Rev. Adam Hamilton

Adam Hamilton is the founding pastor of one of the largest mainline Protestant churches in the United States, and has been named by other pastors as the most influential mainline pastor in America today.  In 1990, with only his wife and two children, he founded The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection, which has grown to over 14,000 members and 8,000 people per weekend in attendance.  He has been named one of the ten people to watch in America’s spiritual landscape by Religion and Ethics Newsweekly.  Brian McLaren, one of the leading voices of the emergent movement in Christianity refers to him as a “national treasure.”  And Gregory Jones, Dean of Duke Divinity School, refers to him as “an inspiration to all who are committed to the vitality and renewal of the Christian life in America.” 

Adam came to faith in a conservative Christian Church and received his undergraduate education at Oral Roberts University, but it was there that he found himself searching for a broader approach to religion, ethics and politics.  Ultimately he joined the United Methodist Church.  Upon graduating with his B.A. he went on to pursue his Master of Divinity degree from Southern Methodist University, where he was awarded the senior award in Social Ethics before graduating in 1988.  Today he is the chairman of the board of United Methodist related Saint Paul School of Theology in Kansas City.

Adam represents a growing segment of Christians in America who seek to hold together the best of the left and the right, in what some call the “radical center.” He reminds others that to be liberal means to be generous, open-minded, and always seeking reform – and that these are good qualities to possess as a Christian.  Likewise, he notes that to be “conservative” means one preserves the treasures of the past, and does not easily set aside what has been passed on by our forbearers.  Again, he notes that this is a good quality to possess. He defies easy labels, and describes himself as an “evangelical liberal” or a “liberal evangelical.”

Hamilton shares three passions with his congregation:  reaching out to thinking people who are not affiliated with a church, and helping them come to faith in Christ; mobilizing his congregation to work together for social justice by serving the poor; and working for the revitalization of the mainline church.  He preaches five times each weekend, is a prolific writer, is involved in mission ministries, and he speaks across the country teaching on leadership and preaching.

Adam is the author of eight books, three on church leadership and five general interest books including Confronting the Controversies:  a Christian Looks at the Tough Issues, Christianity and World Religions,  and his upcoming book, Seeing Gray in a World of Black and White:  Thoughts on Religion, Morality and Politics. 

Hamilton is not afraid to take on difficult or controversial ethical or theological issues, but when he does, he seeks to follow what others have called the “humble approach” – working hard to understand and appreciate both sides in the debate before laying out his own conclusions.  He believes that Jesus did not intend the gospel to be a wedge in anyone’s culture wars, and that being “born again” should make Christians more, not less, loving toward others.  He advocates a faith that speaks to both the intellect and the heart, and ultimately calls people to action.

Adam is married and has two daughters.

Jim Wallis

Jim Wallis is a bestselling author, public theologian, speaker, preacher, and international commentator on religion and public life, faith and politics. His latest book is The Great Awakening: Reviving Faith & Politics in a Post–Religious Right America (HarperOne, 2008). His previous book, God's Politics: Why the Right Gets It Wrong and the Left Doesn't Get It (Harper Collins, 2005), was on the New York Times bestseller list for 4 months. He is President and Chief Executive Officer of Sojourners; where he is editor-in-chief of Sojourners magazine, whose combined print and electronic media have a readership of more than 250,000 people. Wallis speaks at more than 200 events a year and his columns appear in major newspapers, including The New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, and both Time and Newsweek online. He regularly appears on radio and television, including shows like Meet the Press, the Daily Show with Jon Stewart, the O'Reilly Factor, and is a frequent guest on the news programs of CBS, NBC, ABC, CNN, MSNBC, Fox, and National Public Radio. He has taught at Harvard's Divinity School and Kennedy School of Government on "Faith, Politics, and Society." He has written eight books, including: Faith Works, The Soul of Politics, Who Speaks for God?, and The Call to Conversion.

Jim Wallis was raised in a Midwest evangelical family. As a teenager, his questioning of the racial segregation in his church and community led him to the black churches and neighborhoods of inner-city Detroit. He spent his student years involved in the civil rights and antiwar movements at Michigan State University. While at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Illinois, Jim and several other students started a small magazine and community with a Christian commitment to social justice which has now grown into a national faith-based organization. In 1979, Time magazine named Wallis one of the "50 Faces for America's Future."

Jim lives in inner-city Washington, D.C. with his wife, Joy Carroll, one of the first women ordained in the Church of England and author of Beneath the Cassock: The Real-life Vicar of Dibley; and their sons, Luke (9) and Jack (4). He is a Little League baseball coach.