‘Fast Fashion!’  Did you know, as one of the largest industries in the world, fashion is also one of the most environmentally damaging?  How can we as Christians respond? The young people of St Alban’s Pauatahanui landed on this topic and came up with some ways to share what we can do to make a difference. 

We based our 17 September service around the scripture from Colossians 3:12-17, which begins with ‘Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.  Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone.  Forgive as the Lord forgave you.  And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity…..’ 

For the service our young people started with a quiz, which laid the foundations of sharing the impact of fast fashion with some confronting statistics.  We had a discussion around what ‘fast fashion’ is with the congregation sharing their thoughts.  We watched a video from Eco Church about a lady who shared how she reuses and repurposes material and clothing and we then had a catwalk show with the outfits we had bought at the local op shop. 

We wanted to emphasise grace not guilt and to be more mindful, when shopping, or when our favourite clothing shop sends out their weekly email telling us we must have this awesome piece of clothing, to think, “do I really need this?”  The most sustainable wardrobe is the one we already have. 

At the end of the service we wondered how is God calling us to respond’? 

After the service we had a clothing swap during morning tea. 

Our young people have so much to offer us in the way they express their thoughts about God and how we live day to day, to bring healing to our world. 

One place to go to find out more about ethical shopping options is Fair & Good. You can find a link to the website here.