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.

Testimony in Opposition to Ohio House Bill (HB) 172

Wednesday, November 19, 2025

Chair Schmidt, Vice Chair Deeter, Ranking Member Somani, and members of the Ohio House Health Committee:

My name is the Rev. Dr. Ben Huelskamp, and I serve as Executive Director of LOVEboldly, an Ohio faith-based nonprofit organization dedicated to creating spaces where LGBTQIA+ people can flourish in Christianity and beyond. I also serve as Pastor of Blue Ocean Faith Columbus, a progressive Christian congregation in Columbus. I submit this testimony in strong opposition to House Bill 172.

As a person of faith and as someone who has dedicated my life to education and advocacy, I am deeply troubled by this legislation. While HB172 is framed as a parental rights bill, its practical effect would be to deny vulnerable children access to mental health care precisely when they need it most. This is why opponents have begun calling it the “Child Abuser Protection Act,”because it would functionally protect abusive parents by preventing their children from seeking help.

The Core Problem: Eliminating Minor Consent for Mental Health Services

The most alarming provision of HB172 is that it removes the ability of a minor to consent to their own mental health services. Currently, Ohio law recognizes that there are circumstances where minors need to be able to access mental health care without parental consent. This bill would eliminate that protection entirely.

The practical impact cannot be overstated. Children experiencing abuse, neglect, or trauma at home would be required to obtain permission from the very adults who may be causing that harm before they could speak to a mental health professional. A teenager struggling with suicidal ideation due to parental rejection would need to ask those same rejecting parents for permission to see a counselor. A young person questioning their sexual orientation or gender identity in a hostile home environment would have no confidential avenue to process those feelings with a trained professional.

HB172 creates an impossible situation for our most vulnerable young people. Many children in crisis cannot safely disclose to their parents what they’re experiencing. Requiring parental consent doesn’t strengthen families, it silences children and leaves them without recourse.

Real-World Consequences for LGBTQIA+ Youth

I want to speak specifically about the impact this bill would have on LGBTQIA+ young people, as this is a community I serve directly through my ministry. The statistics are sobering, LGBTQIA+ youth contemplate suicide at almost three times the rate of heterosexual youth. LGBTQIA+ youth who come from families who reject them are 8.4 times more likely to attempt suicide than LGBTQIA+ peers who reported no or low levels of family rejection.

Access to supportive mental health care is literally lifesaving for these young people. Many LGBTQIA+ youth live in homes where they cannot safely come out to their parents. Some face religious condemnation, some face the threat of conversion therapy, and some face the very real possibility of being kicked out of their homes. These are not hypothetical scenarios, they happen in Ohio, in our communities, every day.

Under HB172, a Queer teenager in a conservative household would be unable to access counseling to process their identity without risking parental knowledge and potential rejection. A Transgender youth experiencing gender dysphoria would be barred from speaking to a mental health professional without parental consent, even though those conversations might lead to greater flourishing.

This bill doesn’t protect children. It isolates them. It tells vulnerable young people that the State of Ohio has closed the door on one of their few remaining lifelines to safety and support.

Betraying Our Moral Obligation to Children

As a Christian pastor, I can’t ignore what Scripture teaches us about our responsibility to children. Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them” (Matthew 19:14). He also warned, "If anyone causes one of these little ones to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea” (Matthew 18:6).

HB172 places obstacles before children. It hinders them from accessing care. It creates barriers between vulnerable young people and the help they desperately need. This is not consistent with a faith tradition that calls us to protect the vulnerable, to welcome the outcast, and to ensure that the least among us are cared for.

I recognize that some supporters of this bill believe they are protecting parental rights and family integrity. I understand the desire to be involved in our children’s lives and decisions. But we must grapple with the reality that not all homes are safe. Not all parents act in their children’s best interests. Some children need access to confidential mental health care in order to survive their childhoods.

Conclusion: A Call to Reject HB172

I urge you to reject House Bill 172. This legislation, despite its stated intentions, would cause tremendous harm to Ohio’s most vulnerable children. It would eliminate crucial mental health protections for minors and would endanger already marginalized youth, including LGBTQIA+ youth.

Perhaps worst of all, it would empower abusive parents while silencing abused children.

Our moral obligation is clear: we must ensure that every child in Ohio has access to the mental health care they need, when they need it, regardless of their home situation. HB172 fails that test entirely.

I respectfully urge you to vote no on House Bill 172 and not send the bill to full House.

Thank you for your consideration.

This statement may be attributed to the Rev. Dr. Ben Huelskamp on behalf of LOVEboldly.