David Hackett is an associate professor of religion at the University of Florida in Gainesville. He is an expert on American religious history and the sociology of religion.  

Christopher Bader is a professor of sociology at Chapman University. He serves as associate director of the Association of Religion Data Archives and was principal investigator of the first two waves of the Baylor Religion Survey.

The Jewish Yoga Network is an association of Jewish yoga teachers and centers in the United States and overseas. The website a search engine that allows a regional search of teachers and classes. Marcus J. Freed is the media contact

Weigh Down Ministries is a Christian-based fitness program founded by Gwen Shamblin, who is also a co-founder of Remnant Fellowship Church in Brentwood, Tenn. The Weigh Down Diet was at the forefront of the Christian diet craze of 20 years ago and remains very popular, despite Shamblin’s personal problems with her congregation.

Walter Sundberg teaches church history at Luther Seminary in St. Paul, Minn., and has written about religion, politics and trends in American religion.

Dale Soden is a history professor at Whitworth University in Spokane, Wash. He contributed a chapter on mainline Protestants, Catholics and Jews in the Pacific Northwest to Religion and Public Life in the Pacific Northwest: The None Zone.

First Place 4 Health is a Christian weight-loss program that began as a ministry at Houston’s First Baptist Church and now has groups in 12,000 congregations nationwide. The website has a search engine that allows a state-by-state search of existing groups and meetings. Vicki Heath is national director.

Church Health Center was founded by a United Methodist doctor seeking to fulfill the Christian obligation to care for the poor by providing health care. Among its programs is On the Move in Congregations, a six-week program of Scripture, meditations and health tips designed for individual congregations to use to improve their health and fitness. The communications […]

ChurchFitness.com helps churches establish and build fitness ministries. It provides equipment and training programs.