Embracing the Unknown

Monday, June 23, 2025

Happy Monday and Happy Pride, my friends! Today marks the beginning of the last full week of Pride Month 2025. Overall, the month has been successful, safe, productive, and joyous despite the various forces which are conspiring to further marginalize and even erase members of the LGBTQIA+ community. LOVEboldly was absolutely blessed to welcome at least 90 people to the Second Annual Interfaith Pride Service (the photo below was taken after the service by board member, NV Gay). We also enjoyed tabling at Westerville Pride, our “hometown” Pride, and at Columbus Pride, put on through the massive efforts of our friends at Stonewall Columbus, including board member Cass Helms. While there is always a certain element of the unknown in Pride Month, these three events—Westerville Pride, the Interfaith Pride Service, and Columbus Pride—have become an expected and welcome rhythm during June.

Yet, as June winds down and we approach July, I’m preparing for the 2025 Holy Convocation of The Fellowship of Affirming Ministries (TFAM). I leave on July 1 for Atlanta and a gathering of LGBTQIA+ clergy, leaders, and Christians, and some fierce allies. That part is hardly unknown, what is unknown is how this particular group does church and life together. Friends, it should be painfully obvious that I’m very white, still somewhat (Anglo-)Catholic, and relatively casual, particularly compared to how I used to be. On July 1 I will walk into a historically Black, strongly leaning Pentecostal space and I’ve only been told how to dress for one evening’s worship service. Is this the epitome of Black church experience with suits, dresses, and hats which would rival any Episcopal church in the South? Is TFAM more casual? Will there be people in shorts at any time of day and people in three-piece suits sitting next to them? Are we putting on a show because who’s going to stop us or does almost anything go because that’s how the kin-dom of God works?

Then I wonder how I’m supposed to act. If you’re follow “Coming Out Christian” (you should be – www.loveboldly.net/comingoutchristian), you know that Siobhan and some of our guests routinely tease me about still being new to clapping in church. Roman Catholics and Episcopalians don’t clap in church, and they definitely don’t do more than nod during sermons and prayers. I admit I’m becoming more comfortable with raised hands and “amens” during worship, particularly when I’m preaching. TFAM solicited for folks to join the mass choir for convocation and thinking that I missed singing in church choirs, I volunteered. Now I wonder what I got myself into. To quote a TFAM clergy member, “What’s the point of being in the choir if you don’t sweat?” Roman Catholics and Episcopalians only aim to sweat whilst singing in as much as they’re vested and under lights. Will I be the big white boy, so easy to identify for that fact alone, and miserably out of rhythm?

I’m still not sure, but this very white, very Midwest, very small-town boy is far more nervous about what he’s supposed to wear and how he’s expected to act than he is about attending an international gathering of clergy, leaders, and Christians, most of whom are Queer, and all of whom are engaged in innovative ministry and activism across traditions, denominations, and national borders.

In Luke 5:4, Jesus commands some of the newly called disciples to “Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.” This is one of the early moments when Jesus asks people to trust him and embrace the unknown. Nearly as remarkable here is that Jesus is a carpenter[1] and he’s giving fishing commands to seasoned fishers. Luke 5:6 tells us that, “When they had done this, they caught so many fish that their nets were beginning to burst.” Jesus often asked his disciples and others around him to embrace the unknown whether in fishing, giving up possessions, living in community, or walking paths without clear or safe ends. Jesus still asks us to step into the unknown even though we experience anxiety about some or all of that unknown.

What unknown are you being asked to step into? What concerns you the most about the unknown?

Let us pray: Jesus, you ask us to step into the unknown. Sometimes you invite us with an outstretched hand and other times you point us in the direction we need to go, confident that we will be all right. Empower us to embrace the unknown and dark places with the courage that your love imparts. Make us people ready for where the sidewalk ends and may we always remember that you walk closely with us even if we don’t see you. Amen.

Blessings on your weeks, my friends! Let me know if there is anything I can do for you.

Faithfully,

Ben +

[1] Yes, we don’t know for sure what occupation Jesus was trained in, but given that Joseph was a carpenter, it’s likely that Jesus too trained in that trade.

