Why I’m Peeling the Orange

 


Well hey there, friend.


Name’s Dickie Clementine—retired youth pastor, 22 years in the game, 12 different Southern Baptist churches, and one very tired liver from all the lock-in pizzas and “Mountain Dew baptisms.”

I’ve seen it all: church splits over carpet colors, worship wars, and middle schoolers speaking in tongues (usually just from too many Sour Patch Kids).


For the better part of two decades, I wore the badge of “Youth Guy” with pride—but last year I walked away from full-time ministry and the church.


These days, I spend my hours as the Costco Meat Man.

That’s right—I move and love meat. Briskets, sausage, pork chops, tenderloins, and ribeyes.  It’s honest work

Orange Leader Dickie Clementine headshot
Orange Conference theme be human

 


I was all-in on Orange. I drank deeply from the Kool-Aid (sometimes with ice, sometimes straight from the tap). I attended 6 Orange Conferences and 9 Orange Tours.  My favorite speaker? Jon Acuff, no question. Hilarious. Sharp. Short. Just like me.


I didn’t just attend—I implemented the Orange Strategy. For 12.5 years, I used nearly every Orange tool in the shed:

  • Orange Curriculum
  • Married People
  • YOULEAD
  • One Big Story
  • XP3 College
  • Lead Small
  • Parent Cue


I’ve read every single Orange Leader book—some more than once. My favorite? Playing for Keeps. That book wrecked me in all the right ways.



I was mentored—personally—by Stuart Hall, co-author of The Seven Checkpoints. Stuart is, without a doubt, the most relevant and oldest youth speaker still roaming the earth today. Like a fine southern bourbon, he’s only gotten stronger with age and a little more unfiltered. Stuart taught me what it meant to disciple students without performing, and how to still wear sneakers with orthopedic inserts.

 

I made friends with most of the Orange crew—current and former—on both Instagram and Facebook. We shared laughs, breakout sessions, and late-night hotel lobby therapy after sessions that stirred up more questions than answers.

But then came the sex scandal between Reggie Joiner and Kristen Ivy. Two of my favorite Orange leaders. A sex scandal that left me wrecked, confused, doomed, hopeless, depressed as I quietly grieved and cried myself to sleep for months.  

That season of grief cracked something open in me—and believe it or not, it led me to my newfound spiritual path: Norse Paganism.

 

Now before you roll your eyes and picture me in a Viking helmet raiding a Whole Foods, hear me out.  After years of performance-driven worship and talks, corporate logos disguised as church vision, and pastors who sounded more like TED Talkers than shepherds, I needed something raw, earthy, and ancient.

Norse Paganism gave me that. The gods don’t market themselves. They don’t ask for platform shoes or book deals. They demand courage, community, and authenticity. I needed a new rhythm—one that didn’t burn me out or gaslight me in the name of ministry.

 

That’s why I started UnpeelingOrange.com.

 

This website is not a hit job. This is my safe place—a digital back porch where I can process the mess, and peel back the layers of the Orange ministry world I once loved.

 

I’ll share my stories, reflect on what I saw (and ignored), and post the whispered confessions from ex-Orange insiders who trusted me with their truth.

If you’ve ever served in ministry, been to an Orange event, or loved a leader who fell from grace—this site is for you.

 

Welcome to the peeling. And it might sting a little.

 

—Dickie

jon acuff laughing