Bishop Christian Alsted leads the Nordic-Baltic Episcopal Area of the United Methodist Church. He also serves on the board of trustees for Baltic Methodist Theological Seminary.

Scholars, scientists and faith leaders around the world are working to reduce tensions between religion and science.

Russell Haitch is a professor of theology and human science at Bethany Theological Seminary in Richmond, Ind. He is ordained in the United Methodist Church.

Faith groups have played an important role in marijuana policy debates in the United States and around the world.

President Donald Trump has undone or renegotiated many of his predecessor’s environmentally friendly policies, removing climate change research from government websites and pulling out of the Paris climate agreement. Religiously inspired environmental activists have emerged as some of his loudest critics.

The Rev. Pat Watkins is the executive director of Caretakers of God’s Creation, a grassroots ministry that encourages environmental activism among Methodists. He previously served as a missionary tasked with creation care for the United Methodist Council of Bishops.

The Rev. Sharon Delgado leads seminars and workshops on climate change, environmental justice and the relationship between spirituality and social action. She is an ordained United Methodist minister and founded the Climate Justice Action Network, which brings together Methodists interested in environmental activism.

Joerg Rieger is a professor of Wesleyan studies and theology at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, as well as an ordained elder in the United Methodist Church. His areas of study include social justice, liberation theory, the relationship between theology and public life, and the misuse of power in religion, politics and economics.

Jeremy Smith is the senior pastor of First Church, the First United Methodist Church of Seattle. He blogs at Hacking Christianity where he has written about non-traditional worship services and churches, including bar churches and dinner churches.