ChurchMedia.Net is a community for those working in religious electronic media. Participants on message boards discuss a host of topics, from which songs to broadcast for Easter to which microphones work best.

Dean Hamer is a geneticist and director of the Gene Structure and Regulation Unit at the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Md. He is the author of The God Gene: How Faith Is Hardwired Into Our Genes. His hypothesis, criticized by some other scientists, is that some people inherit a gene that predisposes them toward faith in […]

Dr. Joanne Lynn is a pioneer in palliative care and care of the dying, a geriatrician, a health services researcher and an ethicist. She has served as chairwoman for various efforts to improve end-of-life care, is past president of Americans for Better Care of the Dying and is the author or editor of numerous books, […]

Drew Leder, a medical doctor who teaches philosophy at Loyola College in Maryland, authored Spiritual Passages: Embracing Life’s Sacred Journey (Tarcher/Putnam, 1997) and has written extensively on aging and spirituality. He has examined elder spirituality in a variety of religious traditions and has consulted with the ElderSpirit Community in Abingdon, Va.

Frank Palumbo is a professor and director of the Center on Drugs and Public Policy at the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy in Baltimore.

Roy M. Oswald is an ordained Lutheran pastor and the executive director of a parachurch organization focused on effective leadership in the church, the Center for Emotional Intelligence and Human Relations Skills. Oswald, a former senior consultant with the Alban Institute, is the author of Clergy Self-Care: Finding a Balance for Effective Ministry. He lives in Boonsboro, […]

John Frederick Lehr is a pastor, consultant and counselor and the author of Clergy Burnout: Recovering from the 70-Hour Work Week and Other Self-Defeating Practices. He is based in the Baltimore area.

St. Joseph’s Society of the Sacred Heart (The Josephites) is a Baltimore-based, interracial society of priests and brothers who work in 45 parishes in African-American communities.

What may houses of worship do to advance political causes or candidates? By Ira Rifkin Freelance Writer The Church at Pierce Creek was a non-denominational, conservative Protestant congregation outside Binghamton, N.Y., until the Internal Revenue Service revoked its tax-exempt status for sponsoring a 1992 newspaper ad attacking then-presidential candidate Bill Clinton’s stands on abortion and […]