The Carpenters celebrate adding +1 to Otsego County's population in 2014.
Otsego County's most recent population numbers are in. We've experienced a 1.76% population loss since the 2010 census (-1,094 people). This trend is consistent with population changes in the surrounding counties, and upstate NY in general.
When Laura and I moved to Oneonta in 2009 to start The Redemption Movement, Otsego County's population change since 2000 was +0.9%, with Oneonta down 0.4%. This statistic is one of a handful that drew us to Oneonta--a move which most modern church planting organizations would have advised against.
You see, when it comes to starting a new church, denominations will almost exclusively invest resources into growing communities. Unfortunately, such a focus comes at the cost of overlooking the dying communities. As commonsense as this strategy appears, there's actually one huge aspect of ministry that it neglects: hope, or to be more specific, the lack thereof. The perspective I bring to this conversation is of someone who grew up in a dying rural community. My experience has taught me that communities struggling with population loss also struggle with hopelessness. And since moving to upstate New York, I can confirm that this attitude of hopelessness is prevalent in the local population.
In fact, I would say that I know WAY more people living here who are only still living here because they can't scrape together enough money to move out of state. Plus, in my almost 7 years here, I've had an unusually high number of New York friends move to states with better economies and job opportunities. By far, these disenfranchised NY citizens far outnumber the people I've encountered who love living here and are committed to making the best of it. Also in my background is time spent living in cities which possessed a growing population and a growing economy. The dichotomy between these two environments is stark, with the growing communities generally being a more positive place to live. Suffice to say, the dynamics of how one would conduct a church ministry in a growing community verses in a dying one are equally drastic. For example, cities that have found economic success are filled with people without want. Sadly, this can turn "going to church" into a consumeristic endeavor where the church with the best (fill in the blank) is sought after by the devout. Whereas people living in a dying community don't much care for the trappings of the mega church model with its light shows, big screens, and programs. Instead, these people are first and foremost, looking for hope. I know that, statistically speaking, it doesn't make sense to start a new church in upstate NY, much less Otsego County. Although, when it comes to understanding that the church has been given a mission to spread hope to people that are lost, hurting, and hungry for hope, that's when starting The Redemption Movement in such an unlikely place begins to actually make sense. Now, I'm not advocating that starting a new church in a dying community is a silver bullet that will turn everything around. However, it's my belief that, if a church movement successfully spreads hope to the hopeless, then good things will begin to happen and positive changes will take place in the surrounding community. Consider the following benefits of how a church can positively influence a community lacking hope, by giving it something to hope for.
When people have hope, drug abuse and addiction loses its grip on lives, and drug epidemics are curtailed (drugs being a well-known problem for Otsego County).
When people have hope, they believe enough in their future to invest in it.
When people have hope, they believe enough in their future to fix their past mistakes.
When people have hope, they long to participate in a spiritual community with those who share their hope (instead of believing the church to be irrelevant).
When people have hope, instead of looking for the first opportunity to escape the problems in their community by moving away, they become intentional about sticking around and looking for ways to remedy them.
When people have hope, instead of looking for the first opportunity to escape a tough family situation by divorcing or leaving, they stick to their wedding vows and do the work it takes to repair a broken marriage.
When people have hope, people have babies and they stick around to raise families. This in turn ensures that a community will have a future.
At The Redemption Movement, Jesus is our hope and we're on a mission to proclaim this Good News to all who are lost, hurting, and in need of hope.
Believe it or not, it was just last May when we celebrated giving our 1,000th safe ride home. Nine months later and we doubled what originally took us more than 2 years to accomplish! And technically, we gave our next 1,000 rides in only 6 months if you count taking off for summer break.
The Story of How We Reached 2,000
What's crazy about this accomplishment is just how fast the safe ride service has grown. In fact, on Feb. 7th, we had our first Kindness Team Brunch and I got in front of the church and told everybody, "It looks like we're on track to give our 2,000th ride in the middle of March." Amazingly, we hit this goal the very next weekend!
The suddenness of giving ride #2,000 actually caught me off guard. As we did with ride #1,000, I wanted to celebrate this milestone by honoring the special passenger with a gift, as well as contact local media outlets about the milestone ahead of time. However, in typical upstate New York winter fashion, the weather all but destroyed these plans. Only this time, it was for the better.
