Daniel Okada is an assistant professor of criminal justice at California State University Sacramento. He is co-chair of the Justice Studies Association’s 2009 conference, which focused partly on the New Sanctuary Movement and other contributions of religious congregations to the plight of illegal aliens.

Gregory Freeland is an associate professor of political science at California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks, Calif., and director of its Center for Equality and Justice. He is familiar with the organization, goals and spread of the New Sanctuary Movement.

Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice is an interfaith network of 600 Los Angeles area religious and lay leaders who focus on the working poor, including illegal immigrants. Rabbi Jonathan Klein is executive director.

The Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion trains rabbis, cantors, teachers and others in Reform Judaism at campuses in Cincinnati, New York City, Los Angeles and Jerusalem. It ordains both men and women. Contact Allison Glazer or Jean Bloch Rosensaft.  

Mark LeVine is a professor of history at the University of California, Irvine, where he specializes in the Middle East. He has written widely about Islam and politics, including on the subjects of Islam in the public square and Islam and Middle Eastern politics.

Ira M. Lapidus is a professor emeritus of history at the University of California, Berkeley. He is co-editor of the book Islam, Politics and Social Movements. You can read the transcript of a 2003 interview with Lapidus on the subject of contemporary Islamic societies and politics.

John Savant is a professor emeritus at Dominican University of California and author of an essay, “The Saving Grace of Sport: Why we watch & play” in the Sept. 26, 2003, edition of Commonweal, an independent Catholic magazine.

Frank Reich is a former college and NFL star quarterback and from 2003 to 2006 was president of the Charlotte, N.C., campus of the Reformed Theological Seminary. He is now a motivational speaker and speaks about the relationship between prayer and athletic contests, often in the context of his own record of “miraculous” comeback victories. He […]

The Coming Home Project in San Francisco was developed by clinical psychologist and Zen teacher Joseph Bobrow to support armed service members returning from combat and their families. Contact through their website.