Hey y'all! Thanks so much for following. If you're a new follower, or if you've never heard my story, here's a little bio thread.

I'm a gay Christian educator, pastor, musician, writer,
@TEDx speaker and spiritual director living and working in San Francisco's North Bay Area.

In my day job, I teach transitional kindergarten and elementary music for @scds, a beautiful private TK-8 school in Santa Rosa.

And, along with my bff @tonygapastione, I co-pastor
@questnovato, a wonderful, quirky little “evangelical-ish” American Baptist church in Marin County.

We're a progressive, LGBTQ+ affirming Christian community with a "Verified Clear" score from @churchclarity. We’re not a gay church, but we can be gayyyy *at* church! 

http://questnovato.com 

I serve on the board of directors of the @journeycenter, a Christ-centered home for contemplative spirituality here in Santa Rosa. I'm a certified spiritual director, and I'm a member of @SDI_world.

I am excited to be working with Candice Czubernat ( @TheChristianCL) and The Christian Closet as their spiritual director, working one-on-one with clients as well as facilitating support groups.

I'm passionate about the intersection of sexuality and spirituality, and I work to create safe, sacred space for people exploring these identities.

I have a special connection to people who find themselves in mixed-orientation marriages. I myself came out of the closet later in life, after a 23-year marriage to a wonderful woman and a long career as an Evangelical worship pastor.

For 17 years, I worked as a worship pastor in the
@Cov_Church, serving churches in Redwood City, CA; Houston; Tulsa; Seattle & Santa Rosa.

In 2016, I had the privilege of giving a
@TEDx talk with my former wife, Luanne Nightingale, called Choosing Gratitude and Hope.

It tells our story of a mixed-orientation marriage, our evolving understanding of faith and sexuality, and the painful but necessary choice of divorce, all within the context of gratitude and hope.

It’s been viewed nearly 30K times now, and I've had the privilege of meeting and working with many others in similar circumstances since then.

There's so much more to say, but I'll finish with perhaps the most important thing about me. I'm the proud and grateful father to four amazing human beings.

Joshua is 25, about to graduate from Oklahoma State with an electrical engineering technologies degree and currently cracking me up with his unique brand of bizarro humor over on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shuanightingale/

And just about a month ago, he married the amazing Olivia.

Olivia is wonderful human being, and an incredibly talented artist. They created these for the wedding.

Jacob is 22, living in Los Angeles and pursuing his dream of making a living in drumming/music. He's an extraordinary musician, and you should definitely follow him on Instagram: https://instagram.com/j_c_nightingale . He's engaged to the wonderful @kajsajohnsrud.

. @emzynight (my Tik Tok-making daughter and probably the reason you're reading this) is 18 and graduating from high school this spring. She's an amazing singer/guitarist, too, and you can find her on Instagram here: https://instagram.com/emzynight .

And finally, Emily's twin brother, @_SquidTheCat, is also 18 and graduating from high school. He's a great drummer, a talented graphic artist and a competitive Melee player. His Instagram is: https://www.instagram.com/zachynight/  and you can find him on Twitch at https://www.twitch.tv/squid_the_cat .

There's lots more over at my website. Come visit me at http://mattnightingale.com  for videos and sermons and music and writing and resources.

Please consider joining my mailing list!

https://mailchi.mp/d77aca2e0b63/mattnightingalesignup

Thank you for reading! I'm a very, very fortunate man, and I'm so grateful for this life - and for all of you! I love the community I have found over the years here on Twitter.