NEWS

Sunday, July 5, 2026 The Rev. Dr. Ben Huelskamp LGBTQIA+ Person of Faith Executive Director, LOVEboldly Quote “For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.” ~Galatians 5:1 (NRSVUE) Devotion The fireworks are over. The cookouts are done. The flags are coming down. It’s the day after Independence Day, and everything feels a little quieter, a little more ordinary. I've always had complicated feelings about the

June 30, 2026 - Queer Youth of Faith Day Gwendolyn G. De Rosa LGBTQIA+ Person of Faith Quote “I trade all I’ve known for the unknown ahead.” ~The Rings of Power Devotion Do you have a comfort movie? You know, one of those movies that you can watch when you’re stuck at home with a fever, or you’re going through a messy break-up, or something horrific happened in the news again. The Lord of the Rings (LotR) films are my comfort movies. The story of The Lord of the R

Sunday, June 28, 2026 - Fourth Sunday of Pride Month The Rev. Julia Joyce-Miesse LGBTQIA+ Person of Faith Quote “Do the work that your soul must have.” ~The Rev. Dr. Katie Geneva Cannon Devotion “What do you want to be when you grow up?” This is a question often posed to young children as they enter school. I love the feisty passion that bubbles through their little beings. “An astronaut!” exclaims one young one. “A garbage collector!” bellows another. “A horse hair

Sunday, June 21, 2026 - Third Sunday of Pride Month The Rev. Iva Joyce-Miesse LGBTQIA+ Person of Faith LOVEboldly Board Member Quote “And a voice from heaven said, ‘This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.’” Matthew 3:17 (NIV) Devotion Each year as the third Sunday of June arrives, two observances come into a unique focus and juxtaposition within my consciousness. Both are, at their core, about identity and belonging—one celebrating the freedom to li

Friday, June 19, 2026 The Rev. Dr. Judy Alston LGBTQIA+ Person of Faith Quote So, if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.” John 8:36 (NRSV) Devotion Each June, two significant movements for liberation come together: Juneteenth and Pride Month. Juneteenth marks the delayed announcement of freedom to enslaved African Americans in Galveston, Texas, in 1865. Pride Month honors the courage, dignity, and visibility of LGBTQIA+ individuals who, at Stonewall an

Sunday, June 14, 2026 - Second Sunday of Pride Month Min. Blyth Barnow LGBTQIA+ Person of Faith Quote “We were made in God's image, which does not speak to perfection but to the vastness of possibility and the irrefutability of our worth.” Devotion I believe the world is beautiful. Or I suppose I should say, I believe the world was made to be beautiful. I never understood a condemning, punishing God. Only humans could create a deity that is so self-hating. No, I trus

Sunday, June 7, 2026 - Pride Sunday The Rev. Dr. Joelle Henneman LGBTQIA+ Person of Faith Quote “I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; that I know very well.” ~Psalm 139:14 (NRSV) Devotion Or as I like to say: “You are Queerfully and wonderfully made.” There’s something holy that happens when you hear the truth about yourself and believe it. For many of us in the LGBTQIA+ community, we’ve spent years being told we’re “t

Sunday, May 31, 2026 - Trinity Sunday Jon Carl Lewis LGBTQIA+ Person of Faith Quote “I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing.” ~Matthew 15:5 (NRSV) Devotion The Sunday after Pentecost is celebrated in many branches of the church as “Trinity Sunday.” Beginning on the fourth Sunday before Christmas, we have marked the life of Jesus from before his birth (Advent), his taking huma

Sunday, May 24, 2026 - Pentecost Siobhan Boyd-Nelson LGBTQIA+ Person of Faith LOVEboldly Board Chair Quote “Pentecost is about being empowered to get beyond the strictures created by these silos and find our way to one another beyond race, gender, empire, or nationality. It is about moving to a place where we can see the entire family of God as one family.” ~Bishop Yvette Flunder Devotion How big is our God? Most of us would say that our God is enormous, infinite, o

Sunday, May 17, 2026 Lisa Vahey Allied Person of Faith Devotion Oh, amazing Lord, what a gift you’ve given us in libraries. Like churches, they can hold us in quiet and contemplation. Like churches, they can spring to life – workshops, meetings, little ones singing at story time, youth tumbling in afterschool, all kinds of community gatherings - the busyness of our community, the hub of our humanity. And our librarians are angels here on earth. Helping without judgeme

