Coming Out Christian | Season 3, Episode 5 | Guest: Rev. Benjamin Perry

When's the last time you let yourself cry — and what did you do with it?

Rev. Benjamin Perry is an ordained minister, award-winning writer, and the author of Cry, Baby: Why Our Tears Matter. His work has appeared in The Atlantic, The Washington Post, Slate, and Religion News Service, and he's been featured by the BBC, TIME, NPR, and 10 Percent Happier. Based in Maine, they serve on the board of OUTMaine, offer queer theology trainings in local congregations, and serve as Director of Communications at Garrett Seminary.

In this episode, hosts Siobhan Boyd-Nelson and Rev. Dr. Ben Huelskamp sit down with Ben to explore what our tears have to tell us — about grief, masculinity, embodiment, and what it means to be fully human. They also dig into the church's complicated relationship with LGBTQIA+ people: where it falls short, where it gets it right, and what it might look like to truly celebrate queer lives rather than merely tolerate them.

Tender, honest, and unexpectedly joyful — this one will stay with you.

• 📚 Get the book: Cry, Baby
• 🌐 Visit Ben's website: benjaminjperry.com
• 📲 Follow Ben: @FaithfullyBP
• 🎙️ Follow the podcast: @comingoutchristian_podcast
• 🌈 Follow LOVEboldly: @loveboldly

Coming Out Christian | Season 3, Episode 4 Guest: David Hayward, The NakedPastor

What do you do when the institution you've given your life to no longer has room for who you're becoming?

David Hayward — known online as The NakedPastor — spent nearly 30 years in ministry before leaving the church in 2010 and stepping into a new kind of calling: using his work as a cartoonist, artist, and writer to challenge religious control and inspire authenticity, equality, and spiritual independence. As an LGBTQ+ ally, feminist, and progressive voice for people deconstructing faith, David has built a community of people reclaiming their own spiritual paths on their own terms.

In this episode, hosts Siobhan Boyd-Nelson and Rev. Dr. Ben Huelskamp sit down with David to explore what it looks like to walk away from ministry after three decades — and what it means to find freedom on the other side. It's an honest, searching conversation about deconstruction, creativity, and what happens when you stop performing faith and start living it.

• 🎨 Follow David: @nakedpastor
• 🌐 Visit his website: nakedpastor.com
• 🤝 Explore The Lasting Supper: thelastingsupper.com
• 📲 Follow the podcast: @comingoutchristian_podcast
• 🌈 Follow LOVEboldly: @loveboldly

Coming Out Christian | Season 3, Episode 3 Guest: Rev. Charles Graves, IV

The church has made progress on LGBTQIA+ inclusion — but what happens when the conversation goes deeper than who's welcome at the table?

Rev. Charles Graves, IV is the Fourteenth Rector of Christ Episcopal Church in Shaker Heights, Ohio, a seventh-generation Episcopalian, and a member of the Executive Council of the Episcopal Church since 2019. He's also the creator of a denominational task force asking some of the most pressing questions in progressive Christianity today: How does the church understand and respond to household and relationship diversity — including polyamory? And how do we construct a sexual ethics that is both expansive and protective?

In this episode, hosts Siobhan Boyd-Nelson and Rev. Dr. Ben Huelskamp sit down with Charles to explore his journey in The Episcopal Church and the LGBTQIA+ inclusion work he's championed along the way. They also dig into the harder, more nuanced conversation about how the church builds new frameworks for sexual ethics — ones that make room for the full complexity of human relationships without abandoning the guardrails that protect and heal.

Thoughtful, prophetic, and ahead of the curve — this is the conversation the church is just beginning to have.

• ⛪ Follow Christ Church Shaker: @christchurchshaker (Instagram)
• 🌐 Visit the church website: cometochristchurch.org
• 🎙️ Follow the podcast: @comingoutchristian_podcast (Instagram)
• 🌈 Follow LOVEboldly: @loveboldly (Instagram and TikTok)