The Journal: News of the Churches of God

From Connections: Make a fashion statement of beliefs

The writer is full-time college student and part-time entrepreneur.

By Trey Cartwright

You guessed it! It's that wacky, zany time of year, so get ready for the Special Edition Christmas article by Trey Cartwright.

I'd like to address the cheap and shameless merchandising you can't help but notice from about the time you buy your first textbooks of the fall semester. It's about to make me sick. If I see one more motorized Santa Claus statue that wiggles in time with the song "Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer," I will probably come down with a case of the grippe.

Not to mention the Singing Wreath. Does anyone actually buy this stuff, or is it just a great joke that store managers like to play on consumers?

I bet those crafty managers get together at conventions and laugh. "Ha, Ha, we really pulled a slick one over on those consumers this year," they probably evilly say. "By the way, did you get that new shipment of dancing fruitcakes dressed to look like Santa doing an Elvis impersonation at your store yet?"

As long as the little creative gears are churning in my head, I'll let my mind wander over into the realm of high-fashion merchandising.

I've seen Christian parody shirts everywhere lately: you know, the kind that take major corporate logos and give them a bit of a religious twist.

That's all well and good. In fact, I wish I'd thought of it first, but what we need is some serious Sabbatarian clothing. I'm not talking about those blue-and-fuzzy-gray letter-type jackets that had the WCG seal on the back. I'm talking about clothes that make a real fashion statement of beliefs.

Of course, anyone can go with the mainstream look and sell T-shirts with slogans like "My family went to Wisconsin Dells for the Feast of Tabernacles and all they got me was this lousy T-shirt." In fact, in the December 1999 issue of The Worldwide News you can buy golf shirts and caps with the WCG logo embroidered on them.

I am not making this up.

What I'm proposing is a line of formal wear: sports jackets, suits, dresses, ties and shirts tastefully monogrammed with your church's or home fellowship's initials.

Perhaps this clothing could be offered in a mail-order catalog called "The Sharper Sabbatarian Image," along with art-deco gift items such as sleek men's watches made of steel and leather that count backwards from 1975.

Maybe I could hire whoever does those Christmas promotions to store managers and become the Sam Walton of Sabbatarians. It's a thought.

(Don't forget to send in your museum pieces. We're still looking for the Stanley Rader sunglasses.)

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