The Coldest Weekend of Winter 2015-16
For Oneonta, Valentine's Day weekend 2016 ended up being the coldest weekend of the Winter, dropping down to below zero on Friday night, and a ridiculously cold -19° on Saturday night (real feel: Ice Planet Hoth). Usually, we only provide rides on Friday nights. However, when presented with the brutal forecast, I made the call to offer rides on both nights.
The result: we gave 135 rides in 2 days--our biggest weekend yet! An unknown rider on early Sunday morning was ride #2,000. Tracking a live ride count while operating 2 vehicles is a bit challenging, so unfortunately, we'll never know who it was.
To take on the subzero weekend, we took advantage of the flexibility afforded us by our downtown Kindness Station. During the week prior, we got the idea to offer free winter clothes at the station, and within days of posting the idea to the Oneonta Kindness Team Facebook Group, a respectable amount of winter clothes was donated; plenty of hats, scarves, gloves, coats, jackets, and sweaters for everybody who needed one.
Friday: -2°, 67 Rides
Come Friday, and we felt pretty good about all of the amenities we had lined up for the station, most of which were meant to warm people up:
After we posted this picture to Facebook, we later found out that the local radio station picked it up and announced our service over the airways. How cool is that!?
— Redemption Movement (@RedemptionNY) February 13, 2016
That Friday, we saw many people take advantage of the Kindness Station's offerings, and, amazingly, we actually had enough brave souls from the Kindness Team volunteer to stand outside in zero degree weather for multiple hours. Now that's dedication!
Saturday: -19°, 68 Rides
For that following Saturday, we did things a little bit differently. I didn't feel right to ask anybody to volunteer outdoors in such extreme cold, so we came up with a new plan: set up the Kindness Station tent and table, load it full of winter clothes, and then spend the rest of the night sitting in the warm cars waiting for people to call us, or approach us for a ride. To give you a sense of just how cold it was, consider this: as Dustin and myself were setting up the Kindness Station, both of our fully charged smartphones died within minutes.
This plan worked out swimmingly. We coordinated the effort so that one of our cars was parked on Main St. in front of the station, while the other vehicle patrolled the neighborhood, looking for people who were walking home. You can image the sheer delight on people's faces when a warm car with a friendly face pulled up beside them in -19° weather.
Plus, it was fun to sit in the warm carand watch people's reactions as they walked up to the station stocked with free winter clothes. I observed that more people took advantage of the free clothes on Saturday night with the station unattended, than they did on Friday night with someone working the hospitality table. For many people, I think they would rather freeze than take a free coat and be seen as "a charity case." The pride of humans is odd like that. One last highlight from serving that cold weekend; on Sunday morning at 4:30am, I just finished packing up everything in our River Street storefront, and as I stepped outside after locking the door, I looked up and saw a massive shooting star light up the frozen sky. As a man of faith who looks for signs, I took that as God's way of telling me, "Good job."
2,000 Rides = 2,000 Lives Saved = Worth It
As we set our sights on the next 1,000 rides, we have to ask ourselves if all of this work and sacrifice is worth it? The answer is a resounding "yes." In addition to making a difference by getting people home safe, this entire effort helps us to meet, connect with, and serve hundreds of people every single week. For our little church plant, it feels like we've found our place in the community after years of trying to find out what works.
Granted, this is a very unique service for a church to do, so much so that a person who's unfamiliar with the intricacies of Missio Dei might scratch their head and wonder if The Redemption Movement is even a real church or not, due to the fact that we don't fit the template of what an American church is supposed to look like. However, at the end of the night, after taking the last person home and when there's no one left roaming Oneonta's streets needing a warm ride home, we feel good, knowing that we've done the work of the Lord. For me personally, sitting in the Kindness Car and taking in satisfying moments like this are just as inspiring as sitting inside of any grand cathedral. That's the simple power of the church when it's in the community, on mission, and making a difference.
I've got two very different money-related experiences from last Sunday on my mind, and they're related in a powerful way.
"I'm Sorry, Did You Say Cash Voucher?"
