't in the habit of doing Sunday morning services, preferring instead to try outside-the-box approaches to reach our community, like Friday Evening Gatherings, Sunday Acts of Kindness, and Missional Community Groups. For our church, Easter Sunday 2015 isn't the start of doing regular Sunday morning church services. However, those in attendance will be in for a treat as a vision will be cast for the next incarnation of The Redemption Movement, called Mobile Church; a move that we have worked hard to plan and are very excited to implement this Spring.

So what are your plans for Easter? If you don't have any, then come on down to The Ol' Storefront. It's a simple choice that may turn into the best decision you've ever made.

Local Churches Unite Outreach Efforts for Saint Patrick’s Day 2015

It’s well known that Saint Patrick’s Day is a popular holiday in Oneonta, New York. Every year, green-wearing revelers flock to the city’s downtown bars, many beginning their day of corn beef and Guinness before noon. Following in the footsteps of Saint Patrick himself, Oneonta churches are celebrating the day by being missionaries to their own town, and even Ireland too.

Three is an important number for Saint Patrick’s Day. Patrick used a three-leaf clover to explain the Trinity to the Irish, and now three local churches are teaming up to reach Oneonta with God’s love on the annual day celebrating the 5th Century missionary. In a display of church unity, two student groups, BASIC from Community Gospel Church and Campus Ambassadors from Main Street Baptist Church, will team up with a third church, The RedemptionMovement, to share the good news of the Gospel.

Campus Ambassadors & BASIC to Share God’s Love and Hot Cocoa

Beginning in the early part of the evening, a team from CA will set up tables in front of their church at the corner of Main and Maple Streets. A team from BASIC will join them to give away hot cocoa, bottled water, and if needed, blankets. This church corner happens to be a busy OPT bus stop that’s a popular pick up spot for college students on the weekends.

CA students prepping some cocoa.

Last semester, CA leader Peter Eklund launched this cocoa outreach ministry and his group has been doing it regularly on Friday nights. Peter is encouraged by how well the act of kindness has been received, especially, “When people who we’ve served before come around the corner, see us, and shout, ‘You’re here!’ It’s become a great way to introduce ourselves and build relationships with the students.” With the large amount of students expected to be out on St. Patrick’s Day, Peter plans on keeping the tables open until the buses quit running after 2am.

The Redemption Movement to Offer Free Rides Home

St. Pat's Day 2013, Ride #1

For bargoers living off the bus route, or for those who might be too out of it to make it to the bus stop, another church, The Redemption Movement, will be giving free rides home to anybody who needs it or wants it. Pastor Kaler Carpenter has been using his car to shuttle Oneonta’s bargoers home as a church act of kindness for nearly two years now, giving 650 people rides home to date. Saint Patrick’s Day marks a special day for his church’s free ride outreach; it was on Saint Patrick’s Day 2013 when Kaler and his wife Laura first parked their car on Water Street to do the AoK. Two years later and the free ride service has become one of The Redemption Movement’s most well-known ministries, with plenty of “stories from the road” which Carpenter posts on the church blog.

For St. Patrick’s day, The Redemption Movement’s free ride car (affectionately referred to by students as "The Jesus Cab"), will be hitting the streets at 8pm (2 hours earlier than normal), and, as is their custom, they will provide rides until there’s no longer a need for one. To find The Redemption Movement’s car for a ride, keep your eyes peeled in front of Tino’sPizza and The Red Jug Pub on Main St. in order to spot Carpenter and a volunteer standing outside, holding signs promoting the free service. Or, be on the lookout for their car while you’re out and about and flag it down for a ride. You can also find the car’s current location and contact them for a ride using #OneontaRides on Twitter.

BASIC's van giving free rides, Fall 2013.

For the past two years Carpenter has labored to improve the free ride service, and he’s particularly excited about the potentially-high number of rides that could be given and people blessed on the busy holiday. “There will definitely be a need for the free ride service on Saint Patrick’s Day,” Carpenter says, “And it’s my hope that, by now, word has gotten out about who we are and what we do so that someone who really needs the ride will trust us enough to take us up on our offer.” 
*Update 3-17
Good News. We just got word that Campus Ambassadors gave the green light to lend a van and driver to assist with giving free rides tonight! This means we'll have two vehicles on the road getting people home safe!

St. James Youth Goes to Ireland

Susquehanna Deanery Youth

Yet another church, St. James Episcopal Church, is participating in Saint Patrick’s Day missionary efforts, only on a completely different level as they host a dinner at their parish hall in order to fundraise for a youth missions trip, to, of all places, Ireland.

The dinner will take place on the Sunday before Saint Patrick’s Day (March 15th) in the church’s Parish Hall at 305 Main Street. A traditional St. Patrick’s Day meal will be served consisting of corn beef and cabbage, along with live Irish music. The price of the meal will be $8 for adults, $5 for children 3-5, and free for children under three. The church plans on serving dinner from 4pm-to-7pm, with take-outs starting at 3:30.

With a total of 4 Oneonta churches participating in Saint Patrick’s Day missionary activities, this year’s St. Patrick’s Day promises to be a compassionate, safe, generous, and love-filled holiday for Oneonta. Bishop Patrick would be proud.

Would you like to help with any of these outreach activities to bless Oneonta on this big day? Is your Oneonta church doing any Saint Patrick’s Day activities that you would like to see added to this article? Feel free to contact us.

Taking an Honest Look at Oneonta's Culture...

...With a Wall Full of Observations
(From our Newsletter)
Since ending our Friday Evening Gatherings last December, our Missional Community Group has been intentionally doing the work of contextualizing the Gospel to better reach our city with whatever it is we do next. This means taking an honest look at our city's culture so we can better meet its needs. It's been quite the cultural exercise for our faith community, and we've gone about it by adding dozens of cultural observations to a wall, as well as rethinking our 10 Connection Intentions (a revised list will be published soon).

Post by The Redemption Movement.

While we're not quite ready to fully announce what our next move is, I can share one big realization that's rocked our paradigm for ministry, "Why are we trying so hard to invite our city to a church event they're not asking for? Instead of struggling with an invitation-based ministry, wouldn't it be better to be radically obedient to Jesus' Great Commission and 'go' to where the people are?" What we're currently discussing on Sunday mornings is a kind of mold-breaking ministry that might best be described as "Mobile Church."

It's too early to fully explain Mobile Church, but we're all really excited about it, and if this is something that peaks your interest, then you're welcome to join us on Sunday mornings to prayerfully develop this idea in a friendly community setting.

                          

"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