Martin Spriggs is a former pastor and chief technology officer for the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod, with 1,400 churches the third-largest Lutheran body in the U.S. His work includes helping synod churchesset up and use electronic media. Only about 45 of the churches offer podcasts or streaming audio and video right now, but many others are coming online […]

Kenneth Taylor is a philosophy professor at Stanford University and co-host of the nationally syndicated public radio program Philosophy Talk, which has tackled a number of issues involving religion and belief/nonbelief. His essay “Without the Net of Providence: Atheism and the Human Adventure” is included in Philosophers Without Gods: Meditations on Atheism and the Secular Life (2007).

Shane Hipps, a former advertising professional, thinks about the influence of new media on faith as the electronically sophisticated lead pastor of Trinity Mennonite Church in Glendale, Ariz. He wrote The Hidden Power of Electronic Culture: How Media Shapes Faith, the Gospel and Church (Zondervan/Youth Specialties, 2006) and “The Gospel According to Electronic Culture: What if the medium really […]

William Lobdell is a former Los Angeles Times reporter and the author of Losing My Religion: How I Lost My Faith Reporting on Religion in America — and Found Unexpected Peace (2009). He is now editor of iBusiness Reporting and is a visiting faculty member at the University of California, Irvine.

Annie Laurie Gaylor is co-founder and co-president of the Freedom From Religion Foundation, a Madison, Wis.-based national association of atheists and agnostics working to keep state and church separate. She previously served as editor of Freethought Today, the nation’s only freethought newspaper. She is the author of Woe to the Women: The Bible Tells Me So and editor of Women […]

Jesse Galef is communications director for the Secular Student Alliance, which is based in Columbus, Ohio. He graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he was president of the nonreligious student group on campus. He was also active in religious groups there, including the Orthodox Christian Fellowship and Christian Apologetics of Carolina. […]

Jennifer Hancock is a former executive director of the Humanists of Florida Association. She writes a freelance column on humanism for the Bradenton Herald; her Aug. 21, 2010, column discusses how humanism helped her cope with tragedies in her life.

Cecil Bothwell is a City Council member in Asheville, N.C. Shortly after his election in 2009, some opponents sought to oust him from office because he does not believe in God. Bothwell, a journalist and author, blogs and speaks frequently about matters of faith. His books include The Prince of War: Billy Graham’s Crusade for a Wholly Christian Empire (2008) and Whale Falls: […]

Margaret Downey is founder and president of The Freethought Society, based in Pocopson, Pa. She is also a secular celebrant, performing life-cycle ceremonies for nonbelievers.