Read a March 27, 2012, article from Religion News Service (posted by The Washington Post) about an increase in church spending.

Read an Aug. 1, 2007, Christian Science Monitor story about churches turning to electronic giving options.

William Weston is a sociology professor at Centre College in Danville, Ky. At his blog, “Gruntled Center,” he wrote of Jackson, “Michael Jackson is being inducted into the musical pantheon of American civil religion.”

The Rev. Peter Colapietro is pastor at St. Malachy’s Catholic Church in New York City. The church calls itself “the actors’ chapel” and ministers to a large number of actors who live and work in New York City.

The Rev. Kurt C. Wiesner is an Episcopal priest in Littleton, N.H., and author of the blog One Step Closer: Religion & Popular Culture. See his blog entry after the death of Michael Jackson.

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

Cindy Fuller is the press officer for the Salvation Army’s Arkansas operations.

Amanda Waters is the press officer for the Salvation Army’s Kansas and Western Missouri Division.

Danny Wuerffel is the founder of Desire Street Ministries, a Christian ministry devoted to rebuilding impoverished New Orleans neighborhoods in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.