The National Baptist Convention, USA has approximately 7.5 million members. It is the oldest and largest African American convention in the United States.

The Christian Methodist Episcopal Church is a branch of Wesleyan Methodism. It is composed primarily of African Americans. Paul A.G. Stewart is senior bishop at the church’s headquarters in St. Louis, Mo.

The African Methodist Episcopal Church evolved from the Free African Society.

The Baptist Press is a news service of the Southern Baptist Convention.

Paul Chang-Ha Lim is assistant professor of the history of Christianity at the Vanderbilt Divinity School in Nashville, Tenn.

Bonnie Miller-McLemore is a professor of religion, psychology and culture at Vanderbilt University Divinity School in Nashville, Tenn., and co-author of From Culture Wars to Common Ground: Religion and the American Family Debate (2000). She teaches courses on women and religion, theology and science, as well as parenting, families and children.

Cynthia S. W. Crysdale is associate professor for the School of Theology and Religious Studies at Sewanee: The University of the South. She wrote “Christian Marriage and Homosexual Monogamy” for the book Our Selves, Our Souls and Bodies: Sexuality and the Household of God (Crowley Press, 1996).

The Halveti-Jerrahi Order of Dervishes is an international traditional order of Sufis with branches in New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Illinois and Tennessee.

Wilfred M. McClay holds the SunTrust Bank Chair of Excellence in Humanities at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, where he is also a professor of history. He is a widely published author on issues related to religion in America. He co-edited Religion Returns to the Public Square: Faith and Policy in America. He is also a […]