All On Faith Panelists

    Guest Contributors to On Faith

Salman Ahmad | Founder, Junoon

Rock musician Salman Ahmad founded the popular South Asian band Junoon. The group has sold over 25 million albums and in 2001 became the first rock band invited to perform at the U.N. General Assembly.

Akbar Ahmed | Professor at American University

Akbar Ahmed holds the Ibn Khaldun Chair of Islamic Studies at American University. He is a former High Commissioner of Pakistan to Great Britain.

James Anderson | Co-founder, Alban Institute

James Anderson is a retired Episcopal priest, an almost full-time volunteer in the community, a part-time farm manager, and independent writer. He's currently writing a book with Bishop Jane Holmes Dixon examining the 40-year history of the effort to fully integrate women into the ordained ministry of the Episcopal Church.

Leith Anderson | President, National Association of Evangelicals

Leith Anderson is president of the National Association of Evangelicals. Anderson has been senior pastor of Wooddale Church in Eden Prairie, Minn., since 1977.

Karen Armstrong | Religion Scholar

Karen Armstrong's books about different religions, including her highly acclaimed "A History of God," have made her one of the most prominent authors on religious history.

Lauren Artress | Episcopal Priest, Founder Veriditas

The Rev. Lauren Artress, a canon at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco, is president and founder of Veriditas, a non-profit dedicated to introducing people to the healing, meditative powers of the labyrinth -- a 12th century mystical tool symbolic of the Path of Life.

Andy Bachman | Reform Rabbi, Brooklyn

Rabbi Andy Bachman is the spiritual leader at Congregation Beth Elohim, Brooklyn's largest Reform synagogue. He is also the co-founder, along with his wife Rachel Altstein, of Brooklyn Jews, a unique cultural and learning programs for Jews in their 20s and 30s.

Randall Balmer | Episcopal Priest, Professor at Barnard College

Randall Balmer, an Episcopal priest, is the Ann Whitney Olin professor of American religious history at Barnard College, Columbia University, and a visiting professor at Yale Divinity School. He has written ten books, including Thy Kingdom Come: How the Religious Right Distorts the Faith and Threatens America and Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory: A Journey into the Evangelical Subculture in America.

Thomas G. Bohlin | U.S. vicar of the Prelature of Opus Dei

Monsignor Thomas G. Bohlin is the U.S. vicar of the Prelature of Opus Dei, an international institution of the Catholic Church that helps people come closer to God in their work and daily activities.

Marcus Borg | Jesus Seminar Scholar

Marcus J. Borg holds the Hundere Chair in Religion and Culture in the Philosophy Department at Oregon State University. A fellow of the Jesus Seminar, he has served as national chair of the Historical Jesus Section of the Society of Biblical Literature and co-chair of its International New Testament Program Committee, and is past president of the Anglican Association of Biblical Scholars.

Kenneth E. Bowers | Sec. Gen., Natl Assembly of Bahá'ís

Kenneth E. Bowers is the Secretary General of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States, the nine-member elected governing body of the Bahá'ís Faith in the 48 contiguous states.

Sharon Brous | Founding Rabbi, IKAR

Rabbi Sharon Brous is the founding rabbi of IKAR, a vibrant Jewish Spiritual Community in Los Angeles. She was included in the Forward's annual list of the 50 most influential members of the American Jewish community for three years in a row, and was recently noted in Newsweek as one of the leading rabbis in the country.

Richard Bushman | Professor at Columbia University

Richard Lyman Bushman is Gouverneur Morris Professor of History Emeritus at Columbia University. Most recently he authored "Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling" (2005). He works in the field of early American social and cultural history. In 1992 he published "The Refinement of America: Persons, Houses, and Cities." He and his wife Claudia are lifelong members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

William J. Byron | Catholic Priest, ex-President of Catholic University

The Reverend William J. Byron, S.J., a former president of Catholic University, is on leave this year from his position as research professor at the Sellinger School of Business and Management, Loyola College in Maryland to serve as president of St. Joseph's Preparatory School in Philadelphia.

