Randall Balmer, a parish pastor, is professor of American religious history at Barnard College, Columbia University, and a visiting professor at Yale Divinity School. His most recent book is

• “God in the White House: A History: How Faith Shaped the Presidency from John F. Kennedy to George W. Bush” (HarperOne). The “On Faith” panelist has written ten other 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, which was made into a three-part documentary for PBS.
• Balmer was nominated for an Emmy for his script-writing on that series. His second documentary, Crusade: The Life of Billy Graham and a two-part examination of the creation-evolution debate, In the Beginning: The Creationist Controversy, also aired on PBS. Balmer has lectured at the Chautauqua Institution, the Commonwealth Club of California and the Smithsonian Associates and been a visiting professor at Rutgers, Yale, and Princeton. He has published widely in academic journals and his syndicated commentaries on religion in America have appeared in newspapers across the country.

Larry Osborne serves as president of the North Coast Training Network and has been the senior pastor at North Coast Church since 1980. Recognized as one of the “most innovative” and “ten most influential churches” in America, North Coast pioneered the use of Video Venues in the late 90s and is a leader in the Multi-Site Movement.

• Known for its incredible sermon-based small group ministry,
• North Coast has maintained a participation rate of 80% of adult weekend attendees for over 25 years.

In attrition, the church has helped pave the way with new ministry models for team teaching, leadership development, word-of-mouth growth and long-term (Sticky) member retention. Larry writes and speaks extensively on the subjects of leadership and developing healthy ministry teams. His books include: THE UNITY FACTOR: Developing A Healthy Leadership Team, A CONTRARIAN’S GUIDE TO KNOWING: Spirituality for the Rest of Us STICKY CHURCH: Slamming the Back Door Shut, 10 DUMB THINGS SMART CHRISTIANS BELIEVE (Available April 2009)