Picture this: a man in a reverend costume stands on a stage and proudly slaps a bright, orange Kraft single to his face.  As the cheese slowly slips down the sweat glistening on his cheek, he addresses the crowd of thousands before him: "With cheese, we can mend the very foundations of our society!"

The reverend and his 10 minute, divine-inspired cheese sermon is only a slice of the madness that continued to ensue at the 1st, 7th Annual Grilled Cheese Invitational at the end of April. 

About 5,000 people crowded into the Los Angeles State Historic Park to celebrate the wonder that is the gooey grilled cheese sandwich.  The cheese love was palpable and the smell of buttery, crisp bread was overwhelming. 

"We have met here on a great battlefield of war, a field of cheese that longs to melt, a sea of butter that longs to grill and bread that cries out for crisping," cried Tim Walker, creator of the Grilled Cheese Invitational, as he stood next to the mayor of cheese and doctor of cheese on a makeshift stage. 

Alongside cheese lovers in large, orange triangle hats and head-to-toe yellow costumes were 250 grilled cheese chef hopefuls, burners and fry pans ready to grill their way to victory.   

"This is my first cooking competition ever," said Jacob Hale, as he stood proudly wearing a black and red apron that read 'Slap Yo Mama.' "I'm going with a Dublin Irish cheese and a basic white bread, so it's as traditional grilled cheese as possible with a little fancier cheese than sharp cheddar."

Hale's grilled cheese falls under the Missionary Position category of the competition.  That's right, the missionary position. 

Competitors could compete in three different categories: the Missionary Position, meant to be the traditional grilled cheese of bread, butter and cheese; the Kama Sutra, which involves any vegetarian or meat ingredients, and the Honey Pot, meant to be a sweet dessert grilled cheese.    

Caterer and first time cooking contest competitor Charisse Mitchell decided to venture into the Kama Sutra category with her "Span-Asian" grilled cheese. 

"It's got manchego cheese and serrano ham which is very Spanish and a little bit of quince paste," said Mithcell.  We are going to roll it up and cut it like sushi and serve it with a truffle balsamic vinegar, which will be the soy sauce and I have caramelized onions to take the place of the ginger, and avocado whipped to take the place of wasabi."

Instead of esteemed culinary minds judging the sandwiches, Walker lets the invitational guests do the judging.  Attendees receive ballots and cast votes for their favorite sandwiches. 

"I would say you need to have the toast a bit crunchy, a bit burnt, the cheese cannot be sitting out for a while, it has to be gooey and I wouldn't mind a little meat in there, maybe some bacon," said Whitney Crawford, one of the Kama Sutra category judges.

With so many judges and so many sandwiches, there was bound to be some disagreement. 

"Some judges are persnickety," said judge Adam Craig.  "I am not, I just want a full, round, taste that isn't too sharp, too sweet or too bitter."

What started as a dare between friends in Walker's old downtown loft has quickly turned into an entirely new sandwich subculture.  Walker said that the 1st in the event name stands for the first time the invitational is held at a certain location and the 7th stands for the number of invitationals total.

 "So the first event we had 16 competitors show up, 100 judges and since then, every year the attendance and the competitors have doubled to the point where we are at now," said Walker.  

Although it seemed like there was cheese oozing out of every corner of the park, Walker said that with every invitational, there just isn't enough grilled cheese for everyone. That's exactly why Kraft handed out approximately 10,000 free grilled cheese sandwiches as the event's title sponsor for the second year in a row. 

"This is all about the joy of the grilled cheese sandwich and the joy of what brings people together around grilled cheese," said Basil Maglaris, corporate affairs manager at Kraft. 

Walker said that if the event keeps growing, he is going to have to take some drastic measures. 

"What we have to do is either move to the Coliseum, where we could actually cook a basket of grilled cheeses on the Olympic flame or we got to go to the Rose Bowl," said Walker.