John Bryson Chane | Episcopal Bishop of Washington

The Right Reverend John Bryson Chane is the eighth Episcopal Bishop of Washington, a diocese that encompasses 93 congregations and about 45,000 church members in the District of Columbia and Maryland.

Deepak Chopra |Founder, Alliance for a New Humanity

"On Faith" panelist Deepak Chopra is the author of more than fifty books translated into over thirty-five languages, including numerous New York Times bestsellers in both the fiction and nonfiction categories. His latest is "The Third Jesus: The Christ We Cannot Ignore." Chopra's Wellness Radio airs weekly on Sirius Satellite Stars, Channel 102, which focuses on the areas of success, love, sexuality and relationships, well-being, and spirituality. He is founder and president of the Alliance for a New Humanity. Time magazine heralds Deepak Chopra as one of the top 100 heroes and icons of the century and credits him as "the poet-prophet of alternative medicine.

Charles W. "Chuck" Colson |Founder, Prison Fellowship ministry

Charles W. "Chuck" Colson is founder of Prison Fellowship, a Christian outreach ministry to the prison population of this country, as well as to ex-prisoners and crime victims.

Jim Cooper | Rector, Trinity Church Wall Street

The Rev. Dr. James Herbert Cooper is the 17th Rector of Trinity Church-St. Paul's Chapel in the city of New York.

John Dominic Crossan | Professor Emeritus, DePaul University

Irish-born John Dominic Crossan is a professor emeritus in the religious studies department at DePaul University in Chicago. Between 1950 and 1969, he was a member of a 13th-century Roman Catholic religious order, the Servites, and remained an ordained priest from 1957 to 1969.

Philip G. Davis | Official, First Church of Christ, Scientist, Boston

Philip G. Davis is manager of the Christian Science Committees on Publication for The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston, which handles all media and government relations. He directs the work of 150 local spokespersons for the Christian Science Church around the world.

Richard Dawkins |British Evolutionary Biologist

Richard Dawkins has been the Charles Simonyi Professor of the Public Understanding of Science at the University of Oxford since 1995. He is the author of many books, including the best-selling "The God Delusion."

Daniel C. Dennett |Center for Cognitive Studies, Tufts University

Daniel C. Dennett is the Austin B. Fletcher Professor of Philosophy, and Co-Director of the Center for Cognitive Studies, at Tufts University. His most recent book was Breaking the Spell (2006).

Christopher Dickey |Journalist, Newsweek magazine

Christopher Dickey is Paris Bureau Chief and Middle East Regional Editor for Newsweek magazine . An award-winning author, the "On Faith" panelist previously was a foreign correspondent in Cairo and Central America for the Washington Post.

Jane Holmes Dixon |Former Episcopal Bishop of Washington

The Right Reverend Jane Holmes Dixon served as Episcopal Bishop of Washington, Pro tempore, with ecclesiastical authority for the diocese until she retired in 2002.

Wendy Doniger |Religion Professor, University of Chicago

Wendy Doniger (O'Flaherty) is the Mircea Eliade Distinguished Service Professor of the History of Religions at the University of Chicago's Divinity School. The "On Faith" panelist also teaches in the University's Department of South Asian Languages and Civilizations.

Lyle Dukes |Founder, Harvest Life Changers Church

"On Faith" panelist Lyle Dukes is Senior Pastor and founder of Harvest Life Changers Church in Woodbridge, Virginia. He and his wife, co-pastor Deborah Dukes, have served the church since its inception in 1995.

Bob Edgar |President of Common Cause.

"On Faith" panelist Dr. Bob Edgar is president of Common Cause, an ordained elder in the United Methodist Church, and a former congressman.

