Community of Conversation, Community of Support

Last Friday was the third anniversary of the Bondings 2.0 blog.  In the post for that day, I reminisced about how the blog began and some of the successes we’ve had along the way.  What we are most grateful for is that the blog has developed a conversation on Catholic LGBT topics involving readers and commenters from around the globe.

Today is “Giving Tuesday,” a sort of new “holiday” which sets aside a day as a way to remind and encourage people to make a financial gift to non-profit organizations.  It’s easy to celebrate this holiday.  There’s no preparation or hassles involved.  You just make a contribution to a non-profit.

We invite you to consider Bondings 2.0 as one of the organizations that you might support today.  As many of you know, this blog is a project of New Ways Ministry, a national Catholic ministry of justice and reconciliation for LGBT people and the wider Church community.  New Ways Ministry is sustained primarily by donations from people, like yourself, who want to see the Catholic Church be a force for justice for LGBT people.

New Ways Ministry staff are the people responsible for getting the blog posts to you every day.   The “overhead” for the blog is not expensive, so our main cost is staff time for doing the research, reading, writing, and moderating essential to the blog’s life.

While the blog is free for everyone, we rely on the generosity of our readers to keep this resource viable.  Like public television and radio, it is people like yourselves who keep us going.  Unlike public television and radio, we only make requests for donations twice a year:  once on Giving Tuesday which is near our anniversary, and once at the end of May, which is about six months away.

If you enjoy the blog, if you find that it helps keep you informed of Catholic LGBT issues, if you find that it helps clarify your thoughts and helps you develop your involvement in justice and equality work, if you find that it helps you develop spiritually in any way, please consider making a donation today.

We appreciate any amount you would like to give.  As a suggestion, why not think of donating $50, which is less than $1 a week of free posts you receive all year round. That’s cheaper than the cost of most daily newspapers these days!  Of course, our strength has always been people who are able to give whatever they can, sometimes more than we ask, and sometimes less than we ask.  We are grateful for all!

You can donate by clicking here, and you will be brought to New Ways Ministry’s website donation page.  When you fill out the donation form online, please type “blog” in the comments section of the form so that we know that is why you are contributing.   You can also mail a check made out to “New Ways Ministry” to our offices at 4012  29th Street, Mount Rainier, MD  20712.  Or call us during business hours at 301-277-5674, and we can take your credit card donation over the phone.  However you decide to contribute, your donation is tax-deductible.

There is another way that you can help to support the blog:  tell your friends about it!  Have you let others know about this resource?  Word of mouth tends to be our best promoter.  Consider emailing a link to one of your favorite recent blog posts to friends on your email list who are interested in Catholic LGBT issues.

Thanks so much for any way that you can help to support this electronic ministry.  We are deeply grateful for your support, and we will continue to offer prayers of gratitude for all that you do for us and all that you do for the Catholic Church’s LGBT brothers and sisters.

–Francis DeBernardo, New Ways Ministry