Recent times have put a spotlight on the inequities, systems of oppression, and deep divisions in our society. Much has been written that acknowledges and describes the divides, but there has been little practical information on what can be done. In this conversation, Brian Allain and Adam Thomas, editors of the book How to Heal Our Divides, talk about why they believe healing our divides is possible, ways that churches and leaders can facilitate healing in their communities, and steps privileged persons often overlook when seeking healing.

Brian Allain founded and leads Writing for Your Life, a resource center and conferences for spiritual writers, which includes the Publishing in Color conference series, intended to increase the number of books published by spiritual writers of color.  Brian also founded and leads the teams that produce Compassionate Christianity and How to Heal Our Divides. Previously Brian served as Founding Director of the Frederick Buechner Center where he led the launch of Mr. Buechner’s online presence and established several new programs and strategic partnerships. Brian has developed and led spiritual writers conferences at Princeton Theological Seminary, Drew Theological Seminary, Western Theological Seminary, the University of Southern California, Belmont University, New Brunswick Seminary, and several churches. He led the publishing effort for the book Buechner 101: An Introduction to Frederick Buechner, in collaboration with Anne Lamott, and also the book How to Heal Our Divides. All of this is a second career, coming after business and technology leadership in high-tech. Brian has an MBA from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania, where he was designated a Palmer Scholar, their highest academic award. You can learn more about Brian here and here.

Adam Thomas wears many hats: pastoring an Episcopal Church in southeastern Connecticut, editing and designing books for independent writers, writing fantasy novels, podcasting about Jesus and nerdy stuff, and playing lots of Dungeons and Dragons. Adam published four books and curricula with Abingdon Press from 2011 to 2014 (Digital Disciple, Letters from Ruby, Converge: Who is Jesus?, and Unusual Gospel for Unusual People). When the twins were born in 2014, he switched to writing fantasy. You can find hundreds of sermons on wherethewind.com, several fantasy novels on adamthomas.net, and his podcast, The Podcast for Nerdy Christians at nerdychristians.com or wherever you download your podcasts.

The Future Christian Podcast is a production of Torn Curtain Arts and Resonate Media.