Arnold M. Eisen |Chancellor, Jewish Theological Seminary

"On Faith" panelist Arnold M. Eisen is chancellor of the Jewish Theological Seminary. An expert on American Judaism, Eisen has worked closely for the past twenty years with synagogue and federation leadership around the country to analyze and address the issues of Jewish identity, the revitalization of Jewish tradition, and the redefinition of the American Jewish community. He has been a frequent scholar-in-residence at synagogues across the country. A product of the Conservative movement, he has served on the faculty of the Wexner Heritage Program, the Wexner Fellowship, the Nahum Goldman Fellowship of the Memorial Foundation for Jewish Culture, Tel Aviv University, and Columbia University. Eisen's recent publications include Taking Hold of Torah: Jewish Commitment and Community in America (1997); Rethinking Modern Judaism: Ritual, Commandment, Community (1998); and The Jew Within: Self, Family and Community in America (2000), co-authored with sociologist Steven M. Cohen.

Willis E. Elliott |Minister, teacher, author

An ordained United Church of Christ and American Baptist minister, "On Faith" panelist Dr. Willis E. Elliott has been a pastor, teacher, lecturer, administrator, consultant (to Newsweek for 38 years), church executive, and the author of six books..

Greg M. Epstein |Humanist Chaplain of Harvard University

"On Faith" panelist Greg M. Epstein serves as the Humanist Chaplain of Harvard University, and sits on the executive committee of the 38-member interfaith corps of Harvard Chaplains.

John Esposito |Director, Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding

"On Faith" panelist John L. Esposito is professor of religion, international affairs and Islamic studies at Georgetown University. He also is founding director of the Prince Alwaleed bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding at Georgetown's Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service.

Feisal Abdul Rauf |Imam; Chairman, Cordoba Institute

"On Faith" panelist Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf is Chairman of the Cordoba Initiative, an independent, non-partisan, interfaith project that works with state and non-state actors to improve Muslim-West relations. Author of "What's Right With Islam Is What's Right With America," (HarperCollins, 2005) he is also founder of the American Society for Muslim Advancement (ASMA) and Imam of Masjid al-Farah in New York City.

Kathleen Flake |Associate Professor, Religious History

Kathleen Flake is associate professor of American religious history at Vanderbilt University.

James A. Forbes Jr. |Senior Minister, The Riverside Church

The Reverend James Alexander Forbes Jr. has been Senior Minister of The Riverside Church, an interdenominational, interracial, and international congregation in New York, since 1989. The “"On Faith”" panelist also hosts "The Time Is Now" on Air America Radio.

Paula Fredriksen | Professor of Scripture, Boston University

Paula Fredriksen is the Aurelio Professor of Scripture at Boston University. The "On Faith" panelist previously held teaching positions at the University of Pittsburgh, University of California -- Berkeley, Stanford and Princeton. She has also taught at Hebrew University in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv University.

Donna Freitas |Asst. Prof. of Religion, Boston University

Donna Freitas is Assistant Professor of Religion at Boston University. The "On Faith" panelist's literary and academic focus is the struggle of belonging and alienation with regard to faith, particularly among young adults, and especially young women. Freitas asks the 'Big Questions' (Why are we here anyway?) and delights in discovering the many forums in which to dabble with faith, religion, spirituality, and gender.

C. Welton Gaddy |Leader of the Interfaith Alliance

The Reverend C. Welton Gaddy leads the nonpartisan educational organizations The Interfaith Alliance and The Interfaith Alliance Foundation, and hosts the latter's national weekly radio show, State of Belief.

Arun Gandhi |Co-founder, M.K. Gandhi Institute for Nonviolence.

Arun Gandhi is the fifth grandson of India's legendary leader, Mohandas K. "Mahatma" Gandhi. He is co-founder of the M. K. Gandhi Institute for Nonviolence, now at the University of Rochester in New York.

Chester L. Gillis |Chair of Catholic Studies at Georgetown University.

"On Faith" panelist Chester Gillis is the Amaturo Chair of Catholic Studies at Georgetown University where he has served on the faculty since 1988. He was chair of the Department of Theology from 2001 to 2005.

Mark Hall |Youth Pastor, Singer-Songwriter

On Faith panelist Mark Hall is a youth pastor at Eagle's Landing First Baptist Church in Atlanta. He is lead singer and songwriter for Casting Crowns.

