Christmas Revolution Stories From Our Congregation

Stephanie Brandelius Kline at 3:05pm December 30
We proudly spent the least amount this year and had the best time! No pressure, no stress, no deadlines. Things were bought or created with heart, gifts came from resale stores and our kitchen. The joy of seeing happiness from gathering together rather than from mountains of bills was totally refreshing!

I hope "this season" never ends!

Dear Reverend
This christmas my mom and grandma restored old photographs of my ancestors for me, and sat around telling me the stories of each one. Can you imagine, receiving your own identity as a gift? There was a desparate macy's ad on the radio, and Mom switched it off, saying, "Macy's, when we need you we'll let you know." Happy New Year! Emily

Rev,
I got my family to cut down on present buying this year by doing "names out of a hat" so that each person received one meaningful gift instead of multitudes of stuff we bought "just because." Most gifts were bought locally. It's a start. Amen! -- Laura

Dear Stop Shoppers,
I am an artist so I gave my family painted rocks! I painted endangered species on them and found a story to go along with each animal. Veronica

Dear Rev
My husband and I gave family members books from our own library; my sister gave us a bag of organic onions she harvested from the farm she works on. And it was the least stressful holiday we've had in years! Thank you, Alexis.

Change-a-lujah!
My father, designer that he is, created a calendar with different family photos for each month, of ancestors, childhood photos, wedding and baby pictures, and gave one to each of his children. We wept as we opened it and went through each page in total wonderment. It was one of the greatest gifts I've ever received. I also gave my mom the first draft of my new novel which was what she wanted more than anything. Buylessly, Georgina

Praise Be!
This year for christmas we had a book swap and i arranged for a child in our neighborhood who was going to go without to get second hand toys that we cleaned up and wrapped... it was actually an amazing experience. probably the best christmas i've had in a long time! - Lori

Dearest Rev. Billy, Savitri, Stop Shopping Gospel Choir and Not Buying It band,
We wanted to let you know that we changed Christmas in our home, with our friends and family this year, inspired and uplifted by your preaching. we ourselves exchanged no gifts except hugs, kisses, smiles and kind words. We participated a couple of group gifts (a home selzer maker to stop participating in the shipping of bubbly water across the planet, and a donation in a friends name to Heifer.org for a basket of chicks, geese and rabbits.) I bought some locally made goat soap for co workers and stopped there. What a relief, what a gift to not have to purchase a gift! To top it off, we watched What Would Jesus Buy? with my mother, sister, uncle and friend on Christmas day, adding to one of the best Christmas's in our family memory. So if you ever wonder if you are reaching people, if we are changing, be assured, you are and we are.
Merry Christmas!
Thank you!
Cara and Loonabide

I admit we're not so good at looking at where everything is made, but in the end, we buy very little of anything, regardles of origin, we can't afford it. This year, we made a lot of gifts- my best friend hand painted figurines found in second-hand shops (they were painted badly originally, she has a knack for fixing them up), i took updated portraits of myself and my brother for our parents. We sew and paint and create smaller gifts for everyone and only purchase things that we know are needed (bottles and blankets for a friend expecting a baby, plates and glasses for someone who just decided to move out of their parents house, etc).

Eventually the big retailers and greedy corporations will push everyone into the ground and they won't have any customers left. None of us will be able to afford $350 and $500 game consoles and $2000 HDTVs when our wages are all down under $10/hr and we can't even afford to see a doctor. Sometimes I think, sadly, that the end of this will only come when the corporate and banking giants implode on themselves. It will destroy our economy, but maybe then people will wake up and see that $80 Abercrombie shirts were NOT what life was all about.

Life is sitting around a table with friends playing cards all night and laughing, taking our dogs to the park and running around with them for hours until everyone goes home and crashes on the couch in a giant furry pile, and teaching our kids (or nieces/nephews, grandkids, brothers/sisters, whatever) that cookies are so much better when made from scratch and not pushed out of a tube.

Sara

After watching "What would Jesus buy" for the 4th time [recently i popped it on the dvd player with a few different people in a few separate sittings to have them watch it before the holiday], and today being the 4th time, and Xmas, I felt inclined to send you a message!

The documentary was funny but also very inspiring! In fact, it was probably the main reason formy purchasing the small amount of items I gave out for the Holiday. I only purchased 4 gits, all of which were handmade items [if I actually had a crafty hand, I would have made something myself] by individuals selling crafts on ebay and etsy.com. It was so very refreshing to see the smile and glow on my best friends face when she opened her handmade, one of a kind, bride of Frankenstein necklace. :)

I honestly don't consider myself a religious person,in fact I mostly can't stand the holidays. People act all nice and friendly for one day, and put on fake smiles. No one really seems to know what they are celebrating these days, and I don't feel a need to give into a facade of a holiday. Then everyone runs around pushing and shoving to blow their hard earned cash on garbage that will be forgotten come the new year anyway. Even though I have felt this way for sometime now, watching "what would jesus buy" did definately have an impact on how I shop and my gift giving.

