Staff

Smietana is an award-winning religion reporter and editor who has spent two decades producing breaking news, data journalism, investigative reporting, profiles and features for magazines, newspapers, trade publications and websites.

Most notably, he has served as a senior writer for Facts & Trends, senior editor of Christianity Today, religion writer at The Tennessean, correspondent for RNS and contributor to OnFaith, USA Today and The Washington Post.

He is best known for his coverage of Islam and Islamophobia, including his comprehensive reporting on the Murfreesboro mosque conflict, and of evangelical Christianity, including the emotional journey of Pearl Joy Brown’s family as well as the ongoing Willow Creek Community Church scandal.

Adelle M. Banks joined the Religion News Service staff in 1995. She previously was the religion reporter at the Orlando Sentinel and a reporter at The Providence Journal and newspapers in the upstate New York communities of Syracuse and Binghamton.

Banks spearheaded an RNS project on the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington that won a 2014 Wilbur Award from the Religion Communicators Council. She also spearheaded RNS’ coverage of the life and legacy of Billy Graham that resulted in a comprehensive package of stories, commentaries, photos and video.

Banks was a third-place winner in the Religion Newswriters Association’s Religion Reporter of the Year contest in 2011 and 1998.

She also has received first-place Associated Church Press awards in news, convention, photography and multimedia categories.

Her writing has been featured in The Washington Post, USA Today, Christian Century, Christianity Today, Jet, BlackVoices.com, Sojourners, Mount Holyoke Alumnae Quarterly, Nieman Reports and the 2006 book “Good News: The Best Religion Writing in North America.”

Banks is a graduate of Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Mass. A former board member of the Religion News Foundation, she is a public speaker on religion reporting at gatherings of students, scholars, journalists and other communicators.

Giangravè was most recently at Crux Catholic Media Inc., where she served as Faith and Culture Correspondent covering the Vatican and the Catholic Church. She has previously worked at CNBC/Class Editori, ForexInfo.it, PBS and MSNBC News. She received her bachelor’s degree from Roma Tre University and her master’s degree in journalism from Boston University. Claire speaks Italian, English and French.

Jack Jenkins was most recently the Senior Religion Reporter at Washington-based ThinkProgress. Jenkins was an RNS reporting intern in 2011 and later blogged for RNS.

His work has appeared or been referenced in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The New Yorker, The Atlantic, MSNBC and elsewhere. After graduating from Presbyterian College with a Bachelor of Arts in history and religion/philosophy, Jack received his Master of Divinity degree from Harvard University with a focus on Christianity, Islam and the media. Jenkins is based in Washington, D.C.

Aysha Khan contributes reporting on Muslim American issues for RNS. She holds a degree in multi-platform journalism from the University of Maryland. In 2016, she was a reporting intern in Washington, D.C. with RNS and ThinkProgress. Her work has also appeared in The Washington Post, USA Today, NBC News, VICE News, American Journalism Review, Religion & Politics magazine, Sojourners and other publications. Khan is based in Boston, Massachusetts.

Emily McFarlan Miller is a national reporter for RNS based in Chicago. She covers evangelical and mainline Protestant Christianity. Before joining RNS in 2016, she won awards for her work as education reporter at The Courier-News in Elgin, Illinois, and digital editor for social media and engagement at the Chicago Sun-Times.

Her writing also has appeared in the Washington Post, USA Today, Relevant Magazine, Christianity Today’s CT Women website, Crux and more. She graduated with honors from the journalism department at New York University and is working toward a master’s in intercultural studies from NAIITS (formerly the North American Institute for Indigenous Theological Studies).

Molina most recently served as Journalist in Residence at the University of Southern California (USC) and as Equitable Cities Fellow at Next City. She has worked at The Press-Enterprise, La Prensa and OC Excelsior, and The Orange County Register. In 2018, she was named one of the 15 most influential Latina journalists by Latino Journalists of California. She has also received fellowships from the Center for Health Journalism at USC and the Institute for Justice and Journalism. Alejandra is a native Spanish speaker. She received her bachelor’s degree in broadcast journalism from the University of La Verne.

Yonat Shimron joined RNS in April 2011 and became managing editor in 2013. She was the religion reporter for The News & Observer in Raleigh, N.C. from 1996 to 2011. During that time she won numerous awards. She is a past president of the Religion Newswriters Association.

Fredrick Nzwili is a journalist based in Nairobi, Kenya. For more than 15 years, he has written about religion, politics, peace and conflict, development, security, environment and wildlife. His articles have appeared in international media organizations among others; The Tablet, The Christian Science Monitor, The National Geographic and Kenyan local newspapers; The Standard and the People Daily. He holds two degrees from the University of Nairobi – a bachelor’s degree in sociology and literature and a post-graduate diploma in mass communication. He is married and has two daughters.