Sam Harris |Best-selling author of Letter to a Christian Nation

"On Faith" panelist Sam Harris is the author of the best-selling books Letter to a Christian Nation (2006) and The End of Faith (2005), which won the 2005 PEN Award for Nonfiction and has been translated into many foreign languages.

Brad Hirschfield |President, Natl. Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership

Rabbi Brad Hirschfield is an author, radio and TV talk show host, and President of CLAL-The National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership. He wrote "You Don't Have To Be Wrong For Me To Be Right: Finding Faith Without Fanaticism." Named as one of the nation's 50 most influential rabbis in Newsweek, and one of the top 30 "Preachers and Teachers" by Beliefnet.com, he is the creator of the popular series, Building Bridges, airing on Bridges TV, and co-host of the weekly radio show, Hirschfield and Kula: Intelligent Talk Radio. For more information see www.bradhirschfield.com.

Dwight Hopkins |Professor, U. of chicago Divinity

"On Faith" panelist Dwight N. Hopkins is Professor of Theology at the University of Chicago Divinity School. The "On Faith" panelist is the author of "Being Human: Race, Culture, and Religion," and "Shoes That Fit Our Feet: Sources for a constructive black theology." He is co-editor of "Walk Together Children: Black and womanist theologies, church and theological education," and "Another World Is Possible: Spiritualities and Religions of Global Darker Peoples."

Ada Maria Isasi-Diaz |Professor, Ethics, Theology, Drew University

"On Faith" panelist Ada Maria Isasi-Diaz is Professor of Social Christian Ethics and Theology at Drew University. The first Latina in the United States to receive a doctorate degree in theology, Isasi-Diaz developed "mujerista" theology, which reflects the perspective of Latinas in the United States, as well as their religious experiences and practices.

Sherman Jackson | American Learning Institute for Muslims

Sherman A. Jackson is a professor of Arabic and Islamic Studies, a visiting professor of law, and a professor of Afro-American Studies at the University of Michigan , Ann Arbor . He has served as Executive Director for the Center of Arabic Study Abroad (CASA) in Cairo , Egypt , is a member of the U.S.-Muslim World Advisory Committee of the U.S. Institute of Peace , and a co-founder of the American Learning Institute for Muslims (ALIM).

Susan Jacoby |Author and reporter

Susan Jacoby is the author of "The Age of American Unreason," to be published in February by Pantheon.

T.D. Jakes |Bishop and Pastor, The Potter's House

Bishop T.D. Jakes is the pastor of The Potter's House, a 30,000 member nondenominational church in Dallas, Texas.

M. Cathleen Kaveny |Professor, Notre Dame

"On Faith" panelist Professor M. Cathleen Kaveny, a scholar who focuses on the relationship of law, religion, and and morality, is the John P. Murphy Foundation Professor of Law ind Professor of Theology at the University of Notre Dame. She earned her A.B. from Princeton University in 1984, and holds her JD. and her Ph.D. from Yale University . A member of the Massachusetts Bar since 1993, Professor Kaveny clerked for the Honorable John T. Noonan Jr. of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and worked as an associate in the health law group of a large Boston law firm before beginning her teaching career.

Daisy Khan |Exec. Dir. of American Society for Muslim Advancement

"On Faith" panelist Daisy Khan is Executive Director of ASMA Society (American Society for Muslim Advancement).

Mohammad Khatami |Former Iranian president

His Excellency Mohammad Khatami served two terms as Iran's president from 1997 to 2005. He also founded the Tehran-based International Institute for Dialogue among Civilizations and Cultures.

Irwin Kula |Rabbi, author, commentator

Rabbi Irwin Kula is the President of CLAL-The National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership in New York. He has served congregations in St. Louis, New York and Jerusalem.

Richard Land | Southern Baptist Convention Leader

"On Faith" panelist Richard Land has served as president of the Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission since 1988.

Samuel T. Lloyd |Dean, Washington National Cathedral

The Very Reverend Doctor Samuel T. Lloyd III was installed as ninth dean of Washington National Cathedral in 2005. The "On Faith" panelist previously served as rector of Boston's historic Trinity Church in Copley Square for 12 years, and before that, as chaplain of the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee.

