LOVEboldly Newsletter - August 2025

From the Executive Director

Dear Friends and Family,

I say it every year, during June we're going everywhere for Pride Month, but in July everyone disappears. This was just as true this July as any other. But even with the LGBTQIA+ community's slow down in July, LOVEboldly kept working. I spent the first week of July in Atlanta at the 2025 Holy Convocation of The Fellowship of Affirming Ministries (TFAM) and had the opportunity to talk about LOVEboldly with many folks who were immediately interested in our work.

TFAM was celebrating our 25th anniversary which got me thinking: “Where's LOVEboldly in our history?” Friends, next year we will celebrate our 15th anniversary! No concrete plans just yet, but stay tuned because we are going to party! Remember, Queer joy is resistance and liberation theology is also party theology for anyone who has ever been marginalized!

During July, God also brought a new “super-volunteer” to us ready to help with marketing and reviving our on-the-ground presence in Cincinnati which in turn inspired us to think about growing our on-the-ground presence in Cleveland too. You can learn more about those efforts, which are still in the planning stages, below.

That's exciting, right? Amen!?!1

With the 15th anniversary in mind and thinking about expansion efforts, I have a challenge for you: I want 15 people to step up during August and contribute at least $75 each (you can definitely give more) as a jump start to our 15th year and the work LOVEboldly is doing in the world. Remember, we're Queer (and allied), we're here, and we love God and Jesus continues to invite us just as they have from the beginning!

Donate Now

As always, thank you for all you do for LOVEboldly!

Sincerely,

Rev. Dr. Ben Huelskamp +

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An Exciting Development - Expanding Our Influence in Cincinnati and Cleveland

Recently, Ron Roark reached out to Ben and offered to help rebuild our on-the-ground presence in Cincinnati. LOVEboldly already sponsors a parents and families group (learn more about them here) in Cincinnati, but we haven't been able to offer other programs and in-person events in that area for a number of years.

That's about to change! We are busy working to recruit new partners and re-engage with past partners and old friends. Are you in Cincinnati or the tri-state area? We'd love to hear from you and make sure you get invited to any Cincinnati-specifc programs we develop! Please reach out to Ron Roark at ron@ronroark.com to learn more (you can also click here to learn more about Ron).

A similar program will be launching soon in the Cleveland area. Are you in Greater Cleveland and want to help us there? Email Ben at bhuelskamp@loveboldly.net.

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"Queering the Message: Mitigating Political Violence Through Intentional and Strategic Communications" - September 11, 2025

Co-sponsored by LOVEboldly, Stonewall Columbus, and Over Zero, this training centers LGBTQIA+ leaders and allies working in the LGBTQIA+ space for time to learn how we can structure our communications to mitigate and prevent violence while defending our community.

​The workshop will cover:

• Narratives that are used to justify political and identity-based violence, and how to counteract them

• How LGBTQ+ scapegoating operates and is connected to democratic backsliding, and what we can learn from counter-efforts worldwide

• Messaging guidance for preventing and responding to attacks against the LGBTQ+ community, including how to inoculate against scapegoating

In addition to learning together, we will take time to collaboratively strategize around and practice crafting relevant communications that embody best practices.

Attendance is free and breakfast and lunch will be provided, but advance registration is required. Please register at https://www.loveboldly.net/queering-the-message.

Have questions? Feel free to contact Ben at bhuelskamp@loveboldly.net.

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YouTube - Check Out Our Channel and Subscribe

Did you that LOVEboldly has a YouTube channel? We've been sharing content from “Coming Out Christian” and recordings of Monday Moments. We also still have some older content that's still relevant. Right now we only have 68 subscribers, could you help us increase that number?

Click here to access our channel!

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Donor Advised Funds

Starting this month we're going to be highlighting different ways that YOU can contribute to LOVEboldly and other nonprofits.

Disclaimer - The information provided here is not financial, legal, or investment advice. Please consult a financial, investment, tax, and or legal professional in your locality for specific advice and requirements.

What are Donor Advised Funds (DAF)?

A Donor-Advised Fund (DAF) is an investment account that is used for charitable giving. It allows individuals, families, or organizations to make charitable contributions and recommend grants to their preferred charities over time. These contributions are administered by a third party, called the sponsoring organization, such as a financial institution or community foundation.

Donor-Advised Funds combine the ease of a charitable savings account with the flexibility of strategic giving. They are considered the fastest-growing charitable giving tools in the U.S., offering donors a convenient, cost-effective way to manage donations while optimizing tax advantages.

What benefits do they provide for the donor?

• Simple to establish: Setting up a Donor-Advised Fund is straightforward and often requires minimal paperwork.

• Flexible funding options: Donors can contribute cash, stocks, or other assets.

