That’s the tongue-in-cheek term I use to describe my passion for sharing my love of thrifting with anyone who is foolish enough to ask where I got my clothes or who (happily) stumbles upon my blog.

It’s a particularly apt term because I am a preacher, but it’s also tongue-in-cheek because I’m the kind of preacher who grew up in a liberal church environment where everyone was allergic to the E-word (ahem, evangelism).  In my progressive tradition we’re more likely to spread the good news by actions of love and justice than by pamphlet/tract/awkward conversation about whether you’re “saved.”

That’s kind of how I am in real life about thrifting, honestly – I said “passion” above but the truth is that I rarely talk about thrifting unless prompted. (Writing about it on the internet, on the other hand…)  My thriftvangelizing MO is more “look fabulous enough that people want to know where you find your clothes” than “corner them and wax rhapsodic about the joys of thrifting whether they’re interested or not.”  You feel me?

But last week in response to the second half of a thrifting & gentrification conversation, reader Ginna commented about the wide-ranging benefits she’s experienced with thrifting, and I was reminded of an old-fashioned testimonial – the moment when someone gets up and shares all the good in their life resulting from the subject of said testimony.  I found myself nodding along with every skill she’s learned and change in perspective she’s had thanks to thrifting, and, like a good thriftvangelist, I wanted to share.

With her permission: Continue reading “Thriftvangelism” →