RELIGION

The Right Reverend John Bryson Chane
Episcopal Bishop of Washington
Righteous: Chane minced no words in criticizing a conservative fellow bishop from the Anglican Communion for his anti-gay views. Current Dilemma: Maintaining Washington National Cathedral’s colossal building, grounds, and community programs in the face of drastic budget cuts.

Reverend H. Beecher Hicks Jr.
Senior Minister, Metropolitan Baptist Church
Soul Power: Six thousand congregants pack the pews every Sunday to experience Hicks’ imaginative preaching style, a combination of rapt storytelling and biblical truth. Wright Stuff: Hicks would be most pleased if the first African-American president and his family chose to attend his church on a regular basis, even though Obama was most recently a member of the United Church of Christ.

Rabbi David Saperstein
Director of the Religious Action Center; co-chairman, Coalition to Preserve Religious Liberty
Divine Justice: The Rabbi has been called the “quintessential lobbyist on Capitol Hill” for making the Center the second most powerful Jewish body in Washington (after AIPAC). High Honor: Saperstein was selected to deliver the invocation at the final night of the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver, CO.

The Most Reverend Donald W. Wuerl
Roman Catholic Archbishop of Washington
Hats Off: Lacking a red cardinal’s hat has not prevented Wuerl from exercising quiet but firm control over a sprawling diocese of more than 580,000 Catholics. Pulpit Diplomacy: While strongly condemning abortion, he has said publicly that he would not discipline or direct priests to deny communion to pro-choice Catholic politicians such as Sen. John Kerry and Speaker Pelosi.