Catherine Stonehouse is Orlean Bullard Beeson Professor of Christian Discipleship at Asbury Theological Seminary in Wilmore, Ky., and co-author of Children Matter: Celebrating Their Place in the Church, Family and Community.

Yvonne M. Vissing is a sociology professor at Salem State College in Salem, Mass. She is the author of Out of Sight, Out of Mind: Homeless Children and Families in Small-Town America and can speak about the spiritual lives of homeless children.

Marcia J. Bunge is professor of theology and humanities at Christ College, the Honors College of Valparaiso University in Valparaiso, Ind. She directs the Child in Religion and Ethics Project, funded by the Lilly Endowment, whose goal is to strengthen the theological and ethical understanding of children. Bunge is the editor of The Child in Christian Thought and co-editor […]

Robert Coles is a professor of psychiatry and medical humanities at Harvard University and chairman of the Forgiveness Research Center. A winner of the Medal of Freedom, Coles is the author of The Spiritual Life of Children and The Moral Life of Children.

An August 24, 2009 story from Religion News Service about the ELCA’s decision to allow partnered gay clergy.

Mimi Doe is the founder of SpiritualParenting.com, a Web site dedicated to helping parents raise children who are happy, kind and “connected to their spirits and to their families.” Doe, the mother of two, is the author of Nurturing Your Teenager’s Soul: A Practical Guide to Raising a Kind, Honorable, Compassionate Teen and co-author of 10 Principles for Spiritual […]

Naomi Drew, a consultant and author, stresses the need in a troubled and sometimes violent world for children to learn conflict resolution and peacemaking. A former teacher, she conducts workshops for parents and schools. Drew is the author of Hope and Healing: Peaceful Parenting in an Uncertain World.

The U.S. Adoption and Safe Families Act was passed by Congress and signed into law in 1997.

Read a May 9, 2006, Washington Post story about parents who shy away from organized religion but want their children to have some introduction to it.