The Rev. Gretchen Mertes is an associate pastor for Our Redeemer’s Lutheran Church in Seattle. She previously led Luther’s Table, a unique faith community based in a bar, and continues to host theology on tap events.

Terrell McTyer is the minister for new church strategies for the Hope Partnership for Missional Transformation, a ministry of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ.)

Thomas McConkie is the founder and director of Lower Lights Sangha, a meditation community in Salt Lake City. He is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and trained in Buddhist meditation.

The Rev. Elsa Marty leads St. Lydia’s, a food-focused faith community in the Brooklyn borough of New York.

Brie Loskota is executive director of the Martin Marty Center for the Public Understanding of Religion. She researches religious change and facilitates partnerships between faith groups and the government. She is co-creator of the Disasters and Religions religious literacy and competency app, which helps disaster responders better serve America’s diverse religious communities and build partnerships […]

The Rev. Zach Kerzee leads Simple Church, a faith community centered on shared meals.

Dusty Hoesly is associate director of the Walter H. Capps Center for the Study of Ethics, Religion and Public Life at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He studies New Religious Movements, secularism and how minority faith groups shape American culture.

The Rev. Sara Hayden is the director of apprenticeships, residences and leadership cohorts for 1,001 New Worshiping Communities, a Presbyterian Church (USA) initiative. She also hosts the podcast New Way on religious innovation.

Rabbi Niles Elliot Goldstein leads Congregation Beth Shalom in California’s Napa Valley. He’s also co-founder of The Napa Center for Thought and Culture, which hosts events for people who are interested in Judaism but don’t want to attend traditional synagogue services.