Martin E. Marty | Professor emeritus, University of Chicago

Martin E. Marty is Fairfax M. Cone Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus at the University of Chicago, where he taught religious history, chiefly in the Divinity School, for 35 years, and where the Martin Marty Center has been founded to promote "public religion" endeavors.

Moez Masoud |Founding Director, Al-Tareeq Al-Sah Institute

Moez Masoud is Founding Director of "Al-Tareeq Al-Sah" Institute in Egypt. His popular show "Al-Tareeq Al-Sah" (The Right Way) is watched by millions of people across the Arab world. Based on an orthodox understanding of Islam, his discourse is mainly aimed at reconciling contemporary life with spirituality. His institute's documentary and musical productions -- which aim to convey this philosophy -- air regularly and top the charts. Masoud was recently named one of the 20 most influential religious figures in Egypt, where he is currently based.

Ingrid Mattson |President, Islamic Society of North America

Ingrid Mattson is Professor of Islamic Studies and Christian-Muslim Relations, as well as Director of the Islamic Chaplaincy Program, at Hartford Seminary in Connecticut . In 2006, the "On Faith" panelist became the first woman elected President of the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), the largest religious organization for Muslims on the continent.

Brian D. McLaren |Best-selling author

"On Faith" panelist Brian D. McLaren is a best-selling author, pastor and intellectual leader of "emerging church," a Christian evangelical movement that seeks new ways to worship and understand the gospel in a postmodern era.

Jon Meacham |Managing editor, Newsweek

Jon Meacham's book American Gospel: God, the Founding Fathers, and the Making of a Nation, has become a bestseller since its publication in early 2006. Newsweek's managing editor since 1998, Meacham was named editor of the weekly newsmagazine in October 2006. In this position, he oversees all day-to-day editorial operations of Newsweek and Newsweek.com.

Lisa Miller |Belief Watch

"On Faith" panelist Lisa Miller is a senior editor at Newsweek. She oversees all of the magazine's religion coverage and writes the regular "Belief Watch column.

R. Albert Mohler Jr. |President, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

R. Albert Mohler, Jr. is the ninth president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary--the flagship school of the Southern Baptist Convention and one of the largest seminaries in the world. The "On Faith" panelist is a theologian and ordained minister and has served as pastor and staff minister of several Southern Baptist churches.

Richard Mouw |President, Fuller Theological Seminary

Richard J. Mouw has served as president of Fuller Theological Seminary since 1993, after four years as provost and senior vice president. A philosopher, scholar, and author, the "On Faith" panelist has been recognized as an important voice among reform-oriented evangelicals.

Hadia Mubarak |Researcher, Student

Hadia Mubarak, an "On Faith" panelist, is a senior researcher at Georgetown University's Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding.

Julia Neuberger | Rabbi, Member of Britain's House of Lords

Baroness Julia Neuberger is an ordained rabbi and member of Britian's House of Lords. The "On Faith" panelist also is a trustee of the British Council, Jewish Care, and the Booker Prize Foundation, as well as founding trustee of the Walter and Liesel Schwab Charitable Trust.

R. Gustav Niebuhr |Director, Religion & Society, Syracuse University

Gustav Niebuhr is an associate professor of religion and the media, an interdisciplinary position in the College of Arts & Sciences and the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University. Since June 2004, the "On Faith" panelist has directed the Religion & Society Program, an interdisciplinary undergraduate major.

Sulayman S. Nyang | Scholar, African and Muslim affairs

"On Faith" panelist Sulayman S. Nyang teaches in the Department of African Studies at Howard University in Washington, D.C. A scholar of African and Muslim affairs, Nyang, who is a native of the Republic of the Gambia, also served as his homeland's deputy ambassador to seven Middle Eastern and North African countries from 1975-78.

