J. Matthew Wilson is an associate professor of political science at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. His interests include religion and politics, and voting behavior of religious voters.

Affirmation is an activist, all-volunteer, not-for-profit organization that challenges the United Methodist Church to be inclusive of LGBTQ people around the world. It is based in Evanston, Ill.

The Reconciling Ministries Network is a movement within the United Methodist Church that works for the inclusion of all people in the UMC regardless of sexual orientation. Contact through director of communications M. Barclay.

Read their official statement on abortion.

Good News, a magazine launched in 1967, represents the vanguard of Methodism’s conservative counteroffensive. It remains a major player in the efforts to limit expanded roles and rights for homosexuals in the UMC. The Rev. Rob Renfroe is its president and publisher. It is based in The Woodlands, Texas.

The Confessing Movement within the United Methodist Church is the leading conservative group of Methodists opposed to gay ordination (and related issues). The Confessing Movement was founded in 1994 and is based in Indianapolis. Patricia Miller is executive director.

The Rev. William K. McElvaney is professor emeritus of preaching and worship at Southern Methodist University’s Perkins School of Theology in Dallas. He is an ordained elder in the United Methodist Church and former president of St. Paul School of Theology in Kansas City, Mo. McElvaney has been a leading voice on issues of social […]

William B. Lawrence is a professor of American church history and dean of the Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. He is an ordained elder in the United Methodist Church and has expressed concern that the debates over homosexuality could lead to lasting schisms.

Susie Johnson is on the human trafficking team of the United Methodist Women. She is also executive director for public policy with the Women’s Division of the United Methodist General Board of Global Ministries.