William C. Placher is a professor of philosophy and religion and LaFollette Distinguished Professor in the Humanities at Wabash College in Crawfordsville, Ind. His books include, as editor, Callings: Twenty Centuries of Christian Wisdom on Vocation (Eerdmans Publishing, 2005).

James R. Wood is a professor emeritus of sociology at Indiana University, Bloomington, and was part of a team of scholars working on a project called “Organizing Religious Work for the 21st Century.”

The Rev. Ken Davis is director of the Program for Formation of Hispanic Ministry at St. Meinrad School of Theology in Indiana and co-author of Emerging Voices, Urgent Choices: Essays on Latino/a Religious Leadership (Brill Academic Press, 2006).

Paula Nesbitt is a visiting associate professor of sociology at the University of California, Berkeley. She is the author of Feminization of the Clergy in America: Occupational and Organizational Perspectives (Oxford University Press, 1997).

Dean R. Hoge was a professor of sociology at Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. His books include, as co-author, Pastors in Transition: Why Clergy Leave Local Church Ministry (Eerdmans, 2005). Read a 2003 speech he co-authored, posted by Pulpit & Pew.

Christine Schenk is a Catholic nun and the executive director emerita of  FutureChurch, based in Lakewood, Ohio, which advocates ordaining married Roman Catholic men and women as priests to alleviate priest shortages.

Louise Haggett, a sales and marketing specialist from Maine, is president and founder of rentapriest.com.

A Barna study, conducted from January 2007 through January 2008, found similar percentages for divorce among atheists and agnostics as among Christians. The Barna Group partners with organizations and others “to be a catalyst in moral, social, and spiritual transformation.”

Daniel Aleshire directs the Association of Theological Schools, which is based in Pittsburgh, Pa. The association has 251 member schools with 80,140 students total, of whom 64 percent are men and 36 percent are women. The ATS posts a number of tables on seminary enrollment.