If you're thinking about breaking into religion writing, I've found a few sources on the beat. David Crumm, Detroit Free Press of the Detroit Free Press has some great tips on getting started:

1. Do your homework. A little research goes a long way toward helping you frame the right questions, reassuring your subjects that you understand them and ensuring that your precious on-site reporting time isn't consumed going over basics you could find in books, journals, magazines -- or on the Web.

2. Explore alternative religious media. From local publications to Christianity Today, the Christian Century, Parabola, Tikkun, and Hinduism Today, these publications are windows into these communities.

3. Explore Religion on the World Wide Web. This can be an important reporting tool. Want to find the full text of a quote from the Bible you heard some politician or minister spout during an event you covered? TheWebhas a complete searchable Bible with a half dozen different possible translations. Want to find out the latest word from the Vatican on a particular moral issue? The Vatican has its ownWebsite.

4. Try to get an accurate sense of each religious group's size, weight and influence. Don't rely on a religious leader's estimate of the group's overall size. Has there been a census? Is there an official mailing list? Or, if you think a source is overestimating the group's size, get a list of local affiliated groups and then spot-check membership of the larger groups to estimate an outside figure.

Even well-established denominations use very different methods for counting members. For example, United Methodists mainly count active adults while Catholics estimate the overall population, including completely fallen-away Catholics.

Also, look for the weight of religious groups in academic, business, political circles. This can broaden your story -- and lead to further stories.

Do you want to know why it's important to have good religion writers? A few Poynter articles explore.

If you don't believe but you believe that the topic is interesting, here is a piece on About regarding atheists writing about religion.

And finally, a profile on award-winner religion writer Jeffrey Sharlet.