Claiming the Courageous Middle: Daring to Live and Work Together for a More Hopeful Future Paperback - 2024

From the rear cover

"This book is hope in the midst of despair."

Today's political and cultural polarization has led to suspicion and animosity in our churches, our workplaces, and even our families. It has also led to a false sense of available options. In this book, Shirley Mullen invites us to claim the powerful, redemptive potential of the courageous middle and imagine a hopeful and more grace-filled future.

"A must-read for pastors, professors, students, and individuals who believe there is an alternative to polarization. This book is hope in the midst of despair."
--Shirley V. Hoogstra, president, Council for Christian Colleges and Universities

"Mullen brings a lifetime of wisdom and experience to this meditation on the courageous middle. An important book full of resources, ideas, and practical steps for Christians seeking to faithfully navigate the deep differences in our society."
--John D. Inazu, Sally D. Danforth Distinguished Professor of Law and Religion, Washington University in St. Louis; author of Confident Pluralism: Surviving and Thriving through Deep Difference

"A call for Christians to find more common ground in response to prolonged, pervasive polarization over race, sexuality, politics, economics, and other current issues. Keeping our biblical balance is not a form of compromise, Mullen demonstrates, but an act of spiritual courage that advances Christian unity as an urgent priority for the church."
--Philip Ryken, president, Wheaton College

"Mullen calls us to live and lead from the courageous middle--not a place of muddled thought and squishy compromise but of curiosity, humility, love for Jesus and others, and a confidence that God is not daunted by our moment."
--Walter Kim, president, National Association of Evangelicals

"I have been waiting for a book like this for a long time. Mullen's call will resonate with anyone troubled by the era of polarization in which we now live."
--John Fea, distinguished professor of history, Messiah University; executive editor of Current