See the results of an August 2011 survey of 1,000 Protestant pastors by LifeWay Research that details the rewards of their work but also the challenges.

Paul S. Morton is founder and international presiding bishop of the New Orleans-based Full Gospel Baptist Church Fellowship, International and pastor of Greater St. Stephen Full Gospel Baptist Church, with locations in New Orleans and Decatur, Ga. Begun in 1992, the Episcopal-style fellowship includes mostly African-American Baptist congregations and individuals who emphasize spiritual gifts, including speaking in […]

An infographic, drawn from H.B. London Jr.’s book Pastors at Greater Risk, illustrates some of the data on clergy burnout.

William C. Turner Jr., associate professor of the practice of homiletics at Duke University Divinity School, is an expert in pneumatology (spirits as intermediaries between God and people) and the tradition of spirituality and preaching in the black church. He has written on the “musicality of black preaching” and black evangelism. He is also pastor […]

Karen Baker-Fletcher is a professor of systematic theology at Southern Methodist University’s Perkins School of Theology. She specializes in womanist theology and is the co-author of My Sister, My Brother: Womanist and Xodus God-Talk. Baker-Fletcher’s research interests also include ecology, and in 2007 the environmental magazine Grist named her as one of 15 top religious leaders on […]

Debra Y. Fraser-Howze is president and CEO of the National Black Leadership Commission on AIDS. Her professional career has been spent delivering social services to African-American communities.

Brenda Girton-Mitchell is director of the Department’s Center for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. She is also chaplain to the National Bar Association and is a deacon trustee at the Metropolitan Baptist Church in Washington, D.C. She can discuss the NCC’s work on social issues, including marriage, single-parenthood and families. Contact 202-544-2350.

Richard A. Merrill is Daniel Caplin Professor of Law Emeritus at the University of Virginia Law School in Charlottesville. He is a member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences and is editor and author of multiple books on food and drug law.

Alice M. Graham is professor of pastoral care and counseling at Hood Theological Seminary in Salisbury, N.C. She is an ordained minister in the American Baptist denomination. Among her interests is the subject of the psychological and emotional issues facing inmates released from prison. She teaches a seminar for inmates in a transitional program at North […]