Walking Roots

Sunday, June 22, 2025

Max Collier (they/them)

Student, The Methodist Theological School in Ohio

Queer Theologian

I’m in my forties and didn’t come out as Queer until I was 35 and around age 39 was when I realized I was genderqueer and trans. I believe part of the reason I didn’t realize this at a younger age is because I did not have a supportive community or the language. A while ago I was in Costa Rica learning about some conservation efforts. While touring a forest, I learned about an endangered tree, a type of palm that is sometimes referred to as a walking tree. It needs a certain amount of sunlight to grow. Its roots will grow one way towards the sun and the roots away from the sun will die and break off. It literally walks to find an optimal growth spot. However, if the forest were cut down around it, it would not be able to survive. When it has found its optimal spot for growth, it can grow to be a very large and strong tree. I thought about this tree and my own journey. Once I found community to surround and support me, I was able to grow into my strong, authentic self. I’m not sure if you are feeling like the palm tree looking for optimal growth or you are the rest of the forest providing the love and support that other Queer folks need, but I want to encourage you wherever you are, that there are people and communities that want you and need you to survive and thrive.

Reflection

Where have you found places to grow and thrive? How can you provide that support for others?

As an ally, what are some ways you have provided support or would like to provide support for Queer and/or gender non-conforming folks so that they may thrive?

Action

Seek out your local community’s pride or Queer organizations that provide places for community or support. If there are none in your area here are a few resources that I have used and continue to use:

• www.queertheology.com

• www.thekevingarcia.com

• www.loveboldly.net

On Hope and Home (and Hip-Hop)

Thursday, June 19, 2025

Juneteenth

Mark Wesley (he/they)

Board Member, LOVEboldly

Ever Doubtful Queer Christian

“The truth is, if we don't write our own stories, there is someone waiting to do it for us. And those people, waiting with their pens, often don't look like we do and don't have our best interests in mind."

"When you watch hope closely enough, manifested in enough people, you can start to feel it too."

Abdurraqib, H., Reynolds, J., & Ewing, E. L. (2022).

They can’t kill us until they kill us.

Growing up in the Washington D.C/Maryland area, I was surrounded by a lot of sounds. It’s hard to forget the roaring of the approaching Metro train, expertly layered drums from my favorite go-go bands, or the crunch of my aunties from Baltimore cracking open crab legs for us to eat. These sounds were paint on the canvas that was home for me. It's quite hard to imagine the DMV without it.

The stories you hear about Baltimore these days are seldom kind, but also are not unique. Chicago, Jacksonville, Philadelphia and other cities have been deemed lawless wastelands by television pundits and online media personalities alike. I just recently came across a video of a white man walking through the streets of Philly shoving a camera into poor, disenfranchised people’s faces who are in desperate need of care. In the eyes of many, especially those who actually live in these cities, these narratives are incredibly harmful, frustrating, and disheartening.

This is why it is imperative that we, as Black and Brown people, tell our stories ourselves. I'm consuming hip-hop every day that I am able to. It is the soundtrack to the disenfranchised and more than any other genre, it is able to provide a real snapshot of what life is like for people in these communities. "People live our lives to this music," Kendrick Lamar once said in an interview. And it's true. I grew up listening to and admiring Black creatives both in front of the mic and behind the production booth. The stories that I heard in those records, I believe, fundamentally changed me as a person. It taught me, even way back then, that blackness is beautiful and worth preserving.

In his essay on Chance the Rapper, writer/poet Hanif Abdurraqib speaks on the Chicago rapper and how quite a few rappers are their own city's hometown hero. “The interior of the land is layered,” he writes. “Yes, sometimes with blood, but sometimes with bodies marching, with bodies moving, with bodies flooded into

the streets or dancing at the roller rink.” This passage resonated with me deeply because throughout my adult life, I’ve learned that my feelings about home are mine. No one can take them away from me. My Blackness is one that has been shaped by DMV music, art, and food. It's baked within my DNA.

Action

There is so much hatred in our world right now that, frankly, taking a moment to stop and listen to music feels like wasting time. Trust me I completely understand.

Here's my suggestion: go listen to some hip-hop. Maybe you're thinking, "what, really?" Yes, I'm serious. During the darkest periods of my life, I found myself gravitating towards music that deeply speaks to my marginalized existence. Letting yourself be enveloped by this music is one of life's true pleasures. Seek out local artists that speak to you. For my marginalized family, don’t let people write your stories for you. Please share with us, we need it now more than ever.

Reflection

I wanted to end with this question: As our country enters another incredibly dark period, how are you feeling about home and what sounds bring you back to that place?