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In 1995, two years before Reconciliation Press(RP) came into existence, RP's founders formed HEAL to help challenge and equip Christians who believe that God is calling His people to reconciliation. We believe that the Church's impact upon our culture will continue to be minimal until Christians can truly come together as one body.

A Brief History of HEAL. In 1989, RP authors Mark Weaver and John Jenkins began to sense an urging from the Lord to write a work of fiction that reexamined our nation's past. Of particular interest was the era up to and including the Civil War. What had really divided the nation? Was it slavery? States rights? Economic factors? Was there any connection between the deep divide between the North and the South of our past and the deep divide in our own culture today? Could we find a strand or a bloodline that ran through our nation's history linking the past to the present?

And finally, the question that could not be avoided - could God be calling our nation's past into account?

This question dogged us wherever we went. Was there something we had missed in our studies of American history? As white, Anglo-Saxon Protestant males growing up in America, had we possibly been blinded to an evil side of our nation's history and culture that we either didn't see or didn't want to see? These questions plagued us and God began to open our hearts to the idea that maybe there were some things we didn't understand.

Following the publication of our novel, Bloodlines, we set out to create a musical collection which explored, in song, key moments from our nation's past which have directed us down the path to the present day. We call our collection The Covenant and the Dance of Nations: A Musical Journey of Discovery through American History and into the Presence of a Holy God.

Performing this production live at several churches over a two year period brought us into contact with a variety of people in the body of Christ. A multi-racial cast gave us great opportunity to establish new relationships and make new friends.

At that point we decided to create HEAL for the purpose of promoting healing and reconciliation in the body of Christ.

HEAL's Approach to Reconciliation. What would it take to become a true reconciler? We examined our acronym and discovered four character qualities - Humility, Endurance, Affirmation and Love.

We also began to wonder if perhaps the deep cultural divide in our nation and our nation's moral decline had something to do with the Church's failure to be true salt and light in our culture. We saw many of our Christian brothers and sisters working in the political arena to turn the tide back toward our Judeo-Christian roots with marginal success. But, as we began to interface with our brothers and sisters of color, we realized that - at least in a political sense - we sometimes seemed to be working at cross purposes with one another. Was God's work being hindered? Or for that matter, what exactly was God's work?

Our personal journeys of discovery brought us to a new place in our relationships with God and with others. We have now come to believe that until the Church begins to overcome its many divisions and schisms - especially its racial ones - the world will not see Christ.

In addition to Links & Resources, Topics and Issues, and The Reconciliation Forum - also found on the left menu - you can read what the founders of RP and HEAL believe about reconciliation in the body of Christ today. In these pages we present what we hope is a straightforward, unapologetic approach to some of the more difficult issues surrounding the theme of reconciliation. Here, the reader will find our personal views of what we believe it will take to restore the Church and thus restore our nation. We call this two step process HEAL the Church, HEAL the Nation.

Healing the Church will require at least three steps: Reexamination, Reconciliation and Rehabilitation.

To aid in the reexamination process, we created The Century War Chronicles, an historical fiction series exploring our nation's past with a slant towards uncovering some of the darker moments in our nation's history.

Healing the Nation will also require at least three steps: Hearing & Responding, Demolishing and Uprooting and Building and Planting

We hope that you will take the time to read and ponder the thoughts offered in our collection of web pages here on the RP website. Consider bookmarking this page for future reference. We also hope you will carefully contemplate how you might contribute to what we hope will become an ever expanding collection of materials on the theme of reconciliation. We want to hear your stories and ideas. If they are well written, biblically based, inspirational or instructional, and offered in a spirit of humilty, we will, with your permission, publish them on our website.

Until we are able to set up a reader feedback form for the reconciliation area - we already have one for our books - we ask that you address all correspondence to mark@reconciliation.com. Please include the words "Reconciliation Forum" in the subject area of your email.

"There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female:
for ye are all one in Christ Jesus."
(Gal 3:28 KJV)