Help Us Bring Back LOVEboldly's ED to Full-Time Ministry

A Message from the LOVEboldly Board

Dear Friends,

You’ve heard a lot from Ben about the struggles LOVEboldly has had with fundraising, but it’s important you hear from us too. Simply put, there’s a dynamic here which we know Ben would never discuss publicly, yet it needs to be said.

In the current climate of our country we have found it incredibly difficult to find funds to not only uplift the resources that you have all come to know and love, but to continue to support our Executive Director, the Rev. Dr. Ben Huelskamp. Ben has had to cut his hours from full-time to only 10 hours per week. We only have one staff person and a mostly new board currently and with these changes and the decrease in donations, partners, and grants we are not able to provide a full-time salary to Ben.

With the current cost increases of items and the decrease in employment, etc. we find that the first place that people cut costs are their donations and tithes. With these changes precious important resources like the ones LOVEboldly offers suffer.

We are asking that you not only help to support the mission and vision that we have but also help support our Executive Director, Ben, to be able to go back to his full-time status and continue to work and bring forth the faith and spiritual connection that we all need. Many people in our community think that they can’t be a person of faith and also be LGBTQIA+, LOVEboldly shows that you can be both and be loved exactly the way that you are. We are asking that you consider a monthly donation and/or a one-time donation and be the change that we all have needed one time or another.

But we can only do this work with your support.

Here’s how you can help right now:

Make a gift today. Every dollar gets us closer to our goal.

Set up a monthly gift. Recurring support helps us plan and sustain our work throughout the year. Even $10/month makes a difference.

Spread the word. Share this email with friends, post on social media, restack it, or text someone you know who cares about this work. Here's a QR code you can share with them.

Help us reach our goal. If you’ve been thinking about making a year-end gift, now is the time.

We have 11 hours. We need $7,605. And we need you.

Sincerely,

Cass Helm, LOVEboldly Board Treasurer

On Behalf of the LOVEboldly Board

P.S. If you’ve already given this year, thank you. If you can make an additional gift in these final days, we would be deeply grateful. If giving isn’t possible right now, sharing this message with your networks would mean the world to us.

Using Your Privilege

Sunday, January 4, 2026

NV Gay (they/she)

LGBTQIA+ Person of Faith

LOVEboldly Board Member

Quote

How beautiful upon the mountains

are the feet of the messenger who announces peace,

who brings good news,

who announces salvation,

who says to Zion, “Your God reigns.”

~Isaiah 52:7 (NRSVUE)

Devotion

Reflecting upon Isaiah 52:7, I am often drawn back to my youth—sitting in an evangelical church, hearing how we are to be “soldiers of Christ.” This verse was often used to rally evangelists, a banner of mission and purpose, highlighted again by the Apostle Paul in the New Testament.

So why did I choose this verse as the devotional today? I believe it is important to highlight these evangelical verses and reflect on the true intention behind the scripture. Yes, our Creator calls us to share the message of Christ; however, we were never meant to weaponize it in a holy effort to convert nonbelievers. This verse encourages us to see ourselves as the “messengers” with “beautiful feet,” who carry the message of peace, salvation, and happiness through faith in Jesus to a world in need. This means that in order to truly carry the message of Christ, we need to follow in his steps, going throughout the world uplifting and empowering all. All through the New Testament, we find that Christ constantly used his privilege and position to uplift those who were most marginalized, advocating for meaningful change and fighting back against the false teachings of religion.

Reflection

1. Are you serving others only to secure your own salvation or reward?

   
   

2. Or are you serving as Christ did—uplifting and aiding those in need, with no expectation of gain?

   
   

3. Who in your community is waiting for your compassion, your advocacy, your “beautiful feet”?

Action

Set aside some time this week to reflect on the privilege you hold. How can you use that privilege to support other people?

A Blank Calendar

January 1, 2026 - New Year's Day

Greg

LGBTQIA+ Person of Faith

Quote

“See, I am making all things new.”

~Revelation 21:5 (NRSV)

Devotion

There’s something both terrifying and exhilarating about a blank calendar. All those empty squares stretching out before us, waiting to be filled with appointments, celebrations, heartbreaks, and ordinary Tuesdays. On New Year’s Day, we stand at a threshold, caught between what was and what might be.

For many of us in the LGBTQIA+ community, the concept of “new” carries extra weight. We know what it’s like to shed old names, old pronouns, old ways of being that never quite fit. We understand the vulnerability of stepping into a truer version of ourselves, even when the world isn’t always ready to receive us. We’ve experienced the grief and the freedom that come with leaving behind relationships, communities, or pieces of ourselves that we’ve outgrown.

When the writer of Revelation proclaims that God is “making all things new,” it’s not a promise of easy renovation or surface-level change. This is the God who creates something from nothing, who brings life from death, who sees the possibility in what others have dismissed as beyond redemption.

What strikes me most about this verse is that it’s in the present tense. God is making all things new, not “will make” or “has made,” but is actively, continually engaged in the work of renewal. Even now. Even in us. Even on this ordinary January morning when the holiday decorations are coming down and regular life is resuming.

This year, you don’t have to be a finished product. You don’t have to have it all figured out. You are allowed to be a work in progress, held in the hands of a God who delights in transformation and who sees the beautiful thing you’re becoming.

Reflection

1. Where in your life right now do you sense God’s ongoing work of making things new, even if it’s uncomfortable or incomplete?

2. How has your understanding of yourself or God been made new through your identity and journey?

Action

Write a letter to yourself to open on December 31, 2026. Include one hope you have for who you’ll be by then, one thing you’re grateful for right now, and one promise you want to make to your future self about how you’ll care for yourself this year.