Michael Otterson |Head of Public Affairs, LDS Church

"On Faith" panelist Michael Otterson heads the worldwide public affairs functions of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. A convert to the Mormon faith, he worked as a journalist and editor for 11 years for newspapers in England, Australia and Japan before devoting his professional life to Church public affairs. Since then he has directed Church public affairs operations in various parts of the world. He has conducted hundreds of news media interviews on a wide range of Church-related issues. In a church that operates worldwide with a lay clergy, Otterson has served twice as a stake president (leader of a group of church congregations), in both England and Australia. He has lived in the United States since 1991 and is now a U.S. citizen.

Elaine Pagels |Best-selling author and Pulitzer Prize nominee

"On Faith" panelist Elaine Pagels is Harrington Spear Paine Foundation Professor of Religion at Princeton University and author of best-selling books about the pluralistic nature of early Christianity. Her book Beyond Belief: The Secret Gospel of Thomas (2003), which was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize, focuses on religious claims to possessing the ultimate truth.

Luis Palau |Renowned Christian evangelist and author

Christian evangelist and author Luis Palau has reached an estimated 21 million people in 70 nations through his festivals and writings. His radio broadcasts are heard by millions more on over 2100 radio stations in 42 countries.

Stephen Prothero |Chair, Department of Religion, Boston University

"On Faith" panelist Stephen Prothero is Chair of the Department of Religion at Boston University and author of numerous books on American religion, most recently Religious Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know--And Doesn't (2007).

Eboo Patel |The Faith Divide

Eboo Patel is founder and executive director of the Interfaith Youth Core, a Chicago-based international nonprofit that promotes interfaith cooperation. His blog, The Faith Divide, explores what drives faiths apart and what brings them together.

Sally Quinn |Washington Post reporter

Washington Post journalist, author and Washington DC insider, Sally Quinn founded and co-moderates On Faith, a blog from the Washington Post and Newsweek. Co-moderated by Newsweek editor and bestselling author Jon Meacham and hosted by a panel of renowned religious scholars of all denominations, On Faith is the first worldwide, interactive discussion about religion and its impact on global life.

Thomas J. Reese |Senior fellow Woodstock Theological Center

As editor of the Catholic weekly magazine "America" (americamagazine.org), Rev. Thomas J. Reese promoted discussion on current issues facing the Catholic Church and the world. The "On Faith" panelist is author of Inside the Vatican: The Politics and Organization of the Catholic Church. He is frequently quoted as an expert on Catholic issues.

John Mark Reynolds |Professor, Biola University

"On Faith" panelist Dr. John Mark Reynolds can be found blogging regularly at Scriptoriumdaily.com along with other faculty from the Torrey Honors Institute, a great books program at Biola University for which he is founder and director. He is also Associate Professor of Philosophy for Biola. In 1996 he received his Ph.D. in Philosophy from the University of Rochester.

Samuel Rodriguez |Pres., Nat. Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference.

Rev. Samuel Rodriguez is president of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference.

Gabriel Salguero | Pastor, Executive Member, Latino Leadership Circle

Rev. Gabriel Salguero is a pastor and executive member of the Latino Leadership Circle. The "On Faith" panelist received his M.Div. from New Brunswick Theological Seminary and is a Ph.D. candidate in Christian social ethics at Union Theological Seminary in New York. He and his wife, Jeanette, co-pastor the multicultural Lamb's Church of the Nazarene in New York City.

David Saperstein |Dir., Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism

Rabbi David Saperstein is the Washington representative of Judaism's Reform Movement as Director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, a position he has held for 30 years. The "On Faith" panelist also co-chairs the Coalition to Preserve Religious Liberty, and serves on the boards of numerous national organizations including the NAACP and People For the American Way.

Jonathan D. Sarna |Prof. American Jewish History, Brandeis U.

"On Faith" panelist Jonathan D. Sarna is the Joseph H. & Belle R. Braun Professor of American Jewish History at Brandeis University and Director of its Hornstein Jewish Professional Leadership Program. Sarna served two terms as chair of Brandeis' Department of Near Eastern & Judaic Studies.

