Mark Tooley

Mark Tooley (born 1965) is an American Methodist layman and writer.

He is a lifelong member of the United Methodist Church, who became president of the Washington-D.C.–based Institute on Religion and Democracy (IRD), in 2009, an ecumenical religious think tank that makes Christian arguments for democracy, human rights and religious freedom.

His articles have appeared in Wall Street Journal, World, National Review and elsewhere.

[3] In November 2009, Tooley signed an ecumenical statement known as the Manhattan Declaration calling on Evangelicals, Catholics and Orthodox not to comply with rules and laws permitting abortion, same-sex marriage and other matters that go against their religious consciences.

Tooley has contributed chapters to The New Christian Zionism: Fresh Perspectives on Israel and the Land, Race and Covenant: Recovering the Religious Roots for American Reconciliation, The Next Methodism: Theological, Social, and Missional Foundations for Global Methodism, and Just War and Christian Traditions.