Insights into Religion is dedicated to promoting the work and research of over twenty-five web sites of religion institutes, programs and projects related to initiatives of the Religion Division of Lilly Endowment, Inc. These sites provide the clergy, lay leaders and the public with:

  * access to research on religion;

  * reflections on faith and ministry;

  * observations on congregational life;

  * commentary on spiritual practices;

  * perspectives on religious vocations;

  * information on theological education; and

  * strategies for leadership development.

In service to these sites and the users that employ them, Insights into Religion provides (1) informative summaries of research, information and news from the participating sites, (2) search capabilities across the range of sites represented, (3) links to the original material on the various sites, (4) RSS feeds that push information about new material on the cooperating sites to the web user, and (5) a collective calendar of educational events and grant deadlines associated with the various sites.

In addition, a project is under development to provide links to recommended articles from American Theological Library Association’s ATLASerials (ATLAS), a full-text collection of more than one hundred and forty major religion and theology journals selected by leading religion scholars, theologians, and clergy. Insights into Religion is generously funded by the Lilly Endowment, Religion Division. For more information about Lilly Endowment, its Religion division and its grant making activities, see www.lillyendowment.org/religion.html

Dr. Milton J Coalter, the Library Director and Professor of Bibliography at Union Theological Seminary and the Presbyterian School of Christian Education and the current web master for Resources for American Christianity, directs the overall project that supports this site.

Dr. Scott Thumma, Professor of Sociology of Religion and Director of Distance Education at Hartford Seminary, oversees the portal website and the coordination of annual consultations with the affiliate sites. He is also current web master for the following sites: Hartford Institute for Religion Research, Faith Communities Today, Religious Research Association, and Robert Bellah’s personal site. A video introducing the purpose of the Portal is also available here.

Insights into Religion was designed and configured in drupal by Synaxis, Atlanta, GA. Paul Welty, President.