• Tax advantage: Some tax benefits of Donor-Advised Funds include tax-deductible contributions and tax-free investment growth within the Donor-Advised Fund.*

• No minimum distribution requirements: Unlike private foundations, Donor-Advised Funds do not mandate annual payouts.

• Allows for anonymous granting: Donors can choose to remain anonymous when recommending a grant.

• Investment options: You can recommend an investment strategy for the assets in your Donor-Advised Fund, potentially increasing the funds available for future grants.

Do you have a Donor Advised Fund?

If you have already set up a DAF you can recommend contributions to LOVEboldly! Your advisor or sponsoring organization can find out more about LOVEboldly at www.loveboldly.net. You can also give them our EIN which is 81-1869501. If you or they have any questions, you can contact our executive director, the Rev. Dr. Ben Huelskamp, at bhuelskamp@loveboldly.net.

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“Coming Out Christian” - A LOVEboldly Podcast

LOVEboldly's podcast, “Coming Out Christian,” has published all 13 episodes for our first season! Check out the podcast at www.loveboldly.net/comingoutchristian or wherever you get your podcasts.

Season Two is set to premiere on Sunday, September 7, 2025.

Are you an LGBTQIA+ person with a background (current or former) in Christianity? Would you be willing to share your experience? Let us know! Send Ben an email at bhuelskamp@loveboldly.net.

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LOVEboldly Out, About, and In-Print

Note - Every year after the hectic schedules of Pride Month, a large portion of the LGBTQIA+ community and Queer people in general go into a general hibernation during July and sometimes even August. July 2025 was no exception.

Out and About

• Ben attended the 2025 Holy Convocation of The Fellowship of Affirming Ministries (TFAM) from July 2 to July 6 in Atlanta, GA. He had plenty of opportunities to talk about LOVEboldly and the work we're doing in Ohio and beyond.

In-Print

• Ben was quoted in “Despite decision by ballot board, activists push ahead with equal rights amendment” written by Gabriel Scotto for The Athens Messenger on July 24, 2025. 

• Ben published “An invitation to speak prophetically but not endorse candidates” in Baptist News Global on July 16, 2025.

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GreatNonprofits

If you love our work then tell the world! You have an opportunity to help us make an even bigger difference in our community. GreatNonprofits is honoring highly regarded nonprofits with their 2025 Top-Rated List.

Won’t you help us boost visibility for our work by posting a brief personal story of your experience with us? All content will be visible to potential donors and volunteers. It’s easy and only takes 3 minutes! Go to https://greatnonprofits.org/org/loveboldly-inc to get started!

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Thank you so much for taking the time to read this whole message. We appreciate your support, prayers, and dedication to LOVEboldly's mission to create spaces where LGBTQIA+ people can flourish in Christianity.

Writing a Sermon

Monday, August 4, 2025

Happy Monday, my friends! If you are not called or not in a position to regularly write and deliver sermons and messages, let me tell you that no matter how a preacher reaches their final product and no matter how frequently they enter their pulpit, the process of writing a sermon is deeply personal. The best preachers draw from their own stories and their own lived experience. Now think about doing that every week or at least two or three times a month. One of my Blue Ocean congregants said it bluntly, “I don’t think I could do that.” I admit it’s a challenge.

Every preacher has their own process, their own cadence and timing, many have a certain place where sermons seem to flow more than other places, and, according to the Rev. Dr. Teresa Fry Brown[1], “The best preachers are always thinking about their next sermon.” Unlike Monday Moments, where the origin of my ideas is always a bit mysterious and where the inspiration tends to strike me mere minutes before I sit down to write, my sermons are planned in advance. I keep a list of the topics and scriptural passages I intend to preach on several weeks in advance. Yes, I sometimes decide to go somewhere else or world events push me to address issues which I hadn’t planned to address, but normally I’ve been thinking and planning my sermons several weeks in advance. Typically, each week’s sermon percolates in my head until Thursday when, early in the morning, it finally gets written out and edited. I always practice it several times before I deliver it to the congregation. Those run-throughs involve more edits until, Sunday morning, when I’m finally satisfied.

