Renew Network is a women’s ministry network for the United Methodist Church based in The Woodlands, Tx. It was founded in 1989 as the Evangelical Coalition for United Methodist Women as a network for evangelical women within the church. Renew works to encourage women to become leaders within the church and assist churches in developing […]

Love Prevails is an advocacy group led by United Methodist minister Amy DeLong. It seeks full inclusion of LGBTQ people within the United Methodist Church and the repeal of “anti-gay” language and practice in the UMC and the United Methodist Book of Discipline. The group is based in Madison, Wis. Contact through the website.

United Methodist Women is a national, New York City-based faith-organization with approximately 800,000 members. Its objectives include promoting the empowerment of women, children, and youth; promoting anti-racism, multiculturalism, and inclusion; promoting fair labor practices; and promoting economic and environmental stewardship and sustainability. Media contact is Yvette Moore.

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.

Read this Feb. 2016 reporting guide published by GLAAD in collaboration with a coalition of state and national LGBT advocacy organizations.

Laura Vance is a professor of sociology and women’s studies at Warren Wilson College in Asheville, N.C. She is the author of Women in New Religions. She is also an expert on Mormon women.

Cynthia Eller is a professor of religion at Claremont Graduate University in Claremont, Calif., where she specializes in women and religion and New Religious Movements. She has written several books on women and religion in prehistory and contemporary feminism.

Ruqayya Khan is an associate professor of religion at Claremont Graduate University in Claremont, Calif. She is an expert on women in Islam and Islam in the digital age. She teaches courses on feminism in the Quran and Islam and environmentalism.