RNS Middle East correspondent Michele Chabin has covered events in the region for 18 years. In addition to her work at RNS, Chabin writes regularly for the New York Jewish Week and National Catholic Register and is a contributor to USA Today and numerous other publications. She has won several awards from the American Jewish Press Association for Jewish journalism (including one for a first-hand account of the evacuation of Jewish, Muslim and Christian residents from war-torn Sarajevo) as well as first-place honors from the Catholic Press Association. A graduate of Brandeis University, Chabin was awarded a British Chevening Scholarship and Press Fellowship at Cambridge University, England. The home she shared during the fellowship contained a Hindu, a Sikh, two Muslims, a Jew, an Orthodox Christian and a Catholic, “a harmony that deepened my love for religion-based reporting,” she says.

Burton, who received a doctorate in theology from Oxford University, is at work on a book about the rise of the religiously unaffiliated in America, to be published in November 2020 by Public Affairs. Her novel, “Social Creature,” was published in June 2018.

Charlie Camosy, though a native of very rural Wisconsin, has spent more than the last decade as a professor of theological and social ethics at Fordham University. He is the author of five books, including, most recently, “Resisting Throwaway Culture.” He is the father of four children, three of whom were adopted from the Philippines.

The Rev. Thomas J. Reese, a Jesuit priest, is a Senior Analyst at RNS. Previously he was a columnist at the National Catholic Reporter (2015-17) and an associate editor (1978-85) and editor in chief (1998-2005) at America magazine. He was also a senior fellow at the Woodstock Theological Center at Georgetown University (1985-98 & 2006-15) where he wrote Archbishop, A Flock of Shepherds, and Inside the Vatican. Earlier he worked as a lobbyist for tax reform. He has a doctorate in political science from the University of California Berkeley. He entered the Jesuits in 1962 and was ordained a priest in 1974 after receiving a M.Div from the Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley.

Jana Riess, a senior columnist at Religion News Service, has been an editor in the publishing industry since 2008, primarily focusing in the areas of religion, history, popular culture, ethics, and biblical studies. (Learn more about her freelance editorial business and rates here.) From 1999 to 2008, she was the Religion Book Review Editor for Publishers Weekly, and continues to write freelance articles and reviews for PW as well as other publications.

She holds degrees in religion from Wellesley College and Princeton Theological Seminary, and a Ph.D. in American religious history from Columbia University. She speaks often to media about issues pertaining to religion in America, and has been interviewed by the Associated Press, Time, Newsweek, People, The Boston Globe, USA Today, The Los Angeles Times, and Newsday, among other print publications, as well as “Voice of America,” the “Today” show, MSNBC, and NPR’s “All Things Considered,” “Tell Me More,” and “Talk of the Nation.”

She is the author, co-author, or editor of books including Mormonism and American Politics; The Twible: All the Chapters of the Bible in 140 Characters or Less . . . Now with 68% More Humor!; Flunking Sainthood: A Year of Breaking the Sabbath, Forgetting to Pray, and Still Loving My Neighbor; What Would Buffy Do? The Vampire Slayer as a Spiritual Guide; Mormonism for Dummies; and The Writer’s Market Guide to Getting Published. She blogged for Beliefnet before coming to RNS in 2012.

Rabbi Jeffrey K. Salkin is the spiritual leader of Temple Solel in Hollywood, Fla., and the author of numerous books on Jewish spirituality and ethics, published by Jewish Lights Publishing and Jewish Publication Society.

Mark Silk graduated from Harvard College in 1972 and earned his Ph.D. in medieval history from Harvard University in 1982. After teaching at Harvard in the Department of History and Literature for three years, he became editor of the Boston Review.

In 1987 he joined the staff of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, where he worked variously as a reporter, editorial writer and columnist.

In 1996 he became the founding director of the Leonard E. Greenberg Center for the Study of Religion in Public Life at Trinity College and in 1998 founding editor of Religion in the News, a magazine published by the Center that examines how the news media handle religious subject matter. In 2005, he was named director of the Trinity College Program on Public Values, comprising both the Greenberg Center and a new Institute for the Study of Secularism in Society and Culture directed by Barry Kosmin. In 2007, he became Professor of Religion in Public Life at the College.

Professor Silk is the author of “Spiritual Politics: Religion and America Since World War II” and “Unsecular Media: Making News of Religion in America.” He is co-editor of “Religion by Region,” an eight-volume series on religion and public life in the United States, and co-author of “The American Establishment,” “Making Capitalism Work,” and “One Nation Divisible: How Regional Religious Differences Shape American Politics.” He inaugurated “Spiritual Politics” in 2007. In 2014 he became Religion News Service Contributing Editor.

