Jim Winkler is president and general secretary of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the USA, an organization that represents 37 religious denominations. He is based in Washington, D.C.

Atletas de Cristo, or Athletes for Christ, is a Brazil-based international organization of Christian — usually Pentecostal and evangelical — athletes. Its purpose is to “bring the Gospel to the world through the athlete.” Brazilian soccer players have been known to flout FIFA’s rules against proselytizing via clothing at games.

Read another Oct. 17, 2011, column at Patheos that talks about how seminary education can be improved.

Gary Peluso-Verdend is president of Phillips Theological Seminary in Tulsa, Okla., a multidenominational Protestant school. He is also an associate professor of practical theology and is an expert on congregational cultures and training for church leadership.

Daniel Sack is a program officer at the Associated Colleges of the Midwest in Chicago and author of Whitebread Protestants: Food and Religion in American Culture (Palgrave Macmillan, 2001).

Progressive Christians Uniting began in 1996 at Claremont School of Theology as a Southern California ecumenical organization of progressive Christians in mainline Protestant churches committed to a renewal of social witness of the Christian church.

The Moravian Church in America is one of the oldest Protestant denominations with strong missionary work and belief in traditions. The website offers resources on faith beliefs, congregations, news and publications.

Global Ministries is the United Methodist Church’s missionary arm that has worked in 60 countries around the world. Its missions have included providing educational resources to women.