So thank you to you and your lovely wife for being inspiring and for sharing your message with us all!

Happy Holidays to you and your loved ones!

*Mary*


Hello! Thank you! Praise the Lord! Amen! Right on!
I'm writing this from the computer of my aunt and uncles house in Virginia, and have silently decided that this will be my last typical Christmas. I suddenly got the urge to rent a movie I'd seen in the store last year (sorry, I went and used that S word), which was What Would Jesus Buy? I thought it might be fun to see during a Christmas eve by myself with a 6 pack of red stripe. My family, who I don't see very often, goes to bed early, and spending time together means watching CNN. There's a song by Electric Light Orchestra that says everything that I've been feeling lately ("The Way Life's Meant To Be"). Anyway, I'm a little over halfway done with the movie, and though I wanted to finish it before writing, I just couldn't wait. I love what you people are doing, and want to say thank you, from a rare, serious part of myself. I can speak about things with honesty and passion, but usually there are some giggles here and there. This is actually something (despite my tipsy typing) I feel very strongly about, especially after this particular holiday season. It's been such a long time since I've spent Christmas with my family, and now I understand why I dread it so much. My dad and I were driving to the grocery store and I said, "I think this is the last year I'm going to do Christmas. It's really stupid." and he said, "yep, sure is." So that was what I call support, and now, we can support each other. I met a kid at school a few weeks ago named Carey who doesn't celebrate Christmas, but instead makes prank calls to his family with his mom. I might be in love.

Okay well, I've wanna go finish my movie. Hope to see you in the midwest someday. Thank you for all you do! Happy solstice and keep 2009 loud with that choir!

-Sara

PS- I'm so glad to see that nobody was seriously injured on the tour. Keep each other safe, and be careful on those roads!

I sell TV's at a big box retailer in Cincinnati. On Christmas Eve I staged a minor coup. I Played "What Would Jesus Buy" on all the TV's with audio blasting. We don't have managers in the video department just in the front of the store so they were way too busy making sure all of the shoppers we being taken care of that when they asked what it was I told them multiple times that it was just a show about touring choir singing Christmas songs in public. Most people where too far in their shopping haze to notice, but those that watched were captivated. I had people repeatedly ask me "what is this"? I just told them i had no idea it was just on TV. People looked like they were waking up from a deep sleep. Mabey you changed one person this Christmas eve, who knows. Just think. You got an hour and a half of exposure, and the only way people could get away from you is to leave the store. LOL

I hope you are staying positive because you are making a diffrence. I know that rev. Billy's message is a secular one, but you are doing God's work. It's ironic that the pulpit of a fake preacher is more genuine than anything you could ever see on TBN or coming out of the crystal catherdrial. You are new age John the baptist, a voice in the wilderness. If i ever see you in my store i will take it as a sign from God and quit right there on the spot. God bless you. Keep going.


I find it hard to understand when exactly we, the people, stopped believing in giving and believing in receiving. I find it hard to understand when we decided to play the role of Jesus instead of the three kings or shepherds.

There is a church where I come from in Plano, TX called Prestonwood Baptist Church. It has several nicknames, two of which include the Baptidome and Six Flags Over Jesus. Not only is it enormous, but it includes a Starbucks (one of your favorite things) as well as a Chick fil A and several gift shops. After watching the documentary about you and what you believe, I can't help but question what exactly it is that this church is teaching.

This year and for Christmases to come, my fiance and I have started. He and I shop around and figure out what we would give each other for Christmas. But instead of buying that item, we donate that amount to a specific charity for the holidays. When we have children, although we plan to buy them a gift or two because it would be hard for young children to understand why their friends are receiving so many gifts and they are not, they would participate in this tradition as well.

I find your message very inspiring and very true. Thank you for your message.

Andrea


The famous author Charles Dickens wrote A Christmas Carol at a time when there was no social safety net or access to healthcare for the urban poor, to stir the human spirit and remind us that all human life is precious, and that there are grave consequences for ignoring the plight of the less fortunate.

This Christmas Eve we are visiting the Mayor just like the three spirits who visited Scrooge to remind him that cuts have consequences. This protest is our Christmas present to them and to bring attention to all the “Tiny Tims” who wont be here for next Christmas because of these budget cuts.

We are chaining ourselves to the Christmas tree to symbolize the moral chains the Mayor will be wearing because of these budget decisions, to represent the chains of those who struggle in poverty, and to demonstrate the tied hands of social workers and non-profit service providers in this city who are unable to help the people escape poverty without a real budget for resources.