The Alban Institute in Herndon, Va., provides data and expert commentators on congregational and clergy dynamics.

The Hartford Institute for Religion Research at the Hartford Seminary is an excellent resource and includes a database of more than 800 megachurches in the United States. Contact Scott Thumma, professor of the sociology of religion at Hartford Seminary.

Ruth Haley Barton is co-founder of The Transforming Center, an organization in Wheaton, Ill., that helps develop church leaders. She teaches separate workshops on encountering God alone and in community. She is the author of Invitation to Solitude and Silence: Experiencing God’s Transforming Presence (Intervarsity Press, 2004).

Lawrence Hoffman is a rabbi and a professor of liturgy, worship and ritual at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in New York, N.Y. He has written and edited The Art of Public Prayer: Not for Clergy Only (Skylight Paths, 1999), which has been used by both Christian and Jewish congregations to plan liturgy.

JoAnn Heaney-Hunter is an associate professor of theology and religious studies at St. John’s University in Jamaica, N.Y. She is particularly knowledgeable about couples’ retreats and about Christian practice in marriage and families. Ask her about how retreats may relieve stress and strengthen religious practice for individuals in families or marriages.

Suzanne G. Farnham is founder of the Baltimore-based Listening Hearts Ministries, which designs and leads retreats for religious organizations and congregations around the country. Farnham is co-author of Listening Hearts: Discerning Call in Community (Morehouse Publishing, 1991) and she wrote Retreat Designs and Meditation Exercises (Morehouse Publishing, 1994), books widely used by groups of many denominations in religious retreats.

The Christine Center, a retreat center in central Wisconsin honoring traditions of mystical spirituality, meditation and contemplation, hosts a weekend retreat at Easter, including daily spiritual rituals, spiritual guidance, and an Easter service and celebration.

Peter Casarella is a professor of Catholic studies at DePaul University in Chicago. He wrote the book El Cuerpo de Cristo: The Hispanic Presence in the U.S. Catholic Church (Crossroad Publishing, 1998).

Timothy Matovina is an associate professor of theology at the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana. He is an expert in theology and culture, specializing in U.S. Catholic and U.S. Latino theology and religion.