From the Grace Brethren Church, Long Beach, Calif., comes a story of creativity and resourcefulness in developing a career that mirror’s one’s own faith and values.
This story about Beth Giles and her business, Salvage Life, appeared online in Christianity Today. It is written by Cory Willson, an elder at Grace Long Beach and a PhD candidate at Fuller Theological Seminary.
A portion of the article appears below. Read the complete story here.
Redeeming What Was Tossed: Fashion, Faith, and a California Designer’s Creative Calling
…The connection between alternative purchasing practices and fostering a healthy humanity is central to Beth’s passion and creative calling. In an interview, she explained how her vision for Salvage Life came about: “Salvage Life has two meanings. The first is that I ‘Live the Salvage Life’ by attempting to use as many old things as possible to fulfill new purposes. Secondly, I ‘Salvage the Life’ left in an item and allow it to live again. The key to living the Salvage Life is to not see something for what it is, but what it could be.”
Beth’s business is an example of how a Christian can engage in the market economy with a creative vision. Instead of accepting the current dominant business practices as is, and yet refusing to withdraw from market economy and the fashion industry, Beth has taken the approach of creative protest and attempted to bring change by displacing old cultural patterns with new and appealing goods and services. Further, she is committed to sharing her creative vision with other businessowners in Long Beach, contributing to their businesses’ flourishing as well. Beth recently set up a fellow shop owner’s blog and developed her Internet presence using the skills she has gained in the industry. “Rather than compete, I’d love to work together so that we can all be successful,” says Beth. …