Mathew N. Schmalz |Prof. Religious Studies, Holy Cross

"On Faith" panelist Mathew N. Schmalz is Director of the College Honors Program and Associate Professor of Religious Studies at the College of the Holy Cross, in Worcester, Mass.

Mark S. Sisk |Bishop, Episcopal Diocese of New York

The Right Rev. Mark Sean Sisk has been Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of New York, one of the Episcopal Church's largest dioceses with over 200 congregations since 2001. Before returning to New York as Bishop Coadjutor in 1998, the "On Faith" panelist served for 14 years as President and Dean of Seabury-Western Theological Seminary in Evanston, Illinois.

Susan K. Smith |Pastor, United Church of Christ

"On Faith" panelist The Rev. Dr. Susan K. Smith, senior pastor of Advent United Church of Christ in Columbus, Ohio, is a 1986 graduate of Yale Divinity School. She received her BA in English Literature from Occidental College and her D. Min. from United Theological Seminary in Dayton, Ohio. Rev. Smith is a co-president of BREAD, (Building Responsibility, Equity and Dignity). She is a member of the Board of Directors of the Samuel DeWitt Proctor Conference, Inc. She is the author of four books, "Carla and Annie," "From Calvary to Victory," "Forgive WHO?" and "Crazy Faith for Everyday People."

John Shelby Spong |Former Bishop, Episcopal Diocese of Newark

"On Faith" panelist John Shelby Spong served as Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Newark for 24 years before his retirement in 2000. His books, seeking to make contemporary theology accessible to lay readers, have sold over a million copies.

Starhawk |Co-founder, Reclaiming

"On Faith" panelist Starhawk is a prominent voice in modern Wiccan spirituality and cofounder of Reclaiming (www.reclaiming.org), an activist branch of modern Pagan religion. She is the author or coauthor of ten books, including The Spiral Dance: A Rebirth of the Ancient Religion of the Great Goddess (1979) --considered an essential text for the Neo-Pagan movement--and the novel The Fifth Sacred Thing (1993) .

Adin Steinsaltz |Founder, Israel Institute for Talmudic Publications

For more than 40 years, "On Faith" panelist Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz has devoted himself to the monumental undertaking of translating and reinterpreting the Talmud, the vast collection of rabbinic writings that constitute Jewish civil and religious laws.

Anthony M. Stevens-Arroyo |Director, Research Center for Religion

"On Faith" panelist Anthony M. Stevens-Arroyo is Professor Emeritus of Puerto Rican and Latino Studies at Brooklyn College and Distinguished Scholar of the City University of New York. He has written more than 40 scholarly articles and authored nine books, including the four-volume PARAL series on religion among Latinos.

Mark Tauber |VP, HarperCollins

"On Faith" panelist Mark Tauber is Sr. Vice President of HarperCollins Publishers. Mark obtained his Master of Divinity at Princeton Theological Seminary and has fifteen years of experience in religious, spiritual, personal growth and Bible publishing. Prior to joining HarperCollins, Mark was a co-founder of Waterfront Media, an original, founding team member of Beliefnet.com and on staff at Oxford University Press.

Gardner Calvin Taylor |Pastor, Concord Baptist Church of Christ

The Reverend Gardner Calvin Taylor is senior pastor emeritus of the Concord Baptist Church of Christ in Brooklyn, N.Y. The "On Faith" panelist led the congregation from 1948 to 1990, as church membership grew by 9,000 and through a 1952 fire that necessitated a $1.7 million rebuilding effort.

Pamela K. Taylor |Co-founder, Muslims for Progressive Values

"On Faith" panelist Pamela K. Taylor is co-founder of Muslims for Progressive Values and director of the Islamic Writers Alliance. She is a member of the national board of advisors to the Network of Spiritual Progressives, and served as co-chair of the Progressive Muslim Union for two years. Taylor is a strong supporter of the woman imam movement, which seeks the full participation of Muslim women in every aspect of life, including the pulpit.

Susan Brooks Thistlethwaite |Professor, Theological Seminary

The Rev. Susan Brooks Thistlethwaite is professor of theology at Chicago Theological Seminary, where she served as president for 10 years. Her area of expertise is contextual theologies of liberation, specializing in issues of violence and violation.