The first time I ever preached was July 2008 on my last Sunday as the parish intern at St. Alban’s Episcopal Church in Washington, DC. I was there through the Lily Summer Discernment Institute sponsored by Sewanee. I had been challenged in nearly all my thinking about congregational ministry. I had also learned a lot. I had sung in the mass choir for the consecration of the Rt. Rev. Eugene Sutton as the Bishop of Maryland, a man who could trace his ancestry to people enslaved by the Rt. Rev. Thomas Claggett, the first Episcopal Bishop of Maryland. That same summer bishops across the Anglican Communion gathered in the UK for the Lambeth Conference and Gene Robinson was excluded from their number. Into that climate and with everything I was feeling and everything I had experienced, I was preaching for the first time. I worked on my sermon far longer than most preachers ever have time to write and edit. The night before I had a serviceable, if not a bit naïve sermon ready. It was ten or fifteen minutes long, perfect for an Episcopal service, and while not rousing by any means, it was perfectly adequate for the time and the place. I could already feel the spirit leading me to something different, but I didn’t have the language or the experience yet to preach those kinds of sermons. Then, I got scared. I wondered how my sermon would be received. I wondered how I would be received by a congregation that was frankly still getting to know me. On Saturday night I rewrote most of it. It had been adequate. After the rewrite it was careening off the tracks. I’m forever grateful to the parish administrator who, having already posted the text of my original draft online, decided there wasn’t any need to post the new draft. While one particular line in that sermon will continue ringing in my head for eternity, I can honestly say that my first sermon was my worst sermon. That’s how it should be.

We all preach by our words, actions, and the people we impact and influence, if you’re not called to preach sermons or you don’t regularly do it, I implore you to be kind to your preachers. Until I began preaching each week and regularly editing recordings of my sermons, I was extremely critical of preachers and their sermons. Sometimes it’s very hard to arrive at a sermon which might be considered just “ok.” Even under the best of circumstances when we’re in our sermon writing happy place and have one or more good ideas, all the other pressures of our lives can derail the process quickly. Some Sundays even the act of standing and speaking for ten to thirty minutes can be difficult on us physically, spiritually, and intellectually. Give your preachers and your pastors the grace you would want to receive from them. Remember, even Jesus needed to rest and get away from the crowds.

If you regularly preach, what’s your sermonizing process like? If you regularly listen to sermons, what do you do to lift up and encourage your preacher?

Let us pray: God, you spoke, and the world was created. Your Word is your Son, Jesus our liberator. Bless the work of preachers who present your Word, who interpret your words through the Bible and other sources, and who speak truth to people longing for that truth in their lives. Empower preachers who are hurting and longing for inspiration. Raise up good preachers from among your children but remind us that every person is a preacher in their own ways. Remind us that effective preaching doesn’t always involve words. Permit every person to be a prophet and a preacher and put your spirit upon all your people. We ask this through your Word, Jesus our liberator. Amen.

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

Faithfully,

Ben +

[1] The Rev. Dr. Fry Brown is the Bandy Professor of Preaching at Candler School of Theology at Emory University.

A Prayer for Aspiring Allies

Sunday, August 3, 2025

Lisa Vahey (she/her)

Educator and Co-Founder, Honesty for Ohio Education

Allied Christian

I grew up Catholic and attended traditional Catholic schools, which meant Spring Fridays were spent experiencing “The Stations of the Cross.” We were grade school children slowly moving through the church, stopping over a dozen times at representative plaques to hear a short bible passage and pray, to understand the pain of Jesus’ crucifixion, to better appreciate the joy and redemption of Easter Sunday. By the time sixth grade rolled around, I’d memorized most of the passages and prayers, reciting them with automaticity and very little interest in reflecting on meaning. Except for one – where the plaque showed the woman Veronica, tenderly wiping the bloody face of Jesus, providing a small act of kindness as Jesus was cruelly led to His death, carrying his own cross. Well, I now know the Veronica story is legend, but the lines I recited many Spring Fridays still hold meaning:

A faithful friend is a sturdy shelter; he who finds one finds a treasure. (Sirach 6:14)

My 10-year-old self loved collecting quotes about what it meant to be a good friend (thank you, James Taylor!), and now, as LGBTQIA+ friends, neighbors, and well, strangers, face threats in our state that push us into othering and away from friendship, it’s time to dust these lines off, and reflect on my work as a straight, cis- woman, a mother, and a Christian who must find the compassion and strength Veronica showed.

With grace and care, dear God, help me see a friend in each person I meet.

Let me recognize how important building sturdiness is, as the storms of hate and injustice swirl around us.

Let me be a creator of shelters of all kinds - a warm smile and a comforting hug; a brave voice calling out harm and calling in others to see friends in each person we meet; and a champion for Veronicas in our work, in our world - those willing to move from standing on the sidelines of others’ pain to standing up with compassion.

With grace and care, dear God, I ask for forgiveness for the times I missed my opportunity to be shelter. When I chose the path of silence, stepped away, eschewed faithfulness, denied sturdiness. With your love as my model, I can do better.

Dear God, let me be a listener, a learner, to understand what is needed. And let me also hold the truth that sometimes, I will need to move before I fully understand. We are all children of God - your children! What a gift, to see you in each of us, to actively deny the hate and harm others create in your name. Let me be love in action, with you and Veronica as my guides.