Sunday, May 10, 2026 Karen Marie LGBTQIA+ Person of Faith Quote “Let us not grow weary in well-doing, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” Galatians 6:9 (NRSV) Devotion This verse lands like a hand on the shoulder and a whisper in the soul. A reminder that the calendar keeps turning, but the call remains steady: keep planting good in the world, even when the ground feels stubborn. Keep showing up, even when your spirit feels like it’s

Sunday, May 3, 2026 Bishop Tim Wolfe LGBTQIA+ Person of Faith Quotes “Be imitators of God, as beloved children, and live in love, as Christ loved us, and gave Himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” ~Ephesians 5:1-2 (CEB) “The proof of love is in the works. Where love exists, it works great things. But when it ceases to act, it ceases to exist.” ~St. Gregory the Great Devotion Those quotes are a sermon all by themselves. Love is much more t

Sunday, April 26, 2026 Kevin Marsh LGBTQIA+ Person of Faith Quote They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in th

Densil Porteous - LGBTQIA+ Person of Faith Quote “You are altogether beautiful, my love; there is no flaw in you.” ~Song of Solomon 4:7 (NRSV) Devotion For so many in the LGBTQIA+ community, faith has often been a battlefield—one where we’ve fought for our place, questioned our worth, and wrestled with the voices that told us we were somehow less than. We have been told we must change, suppress, or hide parts of ourselves to be welcomed at the table of faith. But what

Sunday, April 12, 2026 The Rev. Dr. Caleb Lines Allied Person of Faith LOVEboldly Advisory Board Quote “Then he said to Thomas, ‘Put your finger here. Look at my hands. Put your hand into my side. No more disbelief. Believe!’” John 20:27 (NRSV) Devotion I love Thomas’ story! “Doubting Thomas” gets a bad rap for questioning, though. Maybe it’s because I’m originally from the “Show Me State,” but I’ve always felt an affinity for Thomas. I, too, need to see it to belie

Sunday, April 5, 2026 - Easter Sunday The Rev. Charles Graves, IV LGBTQIA+ Person of Faith Quote “We are an Easter people, moving through a Good Friday world.” ~Bishop Barbara Harris, Hallelujah, Anyhow! Devotion As a preacher, I’ll let you in on a little secret—for a long time I’ve been less than enthusiastic about Easter. After all, what more could I add from any pulpit to the joy of Christ’s Resurrection? Jesus is alive, our salvation is restored, and we again s

Saturday, April 4, 2026 - Holy Saturday Jordan Morrow LGBTQIA+ Person of Faith Quote Holy Saturday is the only time I know for sure that Jesus is near in suffering. As a gay man, I know what it’s like to be crucified by people you love and sit in the tomb with the aftermath. Devotion Holy Saturday is the one day that the Church routinely turns it’s face away from. It’s the day that God goes quiet. Jesus was hung on the cross and placed in the tomb. The world just cruc

Friday, April 3, 2026 - Good Friday The Rev. Brian Steele Allied Person of Faith LOVEboldly Board Member Quote “God loves you and there’s nothing you can do about it.” The Rev. Brian Steele Devotion About 13 years ago I was sitting in a room with LOVEboldly folks, and it hit me: I am the only straight white male in this room. “Well,” I thought, “this is weird.” Truthfully, as I sat there, I realized what I was experiencing was actually discomfort. For the first time

Thursday, April 2, 2026 - Maundy Thursday The Rev. Morgan Annable Allied Person of Faith Quote When he had gone out, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him. If God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him at once. Little children, I am with you only a little longer. You will look for me, and as I said to the Jews so now, I say to you, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come.’ I give

Tuesday, March 31, 2026 - Trans Day of Visibility Jonathan L. A. Morgan LGBTQIA+ Person of Faith Quote “Look at Behemoth, which I made just as I made you; it eats grass like an ox… It is the first of the great acts of God; only its Maker can approach it with the sword… Even if the river is turbulent, it is not frightened; it is confident though Jordan rushes against its mouth... “Can you draw out Leviathan with a fish hook or press down its tongue with a cord? Can you p