Rhys H. Williams is a professor and chair of the sociology department at Loyola University Chicago. He has done research on immigrant college students, including their attitudes toward religion and spirituality. He was also co-director of the Youth and Religion Project, funded by the Lilly Endowment, which did field work in the Chicago area to […]

Paul Hill, formerly a Lutheran parish pastor, was director of the Center for Youth Ministries at Wartburg Seminary in Dubuque, Iowa and is now executive director of Vibrant Faith Ministries in Minneapolis He has been a church camp director and helped plan national events for Lutheran youth, and specializes in ministry with teenage boys.

Suzanne Abel is senior adviser for the Haas Center for Public Service at Stanford University in California.

Jerome P. Baggett is professor of religion and society for the Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley at the Graduate Theological Union. He wrote the book Habitat for Humanity: Building Private Homes, Building Public Religion (2000) and Sense of the Faithful: How American Catholics Live Their Faith (2009). He is currently conducting a research project on American atheists. He […]

Sue Vineyard is an author and volunteer consultant based in Darien, Ill.

Mary V. Merrill is a volunteer consultant and trainer based in Columbus, Ohio.

Doyle Paul Johnson is a professor of sociology at Texas Tech University in Lubbock. He wrote the article “Ecumenical Outreach Coalitions: Using Open-System Role-Set Theory to Examine Church and Community Cooperation” for the Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly (1997).

Clive Mentzel is director of the Office of Active Citizenship and Service at Vanderbilt University in Nashville. OACS is home to more than 60 student service groups that work on local, national, and international problems through hands-on volunteer service.

Denise Davis-Maye is an assistant professor with the social work program in the department of sociology, anthropology and social work at Auburn University in Alabama. Her research focuses on the role of community in African-American families.