Lifewatch is the quarterly newsletter published by the Taskforce of United Methodists on Abortion and Sexuality (TUMAS), which was founded in 1987 with the goal of promoting pro-life thought within the United Methodist Church and providing support for abortion-prevention activities. Lifewatch is edited by the Rev. Paul T. Stallworth, who lives in Whiteville, N.C.

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.

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.

Evelyn Ojeda-Fox is the founder of the Peaceful Birth Project and has written and taught about making birth a spiritual experience. She is based in Dunedin, Fla.

Marianne Littlejohn is  a nurse and midwife who promotes and teaches the idea of spiritual births. She teaches a spiritual birth workshop and classes at the Spiritual Birth Centre in Cape Town, South Africa.

Leslie Ludy is a Christian author and speaker and author of Set-Apart Motherhood: Reflecting Joy and Beauty in Family Life, a book that describes motherhood as a Christian calling. She is the mother of six children, four of them adopted. Her website, Set Apart Girl, is focused on what she describes as “Christ-centered femininity.” She lives […]