Giving Tuesday - A Message from Rev. Dr. Ben

Tuesday, December 2, 2025

Dear Friends,

It’s Giving Tuesday, and I’m writing to you first thing this morning because this matters to me more than I can fully express.

I’ve recorded a video for you. In it, I talk about what LOVEboldly means to me—not just as Executive Director, but as a Queer person of faith who grew up in the church, who knows what it’s like to wonder if God could really love someone like me.

And this is my dream job. This work—creating spaces where LGBTQIA+ Christians don’t just survive but flourish—is what I’m meant to do. It’s what God has called me to do. And right now, in this particular moment, it’s never been more important.

Here’s where we are: We’ve raised 13% of our $10,000 goal. That means we still need $8,690 by December 31st.

I won’t sugarcoat it—LOVEboldly is in a challenging moment. But I believe deeply in this mission. I believe in the Fellows Program that equips leaders. I believe in the resources that change churches. I believe in the community we’re building for LGBTQIA+ people of faith who need to know they belong.

And I believe in you.

Today—right now—I’m asking you to give.

Think about the queer kids sitting in church pews this Sunday, wondering if they’re broken. Think about the parents trying to reconcile their faith with their love for their LGBTQ child. Think about the pastors who want to create affirming spaces but don’t know where to start.

Your gift today reaches all of them.

Three ways to support LOVEboldly on Giving Tuesday:

1. Make a one-time gift and help us close the gap on our $10,000 goal

2. Start a monthly donation of $10, $25, or $50 to provide year-round stability

3. Share this email and our campaign with anyone who cares about LGBTQIA+ inclusion in faith

We have until December 31st, but today sets the tone for everything. Today tells us whether we can count on this community to show up when it matters most.

I’m showing up. Will you?

DONATE NOW

With hope and urgency,

Ben +

Rev. Dr. Ben Huelskamp

Executive Director, LOVEboldly

P.S. Monthly donors are our lifeline. Even $10/month gives us the sustainable support we need to plan ahead and expand our impact. If you’ve been waiting for the right time to become a monthly donor, today is that day. Become a monthly donor by clicking here.

Christmas - Why Wait?

Sunday, November 30, 2025 - First Sunday of Advent

The Rev. Anna Guillozet (she/her)

Senior Pastor, Linworth United Methodist Church

Allied Christian

We read in Ecclesiastes chapter three that “For everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven.” What does that mean for us, however, when Christmas decorations seem to go up before all the trick-or-treat candy has even been consumed? I can hear Cindy Lou Who singing, “Where are you Christmas? Why can't I find you? Why have you gone away?” and that seems so comical in our culture in which Christmas lasts for two solid months. I think we cling to the notion of Christmas because we are desperate; for something bright, for something distracting, for something comforting. We are desperate and we need those feelings now. Delayed gratification is something that many of us as individuals and we as a culture on demand are not good at living into, and yet the season of Advent, by its very nature, calls us to wait.

For so many, this time of year is a crash into the darkness as we continue to prolong and further complicate our relationship with Daylight Saving Time. Not only do the nights get longer, they descend upon us earlier. Perhaps

the reason so many are drawn to the twinkly lights of Christmas is because they serve to distract us from the darkness. The challenge is that Advent is a season observed in many places within the Christian church as a time of expectant waiting while we simultaneously celebrate the birth of the infant Christ and wait for the return of Christ.

This strikes me as a problematic teaching on the verge of Advent, the church season of deepening darkness, when Christians are asked to remember that we measure time differently from the dominant culture in which we live.

We begin our year when the days are getting darker, not lighter. Many traditions and people count sunset as the beginning of a new day. However things appear to our naked eyes, we trust that the seeds of light are planted in darkness, where they sprout and grow, we cannot fathom. This darkness is necessary to new life, even when it is uncomfortable and feels like it goes on too long. Barbara Brown Taylor writes of this notion: “Here is a helpful reminder to all who fear the dark. Darkness does not come from a different place than light; it is not presided over by a different God. The long nights of Advent and the early mornings of Easter both point us toward the God for whom darkness and light are alike.”

During the season of Advent, I find myself drawn to the people and traditions who start a day at sunset. Instead of the night being the final thing that we are forced to face when we are exhausted, we can view a peaceful, gradual, intentional journey toward the darkness not as something to be feared, but a time in which our senses are heightened toward God’s presence. The darkness is not a separation from God. The darkness is not a place to avoid. The darkness is not full of terror.

What the darkness is, however, is an invitation to pause, breathe, and search. We need not rush toward Christmas, but instead wait with intention, sometimes in the darkness, for the light to appear.

For further study, take in Psalm 139 (especially verses 7- 12).

Small Moments of Grace

Sunday, November 23, 2025

The Rev. Dr. Ben Huelskamp (he/they)

Executive Director, LOVEboldly

Queer Christian

When [the shepherds] saw [Jesus], they made known what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them, and Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart. (Matthew 2:17-19)

Today is our last Sunday before Advent. Many of us are getting ready for Thanksgiving on Thursday, finalizing our plans for hosting or cooking for dinner, strategizing about how we can most creatively deal with family, and getting ready for the onslaught of post-Thanksgiving and pre-Christmas chaos.

Yet, Advent—which starts next Sunday, like you needed something else to worry about—is meant to be a time of slowing down. Perhaps, you, like me, find it near impossible to slow down during this time of year, then Advent can be about recognizing the small moments of grace and wonder. We’re told in Matthew 2:17-19 that “When [the shepherds] saw [Jesus], they made known what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them, and Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart.” I imagine Mary taking it all in and trying to mix her exhaustion and worry with the grace and surprise of what she was witnessing.

Reflection

Where do you find wonder during Advent and Christmas?

What small grace are you experiencing?

Action

Find one or two times or places in your daily life where you can be or can offer a small moment of grace to someone else.