The Transformational T-Shirt: An Entrepreneurial Faith
My family consumes. We consume much more than I want to admit. I have two growing children that need new clothes nearly every month. Our grocery bill has skyrocketed. We drive more to meet their needs than before, and we are becoming more involved with activities that require accessories and spending. Granted all this consumer action has developed a new skill of using social media to find recycled products for our house and children, almost daily I still purchase something. This is at the core of our economic system. We spend money and as Americans, we spend more than most others.
My family functions best in routine. We go to work, take the kids to school, and go to church on Sunday. Nearly every other action outside of our home involves a more tangible relationship with money. Sometimes we will go shopping for groceries or clothes, make a trip to the zoo or the local children’s museum, or run the typical errands to enter the consumer circle. It’s hard to imagine just how our life would function if another currency other than money was used as the medium for exchange.
My friend Jason works for a company, Agape North, which has an unusual strategy for impacting the Memphis area and other areas around the country and globe. Agape North is a screen-printing and embroidery business. They even have their own line of clothing. The difference with this company is with each purchase or shirt printed, a school uniform is donated in the greater Memphis area, or to an area of the buyers choice. Currently, they are focusing their efforts on 5 major Frayser schools, as well as a handful of other Memphis charter schools. Companies who use Agape North even have the option of hand delivering the school uniforms to students, to hear the stories of these students, and begin to foster a relationship. Instead of just using money to purchase consumer goods, relationships are being built and people are helping to improve the lives of others through a consumer choice.
Many churches are enormous consumers purchasing t-shirts for youth retreats, food for parish events, office supplies, goods and services from outside agencies, books, furniture, even utilities. Is there a growing market for making our consumer choices a faith commitment as well? And is there a way our faith communities can participate in creating consumer choices, advocating for a healthier economy that has a more just system of distribution of resources?
When I think of church ministry, I often think about people gathering to do work for someone else. What Agape North has been successful in creating is a vehicle for others to participate in outreach, through ordinary consumer transactions. Are there ways that faith communities could work towards transformation by providing a product that would also benefit others as well? This image of Agape North helps merge the idea of not only going to church to consume, but by becoming church in a way that means consuming leads to community transformation. I am not exactly sure what this looks like, but am encouraged to explore the possibilities.
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