Gay Guy in Seminary: Day 5 (sake!!!)

You know, going away can be kind of fun if you do it right. Everyone wants to take you to lunch and/or dinner. There's party's, BBQ's and other get-togethers. There's movies, and shopping and hanging out with people. It's actually pretty cool!

I've noticed I've been doing a lot more drinking than normal the last month or so. Wine gives the best buzz, of course. Tequila kind of sneaks up on you. Beer and Sake you kind of have to drink a lot of to get a good buzz going.

We had sushi tonight; with sushi comes beer and sake. My birthday is tomorrow, so the sushi chef gave me a bottle of sake to drink for myself. A few years ago, I never would have thought I would have been comfortable drinking a whole bottle of sake by myself. But, it's my birthday and I'm leaving and I was surrounded by family and friends, so I thought "What the heck?"

A little advertisement for the local sushi bar here: Yama Sushi freakin' rocks!!! I always get my special roll, which isn't on the menu. It has spicy tuna inside, with avocado on the outside and eel sauce and hot chili oil drizzled on top. DELICIOUS!!!!!

It was a totally random night; all these people we knew kept showing up and pretty soon we had a rockin' party goin'.

I leave in 9 and 1/2 hours. Hammie is packed to capacity; the rest of my stuff is gonna have to go in my parent's car. Madonna Inn, here we come!!!

Gay Guy in Seminary: Day 1 (In the Beginning...)

So, I just watched Julie & Julia a few days ago and shortly afterwards decided that I should start a blog. I'm sure I'm not the only one that had this idea.

I leave for San Fransisco Theological Seminary, or SFTS in 5 days. SFTS is a Presbyterian seminary. I am gay. I am Presbyterian. The Presbyterian Church does not allow gay people to become ordained ministers. I realize this is a problem.

The thing is, SFTS knows I am gay, and I have met several gay students there already. They have an open campus policy and even allow gay couples that are registered domestic partners to live together in the student housing. I haven't figured everything out yet, but it almost seems like the Presbyterian Church has a "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy when it comes to ministers, because these people have to end up somewhere after they graduate.

Now, within the Presbyterian Church, there are people on both sides of the "gay issue." But, official church policy as of the eleventh day of August in the year of our Lord two-thousand and nine, is that gay people cannot be ordained within the Presbyterian Church.

Beyond the Presbyterian Church, Christians haven't been very nice to the gays, and the homosexual community, for the most part, has been dismissive of Jesus Freaks. I realize I am far from being the first gay Christian, the Episcopalian Church even has a gay bishop! But, it is still a rare perspective, and for any who are interested, I will be recording my four year seminary experience here. Who knows, it may even continue beyond that.

Good night for now, gentle readers. Stay shiny!