Coming Out Christian | Season 3, Episode 10 Guest: Rev. Tyler Moquin-Lee

What does it look like to lead an affirming congregation — and to do it with joy?

Rev. Tyler Moquin-Lee (he/him) is the Pastor of Gloria Dei Lutheran Church (ELCA) on the west side of Cincinnati, where he has served for three years. Beyond his congregation, Tyler is deeply invested in his community, serving on the board of My Neighbor's Place and working with Westside Churches United, a collective of ecumenical faith communities dedicated to building relationships and working for social justice. He's also the host of an upcoming podcast, Spilling Grace.

In this episode, hosts Siobhan Boyd-Nelson and the Rev. Dr. Ben Huelskamp sit down with Tyler to explore what it means to lead an affirming congregation in 2026, the joys, the challenges, and the ongoing work of building a community where everyone truly belongs. The conversation also takes a turn toward music and worship, touching on the role of the arts in creating spaces of welcome and transformation. (It helps that Tyler's husband, Dr. Matthew Moquin-Lee, is a conductor, choral director, and worship arts director. Music is very much in the family.)

Warm, grounded, and full of grace, this one is for anyone who has ever wondered what the church could be.

• 📲 Follow Tyler on Instagram and Threads: @tylermokie
• 🌐 Learn about Westside Churches United: westsideimagination.com
• 🎙️ Follow the podcast on Instagram: @comingoutchristian_podcast
• 🌈 Follow LOVEboldly on Instagram: @loveboldly

Coming Out Christian | Season 3, Episode 9 Guest: Gwendolyn DeRosa

What if the church's teaching on sex and bodies has been doing more harm than good and what would it look like to tell a different story?

Gwendolyn "Gwen" DeRosa (she/they) is a storyteller, queer theologian, and community builder with a passion for inclusive faith. As Director of Student Ministries at King Avenue United Methodist Church in Columbus, Ohio, she leads faith education and fellowship for birth through high school, and serves as director of Kinship Campus Ministry, which builds connections within the Ohio State University campus and beyond. Gwen, who is bi/pan/Queer, and their wife Felicia, who is transgender, are Queer activists in Columbus — and Felicia's transition journey was documented in the 2021 film DeRosa: Life, Love & Art in Transition, available on major streaming platforms.

In this episode, hosts Siobhan Boyd-Nelson and the Rev. Dr. Ben Huelskamp sit down with Gwen for a candid conversation about purity culture, sex, and the ways the church has used sexual shame and guilt to marginalize women and people of other genders. It's an honest reckoning with the damage done and a hopeful look at what the church could be instead.

Brave, necessary, and long overdue.

• 📲 Follow Gwen on Instagram: @gwendolynderosa
• ⛪ Visit King Avenue UMC: kingave.org
• 🎓 Learn about Kinship Campus Ministry: kingave.org/ministries/kinship-campus-ministry
• 🎙️ Follow the podcast on Instagram: @comingoutchristian_podcast
• 🌈 Follow LOVEboldly: @loveboldly

Coming Out Christian | Season 3, Episode 8 Guest: Anna Ray

What does it look like to grow up Queer, Biracial, and Christian — and actually feel seen by your church?

Anna Ray (she/her) is a dynamic leader and community connector whose career has spanned insurance underwriting, executive and nonprofit administration, event management, and catering. Originally from the suburbs of Minneapolis, Anna earned her BA in Business from Howard University and fell in love with Washington, DC, in the process. Today she serves as a Cannabis Licensing Program Specialist with the District of Columbia and a League Cycling Instructor with the League of American Bicyclists, and shares her life with her husband Dane and their children.

In this episode, hosts Siobhan Boyd-Nelson and the Rev. Dr. Ben Huelskamp sit down with Anna to explore what it meant to grow up biracial in the suburban Midwest and then arrive at Howard University and Washington, DC, and how both shaped her sense of self. Anna shares about finding faith communities that affirmed not only her Queer identity but also her role as a mother and her children's identities. It's a refreshingly hopeful conversation about what the church can be when it gets things right.

Warm, grounded, and genuinely encouraging — this one will leave you hopeful.

• 📲 Follow Anna: @meettherays
• 🎙️ Follow the podcast: @comingoutchristian_podcast
• 🌈 Follow LOVEboldly: @loveboldly

Coming Out Christian | Season 3, Episode 7 Guest: Rev. Dale Lykins

What happens when a pastor spends 30 years serving the church — and then realizes the church isn't serving the people it's meant to reach?

Rev. Dale Lykins gave more than three decades to United Methodist ministry before stepping away to found The Open Table, an inclusive and affirming community where people are welcomed exactly as they are. Around the same time, Dale came out as gay — and began a new chapter of authenticity, creativity, and connection through coaching, writing, podcasting, and his memoir Hush, Child.

In this episode, hosts Siobhan Boyd-Nelson and Rev. Dr. Ben Huelskamp sit down with Dale to explore his journey from UMC pastor to founder of a new kind of faith community. They also have an honest and nuanced conversation about mixed-orientation marriages — what they are, how they can work, and what it looks like for couples navigating faith, identity, and commitment together when one partner comes out.

Honest, courageous, and full of grace — this is a conversation the church needs to have.

• 📖 Get Dale's memoir: Hush, Child
• 📝 Read The Unlearning Blog: theunlearningblog.substack.com
• 🌐 Visit Dale's website: dalelykins.com
• 📲 Follow Dale: dale.lykins (Facebook) | @wdlykins (Instagram & TikTok)
• 🎧 Listen to Dale's podcast, "Hear it From Me," on Spotify and Apple Podcasts
• 🎙️ Follow "Coming Out Christian" on Instagram: @comingoutchristian_podcast
• 🌈 Follow LOVEboldly: @loveboldly

Coming Out Christian | Season 3, Episode 6 | Guest: Rev. Jim Keat

What does it mean to use the internet for good — and what does faith look like in a digital world?

Rev. Jim Keat is the Minister of Digital Worship & Education at The Riverside Church in New York City and Director of Online Innovation at the Convergence Network, where he creates original content, cultivates online faith communities, and equips progressive faith leaders to use digital ministry well. His projects include Bible in a Minute, The Word Made Fresh, Sermon on the Runs, and more.

In this episode, hosts Siobhan Boyd-Nelson and Rev. Dr. Ben Huelskamp sit down with Jim to explore what digital ministry looks like in 2026 and why it matters more than ever. They dig into Bible in a Minute, Jim's current big project, and talk about how Jim became an ally to the LGBTQIA+ community — and how he's intentionally raising his sons to be allies too. And because Siobhan and Jim share a love of running, that comes up too.

Warm, visionary, and practically inspiring — this one is for anyone who's ever wondered if the church can meet people where they actually are.

• 💻 Visit Jim's website: jimkeat.com
• 📲 Follow Jim: @RevJimRuns (TikTok, YouTube & Instagram) | @JimKeat on Substack
• 📖 Follow Bible in a Minute: @bibleinamin
• 🎙️ Follow the podcast: @comingoutchristian_podcast
• 🌈 Follow LOVEboldly: @loveboldly

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)