The RCA website has a backgrounder on the denomination’s history regarding homosexual issues and its current stands.

Sociologist Michael Emerson and a team of researchers at Rice University conducted a national study on multiracial Protestant and Catholic denominations. They found that more than 9 in 10 U.S. churches remain segregated. They analyzed 20 multiracial congregations in the U.S. and identified seven models for how those ethnically diverse congregations came to be.

Rabbi Steve Gutow is president and CEO of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, president and CEO of the Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life and the founding executive director of the National Jewish Democratic Council.

The Rev. Derrick Harkins is the national director of interfaith outreach for the Democratic National Committee. He also serves as senior vice president for innovations in public programming at Union Theological Seminary in New York City.

Sister Carol Keehan is president and chief executive officer of the Catholic Health Association, which has worked to improve children’s health care coverage through a partnership with the Campaign for Children’s Health Care. Contact Fred Caesar.

The Rev. John Baumann is a Jesuit priest and founding director of the PICO National Network, a national network of faith-based community organizations working to create innovative solutions to problems facing urban, suburban and rural communities.

The Children’s Defense Fund (CDF) is a non-profit child advocacy organization that champions policies and programs that lift children out of poverty; protect them from abuse and neglect; and ensure their access to health care, quality education and a moral and spiritual foundation. The CDF often works closely with faith-based organizations to reach their goals.

Alexandra E. Shields is the director of the Harvard/MGH Center on Genomics, Vulnerable Populations and Health Disparities.

Sandra L. Thurman is the director of the Interfaith Health Program (IHP) and the president of the International AIDS Trust at the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University’s Rollins School of Public Health in Atlanta, Ga.