Read a May 23, 2013, analysis at Religion News Service on how the Catholic Church is struggling to welcome openly gay members who are not allowed to take up ministry roles.

Read a May 31, 2013, story in the Los Angeles Times about a openly gay bishop elected to a Lutheran church.

Dr. M. William Howard Jr. is the senior pastor of Bethany Baptist Church in Newark, N.J., a partner in the New Jersey Character Education Partnership, which tries to instill values, including honesty, in local children.

Danielle Tumminio is a graduate of Yale Divinity school and an Episcopal priest. While at Yale, she taught a course called “Christian Theology and Harry Potter.” The class inspired a book, God and Harry Potter at Yale (Unlocking Press, 2010). She lives in Boston.

The Rev. John Killinger is the author of God, the Devil and Harry Potter: A Christian Minister’s Defense of the Beloved Novels and The Life, Death and Resurrection of Harry Potter. He lives in Warrington, Va.

Read a March 4, 2003, WorldNetDaily article about a minister’s comparison of Harry Potter to Jesus.

Pope Benedict has said the Harry Potter books “erode Christianity in the soul” of young people according to a July 15, 2005, Manchester Evening News article.

Lael Atkinson is pastor of Payson Park United Church of Christ in Belmont, Mass. In 2003, she delivered a sermon about America as a culture that consumes too much of everything, including food.

Published by P.J. Kenedy & Sons. The Official Catholic Directory is a guide to Catholic clergy in the United States and around the world.