I want to share the second experience first. A random guy called me, wanting to know if our church takes cash vouchers? I didn't know what he meant by this question, but after prying a bit, I discovered that he was looking for a cash handout. He told me that he's called all the other churches in town and they all have policies about not giving out cash. I told him that we're a new church with a small number of members and not a lot of resources, and that we don't have policies about giving or not giving cash, but we also don't have any funds designated specifically for people who call asking for help. I then asked him, "Is there any other way that we can be of service?" I was thinking that he would then ask for gas for his car, shelter for the night, a meal, a ride, or help with moving furniture (all ways in which our church has helped strangers who have called looking for help). Unfortunately, he declined any other form of assistance besides cash and that was that. Phone call over.
Help That Goes Beyond Cash
I get desperate phone calls like this fairly often, but what makes this experience memorable isn't the call itself, but rather, it's how the stranger's request corresponds to something our church did less than an hour before he called. You see, I just got done collecting cash to give to a family in need. What gives? What made one family worthy of a cash gift from my church, and why did I feel uneasy and even irresponsible about just giving money to a random stranger calling for assistance? Answer: The family goes to our church, while the stranger does not. "But Kaler, isn't that showing favoritism? Aren't you supposed to help everybody that asks for help?" Yes to both questions. You see, for people who make up our church community, their needs take priority and we have no qualms about providing them with cash if they need it. And in regards to the second question, I did offer to assist the man in a way that would practically meet his needs, but he was only interested in getting cash. Another important aspect to these two stories is that the family from our church didn't even ask for money. Instead, my wife heard about their need by way of hanging out with them. When our church gathered on the following Sunday, she presented the need before the group, which lead to an offering being taken up for them.
When You're Here, You're Family
Herein lies the power of community; when relationships within a community reach a certain depth, a person won't have to even ask for help because the community will already know about it and its people will respond accordingly. You know what other social group offers this kind of support for unspoken needs? That's right, a family, and for people who make up the congregation of a church, they're supposed to see each other as a family. Spiritually speaking, this is a reality that's at the core of what we believe a church is--one big family. With this in mind, I began to think about the stranger who called me for cash and I had a sobering thought, "What if, instead of looking for assistance by calling every single church in town (and it was obvious that our poorly financed church was at the bottom of his list), what if he actually visited these churches?" And I'm talking more than a one-time Sunday morning visit, "What if this man would become a regular at a church? What if this man were to become known on a first-name basis with the congregation, join a committee, become an usher, help serve the city's poor, or even just show up regularly at the weekly gatherings?" I know exactly what would happen if this stranger-in-need attempted this approach. He would be welcomed into the life of the church community, he would cease being a stranger, and in a very short time, he would be treated like family. This would be the best thing that could happen to a man in need, because once you've genuinely joined a Christian community, it's like you've gained a whole new family that has your back along with your best interests in mind. And as part of such a family, the church will stop at nothing and move mountains to take care of you and meet your needs, even if it means asking other members of the church family to give sacrificially in order to make it happen. Why? Because this is what any family who loves one another does for each other. In fact, if the church is doing what it's supposed to, and deep friendships and relationships are being fostered, then the man in need wouldn't even have to ask for assistance because the church body would be quick to respond to the need and meet it as soon as it's found out by another church member (like with the family we took up an offering for).
Concluding Thoughts
A stranger looking for assistance from a church will often find it, but it will usually be in a small way that's limited by budgets and policies. However, for someone the church considers to be family, why, that person will essentially be able to "take the church for all its worth;" thanks to every resource of the church being made available to meet the needs of one of their own. And how does one become a part of such a loving, supportive family? For starters, it's as easy as physically visiting a church and spending time with its people. If they show you love and accept you for "coming just as you are," then you've found the right church and it's just a matter of time until its people work tirelessly and give sacrificially in order to meet your needs. Granted, due to the disregard for the financial future of the church organization, this approach makes for an absolutely lousy business model, and it's a poor way to provide a social service. But a church is not a business, a church is not a social service; instead, a church is a family--a family that prioritizes in taking care of one another.
*Update 3-29-16: We've since moved the Kindness Station to 80 Water Street.
The Redemption Movement finally has a prime downtown location to call its own! It’s not so much a permanent location, or even a place that’s indoors, but we’ll take it all the same. What makes me so excited is the fact that, so far, in the 4 times we’ve utilized this new space, we’ve seen it expand on all the work we’ve done for the community--and in big ways!
