Mending Our Union: Healing Our Communities Through Courageous Conversations

"A well-researched book with timely anecdotes, Mending Our Union is an important addition to what St. Paul calls the Ministry of Reconciliation."
--Jack Danforth, former U.N. Ambassador, U.S. Senator, and author of Faith and Politics: How the "Moral Values" Debate Divides America and How to Move Forward Together

"J. Christopher Collins 'GETS IT' that change begins with oneself, and if courageous enough we can reach out to the margins of differences to bring us together in dialogue and hearing one another. Thank you for this profound book, for opening windows to new life, for lessons and ways to change our world."
--Rev. Cecil Williams, Co-Founder, GLIDE, Minister of Liberation Emeritus, GLIDE Church

"A real page turner, Mending Our Union is a must read. J. Christopher Collins skillfully weaves stories and soul searching struggles about his own divisive assumptions of other people. Chris has accomplished inclusion of deeply thoughtful research-statistics, historical data and academic studies. The tensions he openly discusses in his book are true learning moments for me personally."
--Janice Mirikitani, Co-Founder, GLIDE, San Francisco Poet Laureate, 2000

"Key reading for people that want to retire the polarized wrecking ball undermining our relationships and our capacity to address complex challenges as a nation."
--Joan Blades, co-founder LivingRoomConversations.org, MomsRising.org & MoveOn.org

"A very important book, one that is essential reading in our hyper-polarized times. Practical and hope-filled, Mending Our Union offers a helpful path for healing our divided world. I highly recommend it."
--Rev. Adam Hamilton, best-selling and award-winning author of Seeing Gray in a World of Black and White and Unafraid: Living with Courage and Hope in Uncertain Times

"An empowering message filled with practical suggestions, Mending Our Union invites us all to reflect on the responsibility we bear to cultivate new skills, change personal behaviors, and shift societal norms towards less rancorous, more respectful, interactions with one another."
--Kristin Hansen, Executive Director, Civic Health Project

"A timely guide that weaves personal stories and practical tips seamlessly, humanizing the experience of bridging work and providing structure for us to navigate our differences across class, race, and politics."
--Justine Lee, co-creator of Make America Dinner Again and partner of LivingRoomConversations.org

Every four years in America, presidential candidates make grand promises to heal the divisions that threaten to tear our country apart. Yet the divisions persist-and deepen. How can this be? The answer is clear. Our government is a reflection of ourselves; it would not be divided if we-the people-were not so polarized.

In response to this toxic culture of division, J. Christopher Collins founded the Different Together project at the legendary Glide Memorial Church in San Francisco, California. Collins has created opportunities for courageous conversations among people who don't share the same views about politics, religion, or race. And it's making a difference. Participants say, "Different Together calms me." "I'm less dismissive of others' opinions." "This restores my faith in humanity."

In this book you will discover how to be a healer of division in your community. Based on real-world experience from the frontlines of this domestic peacebuilding movement, Collins equips the reader with tools to face our differences head-on, persevere through discomfort, and embrace the peace and joy that results from doing this critical work.

Together, Collins argues, we can mend our union and heal our divisions before they irrevocably tear us apart.