Has offices in Lombard, Ill. and Roseville, Cali. Family of churches in the U.S. and Canada. Church planting is an emphasis.

Based in Colorado Springs, Colo. Claims membership of over 4 million people in 13,609 churches in 81 countries and territories including more than 2,000 churches in the United States. Contact Rev. William (Bill) W. Malick, director of church multiplication ministries.

An evangelical church committed to church planting and world missions based in Fort Wayne, Ind.

Has network of over 1,500 churches worldwide. They work alongside existing local churches to help reproduce and plant new Vineyard churches. Michael Gatlin is the national church planting director.

Joe Maher is the founder of Opus Bono Sacerdotii (“work for the good of the priesthood”), a Mississippi lay group that defends the rights of priests accused of sexual misconduct. It assists priests and religious in crisis through a network of confidential experts in various fields.

The Institute of Interfaith Dialog was founded by Turkish Muslim Fethullah Gulen and, though based in Houston, has chapters throughout the South and Southwest.

Charles Reagan Wilson is the author of Judgment & Grace in Dixie: Southern Faiths from Faulkner to Elvis. He is a professor of history and Southern studies at the University of Mississippi.

Bishop Joseph Campbell is with the Church of Christ (Holiness) USA in Jackson, Miss. The church has sent missionaries to Africa.

The Islamic Center of Mississippi is located in Starkville and serves a diverse groups of residents.