What I’m referring to is RM’s new “Kindness Station,” located atMuller Plaza on Fridays from 10pm-3am (and Saturdays too if we can swing it). What's a Kindness Station you ask? Think of it like an outpost of sorts, designed to serve the community in a variety of ways, and have the ability to expand by meeting new needs and opportunities as they're presented. At first glance, it may look like a rather humble operation (a tent, tables and chairs, and some signs), but looks can be deceiving. There’s actually a lot going on at this little station.
Front and center is a hospitality table that we keep stocked full of goodies meant to bless Oneonta’s downtown patrons. A passerbyer is welcome to grab/use any of these items, ALL FREE!:
A cup of coffee
Candy
Granola bars
Bottled water
Capri Sun juice packets
Breath freshening gum
Hand sanitizer
Kleenexes
Phone charger
This laundry list of goodies is an absolute hit. In fact, we’ve already reached a point where most of this stuff is cleared out by the end of the night. This means a major trip to the grocery store is required before we can do it all again the next week. It also means that we end up reaching well over a hundred people per night in giveaways alone.
Restocking AoK Supplies
I find it interesting how there’s enough variety of stuff offered here to literally have something for everyone. For example, I put out a bottle of hand sanitizer one night as an afterthought. To my surprise, many folks would stop just to sanitize their hands, then thank us and move on. It's a major effort on our part to offer so much free stuff (and it drains our budget), but the upside to offering all of these goodies is that it allows us to connect with many more people than if we just offered one item, like candy.
How this expands what we do: Since RM's inception, we’ve performed dozens of different acts of kindness on hundreds of occasions, giving away dozens of different goodies to thousands of local residents. Now, for one night each week, it’s like all of our previous AoK giveaways are concentrated into one table. Past outreach efforts like ourSunday Act of Kindness would take up half a day and allow us to meet 10-25+ people per outing. With the downtown Kindness Station, we're able to bless around 10x that amount of people (or more), every week!
Safe Rides Home
You can now easily find us at the plaza for a safe ride home. If available, we’ll have one of our vehicles parked on Main Street for easy access. It kind of feels like we’ve got our very own bus stop (unofficially). And we still take calls if you need us to come to you (607.434.2564).
So far, we’re seeing the number of rides we give to be about the same as before we had the station (25-40+ riders taken home per car, per night). What I’ve discovered is that, whether we use the station or not, there’s just a limit to how many trips one vehicle can make in a 5-hour time span (the max being about 50 riders per 5-6 passenger car).
However, despite the limitations of how many trips we can make, we’ve discovered that, at the station, there’s no shortage of rides to give. Demand far outweighs supply. Here's a recent example of this:
I was responding to a call to pick up a group of 8 at Sal’s Pizza. As I was trying to call car #2 (which was out giving rides) in order to coordinate taking home this large group (I can only fit 4 people in my Kia), another large group at Sal’s asked me to pick them up after I was done taking the group in front of them home. That’s when I got a text message from Will at the station, letting me know that there were 10 people at Muller Plaza waiting for a ride… Clearly we need to trade in our cars for some vans.
Operating the Kindness Station gives us a much clearer picture of just how many people are looking for safe rides home. Now that we have a better understanding of this, we’ve added another feature to our safe ride operation; “Have us call you a cab.” At the station, we have a clipboard listing all the local cab companies, and we offer to call a cab for people who prefer this option. Taxi cab drivers can also park in front of our station if they’d like, we don’t mind. In fact, the way we see it, as long as we can play some part in getting a person home safe, whether it be by us, by cab, or by bus, we feel like we’ve accomplished what we set out to do.
How this expands what we do: Previously, finding one of our cars for a ride was a bit of a crapshoot. As we would park in front of different bars/restaurants throughout the night, we would try our best to live Tweet our location using #OneontaRides, or people would call us, or one could flag us down if they spotted us. Yet, despite these efforts, we were still difficult to find as we drove people home. This actually led to one rider recently telling me, “You’re like a mythical creature! I’ve heard of you, but I wasn’t sure you existed.” Now, people will know exactly where they can go to find us for a ride home, and if our cars are busy, then it won’t be long before we return to our designated spot. In the meantime, there will be plenty of goodies to enjoy while you wait.
