Just about every weekend home from college my freshman year, I would let it slip that I didn’t have too many friends. It was more like two, give or take. My Dad would annoyingly tell me to just join one of the Christian organizations on campus. I didn’t mind loose involvement, but I’d heard that campus ministries go after new students who are vulnerable and looking for community.
I’d sometimes feel handpicked by youth ministries who, without fail, would find me, ask me questions about my faith that for some reason made me scared and then ask me to attend their services. In the media, cults have been a trend, and I certainly didn’t want to end up in a cult.
I also had some hang-ups. Some Christians have a history of not allowing those who identify as gay or transgender in churches, and I wasn’t okay with that. How could I go somewhere that will likely accept me, a straight young woman, but may judge one of my peers?…