Simran Jeet Singh is a writer, teacher, scholar, and activist. He is a Soros Equality Fellow with the Open Society Foundation, a Racial Equity Media Fellow with the Interfaith Youth Core, and a Senior Fellow for the Sikh Coalition. He also hosts two shows: a video web series titled Anti-Racism as a Spiritual Practice and Spirited, an interview-based podcast that explores diverse perspectives on faith and justice.

Simran is the author of a new children's book from Penguin Random House (Kokila) – Fauja Singh Keeps Going: The True Story of the Oldest Person to Ever Run a Marathon – the first from a major publisher to feature a Sikh story. Simran is currently writing an adult non-fiction book for Penguin Random House (Riverhead) entitled More of This Please: Sikh Wisdom for the Soul.

Simran serves on presidential candidate Joe Biden’s AAPI Faith Advisory Committee and Governor Andrew Cuomo’s Interfaith Advisory Committee. He is a columnist for Religion News Service, a spiritual/religious life advisor at NYU and Columbia University, and a visiting professor at Union Seminary. This fall, Simran is teaching a program at Columbia University and Trinity University on Anti-Racism as a Spiritual Practice.

Simran is a highly sought-out speaker on topics of diversity, equity, and inclusion. He offers programs for all ages and audiences, from preschool educators and high school students to university campuses and corporate workplaces. He is especially passionate about teaching anti-racism through building empathy and reflecting on our core values.

Growing up as a turban-wearing Sikh in South Texas, Simran learned early that marginalized groups will not lecture their way into dignity and that empathy is truly built when people get to know each other as human beings. This realization is what brought him into the deep work of empathy-building as an approach for personal development and social change.

Jonathan Merritt is one of America's most trusted and popular writers on religion, culture, and politics. He is an award-winning contributor for The Atlantic, a contributing editor and syndicated monthly columnist for Religion News Service. He is author of several critically-acclaimed books including 'Learning to Speak God from Scratch: Why Sacred Words are Vanishing - and How We Can Revive Them.'

Jonathan has published more than 3500 articles in respected outlets such as The New York Times, USA Today, Buzzfeed, The Washington Post and Christianity Today. As a respected voice, he regularly contributes commentary to television, print, and radio news outlets and has been interviewed by ABC World News, CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, NPR, PBS, and CBS' '60 Minutes.' As a collaborator or ghostwriter, Jonathan has worked on more than 50 books, with several titles landing on the New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal bestsellers lists.

Jonathan holds a Master of Divinity from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, a Master of Theology from Emory University’s Candler School of Theology, and has done additional graduate studis in ascetical theology at The General Theological Seminary of the Episcopal Church. He is the recipient of numerous awards and accolades including the Wilbur Award for excellence in journalism, the Religion News Association’s columnist of the year award, and the Englewood Review of Books 'Book of the Year' award.

Jonathan currently resides in New York City.

Andre Henry is program manager for the Racial Justice Institute at Christians for Social Action. He writes a weekly email and hosts a podcast called 'Hope & Hard Pills,' sharing insight on anti-racism and social change. Andre is also is an award-winning singer-songwriter, specializing in soulful, intelligent alternative R&B music at the intersection of electronica, pop, and rock, with a dash of Caribbean flare. He has a Master of Arts in Theology, with an emphasis in Biblical Languages from Fuller Theological Seminary.

Andre is a student of nonviolent struggle and social change, including studying leadership in nonviolent movements for social change through the Harvard Kennedy School. He specializes in using digital media to educate and mobilize audiences for racial justice and social progress. Andre is currently writing a book with Convergent Books!

The Imam Dr. Omar Suleiman is a world renowned scholar and theologically driven activist for human rights. He is the Founder and President of the Yaqeen Institute for Islamic Research, and an adjunct professor of Islamic Studies in the Graduate Liberal Studies program at Southern Methodist University. He's also the resident scholar of the Valley Ranch Islamic Center and Co-Chair Emeritus of Faith Forward Dallas at Thanks-Giving Square, a multi-faith coalition of clergy for peace and justice. In addition to being recognized by CNN as one of 25 Muslim American changemakers, Suleiman is included in The Muslim 500 - an annual ranking of the world's most influential Muslims compiled by the Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre. In 2019, the Antiracist Research and Policy Center at American University and Frederick Douglass Family Initiatives recognized Suleiman among 200 honorees who embody the legacy of the abolitionist’s commitment to social change. He is a native of New Orleans, and currently resides in Dallas with his wife and 3 children.

Ron joined the RNS staff in 2012, taking over story and press release distribution, comment moderation and other behind-the-scenes Web tasks. He is based in Columbia, Missouri.