Breathalyzer Tests
Another hit of the Kindness Station has been the breathalyzer. It has it’s own table along with a sign meant to educate people on what the different levels of intoxication and DUI penalties are. The purposes of offering these tests are twofold:
To help someone determine whether or not they’re too drunk to drive.
To educate people on what their BAC is so they can associate it with however much they’ve had to drink (we’ve actually seen people commit to stop drinking for the night after finding out that their BAC is higher than what they thought it would be).
When the Kindness Station is up and running, it’s common to have a line of people waiting to get tested, and we’re currently out of breathalyzer tips from doing so many tests.
How this expands what we do: In the past, we would lean the breathalyzer sign against the car and offer tests while waiting outside. This way meant that a lot of people who wanted to get tested didn’t, due to someone approaching us for a ride in the middle of testing a group. Or, at the request of bar management, we simply couldn’t test people while parked in front of some bars, due to strict laws about bars getting penalized for knowingly serving intoxicated people. Now with the station, we can test people’s BAC levels all night long without experiencing any of these limitations.
Heat/Conversation
Near the tent sits an outdoor propane heater. On cold nights people will circle around it and chat with one another, as if they were sitting around a campfire. The heater pumps out plenty of heat, especially for those who aren’t wearing adequate clothing. Plus, we’ve discovered that the warmth of the heater actually creates a safe place where people feel comfortable engaging one another in great conversations.
In fact, many times I would find myself approaching the station/heater after giving a ride, only to feel like I’m walking into a philosophy lecture. Somehow, plopping a heater in the middle of the plaza turns it into a regular Areopagus. One recent example of this came from a young woman who was waiting for a ride at the heater.
While waiting, she talked with everybody, which included members of the Kindness Team and others who were waiting for a ride. Upon approaching, I found myself walking into the middle of a group discussion on abortion, led by this outspoken young woman. People were having passionate conversation, yet nobody seemed visibly upset, which is odd given the divisive nature of such a topic.
Someone then pointed me out as the pastor, to which the girl seemed excited about because now she has someone to grill about my church’s position on abortion. I offered to talk with her about this on the ride home and her and I ended up having a good-long chat about it after dropping off the other riders. At the end of the conversation, I felt like I could call her a friend, which isn’t typical for how these conversations usually turn out.
It’s weird to say, but I feel like the warmth of the heater, along with the loving/open-minded conversations already going at the station before I took home the outspoken young lady, attributed greatly to the success of that conversation.
How this expands what we do: In the past, we would have to cut short great conversations we were having in front of the bars, due to someone asking us to take them home. Now, we have knowledgeable/loving people stationed at one place all night long who are happy to chat with anybody about everything and anything.
All of this paints a picture of the 4 Kindness Station outings we’ve done in 2015, but what about 2016? The beauty of this little station is that it has the potential to serve the community in even bigger ways. Here are just some goals we would like to implement for the Kindness Station in 2016.
First Aid
Having a first aid kit at the station along with someone trained for emergencies would be a major asset to the downtown nightlife, as well as a help for Oneonta’s often-overwhelmed first responders. Just a few weeks ago, we drove a young man to the ER who busted his lip open on the sidewalk, and on that very same night we took a girl home who was assaulted with a beer bottle. Plus, multiple times this semester we’ve encountered and helped people who were bleeding all over the place from various injuries caused by intoxication. If the kindness station doubled as a first aid station, and if it was equipped to care for the overly intoxicated, then we could take care of many of these problems right then and there, instead of taking them to the ER for something simple like an ice pack.
Transporting Addicts to Treatment
More details are forthcoming regarding The Redemption Movement's volunteers participating in OPD’s PAARI program as “angels.” This means being with and transporting someone who wishes to have the local police department make arrangements for them to be placed into recovery. If our Kindness Station team doubles as PAARI angels, we can then inform drug addicts who we meet (and we meet several of them when we go out) about this treatment program, and even offer to give them a ride to the police station and wait with them until treatment has been arranged. Also, it would be nice to include substance abuse literature/tools at the Kindness Station.
More Fun Stuff
Here are just a few fun ideas that I’d like to implement at the Kindness Station:
Games: A great way to bring people together.
Picture Taking: I’ve noticed that people love snapping photos and selfies of each other while hanging out downtown. It would be cool to set up a spot at the station that has backdrop similar to what you see at movie premieres.
