Lallene Rector is president of Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary in Evanston, Ill. She is also director of its WomenIMAGES center.

Giving USA of Chicago, Ill., is the leading foundation dedicated to promoting overall philanthropy and ethical standards for charitable organizations. In its most recent annual survey, using data from 2006, Giving USA reported that Americans gave more than $295 billion to the nation’s 1.4 million charitable and religious organizations, with the largest single share—almost one-third—going to the religious […]

Sarah McFarland Taylor is an associate professor of religion at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. She is the author of Green Sisters: A Spiritual Ecology, about the growing number and strength of environmentally activist Roman Catholic nuns. She is co-editor of Religion and Outer Space, a volume exploring religion in and on the final frontier. She […]

The Rev. David M. Rhoads is a professor emeritus of New Testament at the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago. He is the editor of a collection of sermons called Earth and Word: Classic Sermons on Saving the Planet and director of the Green Congregation Program, which works to help Lutheran congregations in the Midwest become […]

Rich Draeger is the press officer for the Salvation Army’s Heartland Division, which covers central Illinois.

Elizabeth Gatorano is a lifelong advocate for children and troubled youth. Her husband is Rwandan. After the war in Rwanda she became actively involved in promoting racial unity. She wrote Waiting for the Sunrise: One Family’s Struggle Against Genocide and Racism. She is a Bahá’í who lives with her family in northwest suburban Chicago.

Robert H. Stockman is an adjunct faculty member of the department of religious studies at DePaul University in Chicago. He is a Bahá’í who has written about the history of the faith in America.

Kenneth Bowers is secretary-general of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. He is chief administrative officer of the Bahá’í Faith in the U.S. and author of God Speaks Again: An Introduction to the Bahá’í Faith.

The official website of the Bahá’ís of the U.S., which has its headquarters in Evanston, Ill., is a treasure trove of basic information about the faith’s beliefs and practices. Its online press kit includes statistical information and story ideas.