Cal Thomas |Syndicated political columnist

Syndicated political columnist and "On Faith" panelist Cal Thomas has a twice-weekly column that appears in over 500 newspapers around the world. A graduate of American University, Thomas is a veteran of broadcast and print journalism.

Robert Thurman |Prof., Indo-Tibetan Buddhist Studies

On Faith" panelist Robert A.F. Thurman is the Jey Tsong Khapa Professor of Indo-Tibetan Buddhist Studies in the Department of Religion at Columbia University.

William McD. Tully" |Rector of St. Bartholomew's Episcopal Church

The Reverend William McD. Tully has been rector of St. Bartholomew's Episcopal Church in New York City since September 1994. The first professional calling of the "On Faith" panelist was to journalism, and he worked as a copy boy and local reporter at the Los Angeles Times.

Desmond Tutu |Nobel Peace Prize winner and human rights advocate

Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Mpilo Tutu was awarded the 1984 Nobel Peace Prize for his contribution to the cause of racial justice in South Africa. He served as the first black African archbishop of Cape Town from 1986 to 1996. Prior to this role as spiritual leader of the Anglican Church in South Africa, Tutu served as General Secretary of the South African Council of Churches from 1978 to 1985.

J. Brent Walker |Executive director of the Baptist Joint Committee

J. Brent Walker is executive director of the Baptist Joint Committee and both a member of the Supreme Court Bar and an ordained minister.

Jim Wallis |President, Sojourners/Call to Renewal

Jim Wallis is president and executive director of Sojourners/Call to Renewal, progressive Christian movements founded to fight poverty and promote social justice. He also is the author of the best-selling God's Politics: Why the Right Gets It Wrong and the Left Doesn't Get It (2005).

Rick Warren |Founder, Saddleback Church

The Reverend Rick Warren, author of "The Purpose Driven Life" (2002), founded Saddleback Church in 1980 with one family. Today, the church has 83,000 members, of whom about 23,000 attend weekly services on its 120-acre campus in Lake Forest, Calif.

Arthur Waskow |Rabbi, Founder Shalom Center

"On Faith" panelist Rabbi Arthur Waskow has been one of the creators and leaders of Jewish renewal since writing the original Freedom Seder in 1969. In 1983, he founded and has since been director of The Shalom Center (www.shalomctr.org). In 2007, Newsweek named him one of America's fifty most influential rabbis.

George Weigel |Catholic theologian and best-selling author

George Weigel is a Catholic theologian and Senior Fellow of Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington. He is the author or editor of eighteen books, including the New York Times bestseller Witness to Hope: The Biography of Pope John Paul II, which has been translated into twelve languages.

Elie Wiesel |Nobel Peace Prize winner and author of Night

"On Faith" panelist Elie Wiesel received the 1986 Nobel Prize for Peace in recognition of his long-time advocacy for oppressed peoples. Wiesel was deported with his family to Auschwitz from Transylvania at age 15. His mother and younger sister perished there, and Wiesel and his father were moved to Buchenwald, where his father died before the concentration camp was liberated in 1945.

David Wolpe |Nobel Peace Prize winner and author of Night

"On Faith" panelist David Wolpe was named the No. 1 Rabbi in America by Newsweek magazine, He is the Rabbi of Sinai Temple in Los Angeles, Calif. Previously he taught at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America in New York, The American Jewish University in Los Angeles, Hunter College, and he currently teaches at UCLA.

Nicholas T. Wright |Anglican Bishop of Durham, England

Nicholas Thomas Wright is Anglican Bishop of Durham, England. The "On Faith" panelist taught New Testament studies for 20 years at Cambridge, McGill and Oxford Universities before becoming Dean of Lichfeld in 1994. He was named Canon Theologian of Westminster Abbey in 2000, and consecrated bishop in 2003.

Rajan Zed |Hindu chaplain in Nevada, California

Rajan Zed is a Hindu chaplain in northwestern Nevada and adjoining California.

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