Live Music: Hey, why not?
Preventing Fights and Crime
Fight Prevention: On big bar nights, Muller Plaza has a reputation for fights and drug deals. I’m happy to report that, in the 4 nights we’ve done the Kindness Station, not one fight has taken place at the plaza. Although, one drunk guy did attempt to climb the city Christmas tree, but I digress.
Crime Prevention: If we ever happen to have plenty of cars and volunteers to satisfy the amount of rides requested of the Kindness Station, then I’d like to have any extra cars patrol Center City to help make the neighborhood a safer place, as well as find anybody wandering the streets who may be in need.
While spending so much time serving the downtown scene, we want to keep an eye out for additional ways that we can improve the Oneonta nightlife. In fact, we’ve already got two big ideas that we want to see happen.
Unlock the Muller Plaza Gate: As we hang out at the station, we see people all night long hopping the gate separating Main St. from Water St. Eventually, someone is going to hurt themselves doing this. We've already sent out emails and talked to key personnel about changing this gate locking policy. Plus, if the gate was unlocked, then Water Street's bar-goers could more easily access the plaza for a safe ride home.
Bring In Porta-Potties: Downtown bathrooms are very limited, especially when the bars close. For downtown Oneonta at night, public urination is a common sight. In fact, people will brazenly pee on the actual storefronts of Main Street. This is why the stairwells of the parking garage always reek of urine--even after our church takes the time to clean them. Having the Kindness Station include some kind of porta potty trailer (that’s nicer than a regular ol’ porta potty) would really help alleviate this all-too-common problem.
An Opportunity For More Volunteers
In the 4 Kindness Station outings we’ve done, we’ve been able to pull this off with as little as 3 volunteers, and we’ve had as many as 6; all people organized using the “Oneonta Kindness Team” Facebook Group. As you can see from these big plans, this little kindness operation can accommodate a much larger team of volunteers, and the more help we have = the more good we can do. It’s my hope that local organizations will catch this vision and get their people involved, and that, as more people become more experienced in running the station, we would be able to do it both Fridays and Saturdays, and maybe more.
This All Sounds Awesome! How Can I Help?
I’m glad you asked. The Kindness Station is still a new thing. As you can imagine, it’s aggressive approach to serving the community requires a good amount of supplies, volunteers, and funds in order to pull off. Here are just a few of the ways you can help.
Join the Facebook Group “Oneonta Kindness Team” to stay on top of the latest news, and to find out when the next outing will be when you can help. Other needs and kindness opportunities besides volunteering at the station are brought up in this group as well.
Sharing what we do with others. Whether it be word of mouth or social media, only good things will come as a result of more people hearing about what’s going on at Muller Plaza.
Donate to the free ride service. It costs money to pay for gas, car insurance, and repairs, and it would be amazing if we could upgrade to vans so we can take more people home.
Donate to the Kindness Station. All the goodies we give away, propane we burn, and breathalyzer tips we use, it all cost money. These expenses can really add up. In fact, insurance alone for the station is $137/month. Currently, we need more money to pull this off than what our little church can provide.
For more information on how you can help, or to share any ideas that you have on ways we can use this Kindness Station to meet more needs in the community, contact Pastor Kaler. Or, feel free to stop by Muller Plaza on a Friday night and see for yourself what the Kindness Station is all about!
Sunday Morning Worship Service: 10:30am at River Street Baptist Church, 133 River Street, Oneonta, NY
Sunday School, 9:30am
Connect
Contact usto learn about how you can connect with us. You can visit a worship gathering at River Street Baptist Church, check out an upcoming social activity, serve at the downtown Kindness Station, or grab a slice of pizza or cup of coffee and have a chat with Pastor Kaler about faith, life, church, or whatever.
We serve downtown Oneonta with an act of kindness station, which includes providingfree rides home. Open from Midnight-3am and operating on Fridays and special occasions throughout the school year. Contact us if you'd like to help!
Kaler and Laura married in 2006. They spent their lives in Missouri and met while attending Central Bible College, where they both earned bachelor degrees in ministry. In 2009 they moved to Oneonta, NY to church plant The Redemption Movement. The church launched on Good Friday, 2013. Since the launch, Kaler and Laura have become proud parents, welcoming two sons into the world.
