About R Scott Okamoto

Japanese American ExVangelical

R. Scott Okamoto is a 4th Generation Japanese American (Yonsei) born at Fort Dix, NJ. Raised in Pasadena and Arcadia, California, attended U.C. San Diego for a B.A. in Literature/Writing and the University of San Francisco for a M.A. in writing. At some point in his early childhood, his parents attended a Bible Study Fellowship with some friends, launching the family into “born again” Christian faith. The family started attending Lake Avenue Congregation Church where most of the neuroses and hangups Scott would encounter in youth and early adulthood would be developed and nurtured. While at U.C. San Diego, Scott would become worship leader and a bible study leader in Inter-Varsity Christian Fellowship. While in IVCF, Scott’s beliefs shifted in more progressive ways. The more he read the bible, the less clear the faith became. After getting married and moving to San Francisco, Scott and his wife, Geri, stopped attending church, adopting friends from all backgrounds and beliefs. After a last-ditch effort to find anything of worth to them in church by going back to Lake Ave, where it all began, they gave up and deconstructed fully into agnostics. It was during this last hurrah that Scott took a job teaching Freshman Writing at Azusa Pacific University, figuring he would do a couple of semesters there for experience and move on to other schools. Although he also taught at a few local community colleges, he became a popular professor at APU, eventually being promoted to lecturer and assistant professor. By the time he became a full-time assistant professor, he had fully deconstructed from any Christian faith.

He currently lives in Pasadena, California with his wife and three kids.