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.âÂÂbased Institute on Religion and Democracy (IRD), in 2009, an ecumenical religious think tank that makes Christian arguments for democracy, human rights and religious freedom.
Tooley is a graduate of Georgetown University. He has worked for IRD since 1994, prior to which he worked for the CIA. His articles have appeared in Wall Street Journal, World, National Review and elsewhere. He is editor of ', which espouses Christian Realism.
He is the author of Taking Back the United Methodist Church. Tooley was featured in the October 10, 2009 issue of World magazine.
In November 2009, Tooley signed an ecumenical statement known as the ' 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 authored ' (2011), the first comprehensive overview of the political witness of what was once America's largest Protestant denomination.
In 2015 Tooley's book, ' was published by Thomas Nelson/Harper Collins.
Tooley has contributed chapters to , , , and Just War and Christian Traditions, as well as the foreword to That Blessed Liberty.