Shedding comes before growth
Thoughts on "those" documentaries, SBC and a little woo-woo new moon encouragement
Hi friends,
Today is the New Buck Moon on the lunar calendar and the third Sunday after Pentecost for the church calendar. These two things are often considered unrelated but I’m going to take a risk in this essay.
For those new to the lunar calendar, The New Moon is when the moon is hidden in the night sky each month and the New Buck Moon represents when deer shed their antlers in the Spring. I am also new to following the lunar calendar and have enjoyed learning the names of the New and Full Moons each month. Following the lunar calendar has also helped me pay closer attention to the Earth’s natural rhythm and therefore my own rhythms.
The third Sunday after Pentecost, also called Ordinary Time, will extend over the next 20 weeks or so until Advent. In this season the church focuses on the birth and growth of the church since Pentecost. It is a time of deep spiritual exploration and formation as we engage in the Christ Mystery.
Between the New Buck Moon and the season after Pentecost, it seems are we witnessing the shedding and forming of the American church, and I’m here for the ride! But it’s bumpy AF.
I grew up Southern Baptist (kind of). My home didn’t consist of the usual SB culture that existed for many of my peers. There were inklings of American Conservative Evangelicalism but not much. I was raised in public school, watched VH1 with my sister, and the first song I learned on the guitar was Mr. Tamborine Man by Bob Dylan. Sure, we prayed before every meal and attended church regularly(ish). But when my rebellion burst onto the scene in Junoir High when I got suspended from school for drinking vodka in gym class, my parents needed to find a church to help me back onto the straight and narrow. My parents went to First Baptist Church of Birchwood on a gamble, hoping something might stick and I would change. I worked. Even though I learned quickly how to fly my rebellion under the radar, I still met Jesus in that small church and I haven’t been the same since.
After watching both the Hillsong and Happy Shiney People documentaries, I felt as if I could have very well been watching a documentary about the safari jungle. To say it felt completely foreign is an understatement. Yet if you’ve been a part of the American church for any time, these documentaries will legitly piss you off. But after the decision of the Southern Baptist Convention to give the boot to a few churches that ordain women pastors, that felt a bit closer to home. It took me almost a decade to understand why I felt ignored as a worship leader in the SBC. But they kicked out Rick Warren for crying out loud! Purpose Drivin just about everything Rick Warren! That’s ballsy, to say the least, but I’m not that surprised. Even Rick Warren who was the leading voice for his church Saddleback that ordain women, was not surprised. It doesn’t make it any less painful, however.
Male deer, known as Bucks, grow and shed their antlers every year. When their testosterone serges, antlers grow and form. When the hormone diminishes in the spring, bucks shed their horns and await new growth. It is a regular process of shedding and growing, with nothing being wasted along the process, as the shed antlers can be a source of nurturance for other animals. This feels like a beautiful reminder that nothing is wasted in God’s kingdom, even the painful and vial shit that is being exposed and discarded. Even the strongholds of the SBC will have their hour of shedding and somehow it will be used, even if it is just for compost. Let's not forget they are still under investigation for covering up and protecting multiple sexual predators. Kicking out Saddleback Church for ordaining women feels like a side of fries compared to their entree of indiscretion.
Shedding is happening in the American church and we could easily make a case to simply walk away from it altogether, or we can use what has been discarded to grow something different, something new, something that looks a whole lot more like Jesus. So if you think about it, look up tonight and take in the moonless sky of the New Buck Moon. Let the darkness be the soil that catches what falls without fail and from which new things emerge.
I think Paul would roll over in his grave if he knew we were turning his letters into Torah.
- F.F. Bruce