James A. Mathisen is a sociology professor emeritus at Wheaton College in Wheaton, Ill. where he taught a course in sport and sociology. He is the author of an essay, “American Sport as Folk Religion: Examining a Test of Its Strength” in From Season to Season: Sports as American Religion (2004). He also co-wrote the book Muscular Christianity: […]

Kirk Wakefield, professor of marketing at Baylor University in Waco, Texas, has expertise in sports ethics and marketing and fan behavior.

Blake Burleson, senior lecturer in religion at Baylor University in Waco, Texas, has expertise in sports ethics and world religions.

Donna Bowman is a professor of religious studies at the Honors College of the University of Central Arkansas and has written on the role of sports and faith.

John Fitzsimmons Mahoney, author of The Tao of the Jump Shot: An Eastern Approach to Life and Basketball, is a former high school basketball coach in New Jersey and author of books on Eastern religions who uses both sport and religion to illuminate each other.

The Rev. Kent Berghuis is senior pastor at First Baptist Church of Oklahoma City, and an affiliate in theology at Palmer Theological Seminary in King of Prussia, Pa.

Clifford Putney teaches American religious history at Bentley College in Waltham, Mass. He is the author of Muscular Christianity: Manhood and Sports in Protestant America, 1880-1920, regarded by many as a definitive work on the relationship between Protestantism and sports in America.

Warren Goldstein teaches American history at the University of Hartford, where he chairs the history department. He is the author of Playing for Keeps: A History of Early Baseball, and he wrote an essay in the Nov. 1, 2003, Christian Century magazine titled, “Winning Isn’t Everything: Baseball as a Theological Discipline.”

Pastor Herb Lusk is a former Philadelphia Eagles tailback who is thought to be the first NFL player to kneel and pray in the end zone after scoring a touchdown, in 1977. Since 1982 Lusk has headed the congregation at the Greater Exodus Baptist Church in Philadelphia.