Phillis Sheppard is an associate professor of religion, psychology and culture at Vanderbilt Divinity School in Nashville, Tenn. She is an expert on the role religion plays in self-understanding, womanist theology and psycholanalysis.

Paul Froese is a professor of sociology at Baylor University and research fellow for the school’s Institute for Studies of Religion. He is the author of several books, including On Purpose: How We Create the Meaning of Life.

Joseph Reiff is a professor of religion at Emory & Henry College in Emory, Va., and the author of Born of Conviction: White Methodists and Mississippi’s Closed Society, which examines how 28 white Methodist ministers in Mississippi battled school segregation and racial intolerance at the height of the white South’s resistance to the civil rights […]

The Rev. Phumzile Mabizela is executive director at the International Network of Religious Leaders Living with or Personally Affected by HIV and AIDS (INERELA+), a Johannesburg-based organization that works towards achieving a society free of HIV-related stigma and discrimination with empowered, resilient religious leaders. INERELA+ has 16 active country networks in Africa and partners in Asia, the […]

Parity is is a faith-based LGBTQ-focused organization based in New York, N.Y. that advocates for and supports queer-positive religious persons. With its roots in the Presbyterian tradition, Parity is now an interfaith organization. Rev. Marian Edwards-Allen is the executive director.

The Rev. Warner H. Brown Jr. is a United Methodist Church bishop and head of its California-Nevada Council. He has also served as president of the UMC’s council of bishops. He is based in Sacramento, Calif.

The Rev. William Pfohl is senior pastor of Jesse Lee Memorial United Methodist Church in Ridgefield, Conn. He is the chair of the Board of Ordained Ministry  for the church’s New York Conference, which announced in March 2016 that, in defiance of church rules, it would not consider an ordination candidate’s sexual orientation.

The Society of Ordained Scientists is an ecumenical fellowship of ordained people with an expertise in science, medicine or technology. The SOS has several aims, including “To offer to God in our ordained role the work of science and technology in the exploration and stewardship of creation.” The Rev. Stig Graham is warden. The Rev. Pamela […]