Mark Tooley

Prior to joining the IRD in 1994, Mark worked eight years for the Central Intelligence Agency as an analyst. He is a graduate of Georgetown University and is a native of Arlington, Virginia. A lifelong United Methodist, he has been active in United Methodist renewal since 1988, when he wrote a study about denominational funding of pro-Marxist groups for his local congregation. He currently attends Washington Street United Methodist Church in Alexandria, Virginia.Mark Tooley became president of the Institute on Religion and Democracy (IRD) in 2009. He joined IRD in 1994 to found its United Methodist committee (UMAction), which he still directs as a ministry to reclaim America's third largest religious body for historic Christian beliefs. He is the author of Taking Back The United Methodist Church, published in 2008, and Methodism and Politics in the 20th Century, to be published in 2011. His articles about the political witness of America's churches have appeared in The Wall Street Journal, The American Spectator, The Weekly Standard, National Review Online, Washington Examiner, Human Events, The Washington Times, The Review of Faith and International Affairs, Touchstone, The Chicago Tribune, The New York Post, and elsewhere. He is a frequent commentator on radio and television.

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