Joining Forces explores the primary Christian responsibility to love—both self and others—from the perspective of gender. It is the deeply moving story of one woman’s coming of age in the 1960s, in a conservative Baptist tradition, believing Paul meant it when he said “In Christ there is no male or female.” Miley explores the experience of gender in the context of Christianity. She has lived her life holding fast to the belief that to be complete, we must embrace the masculine and feminine in each of us, as well as in others. She helps us to see one another with loving eyes, seeking the person in the image of God too often hidden by masks and stereotypes. Joining Forces speaks truth to those who wrongly equate the mutual submission of Christians to one another with subordination.

— Diana Garland, Ph.D.
Dean, Baylor School of Social Work

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In Joining Forces, Jeanie Miley tackles one of the great themes of this and all eras—namely, gender identity, roles, conflicts—and brings clarity, reason and great feeling to bear. She ranges freely between the scholarly and the personal, and while examining the issues through a Christian lens, she embodies insights from depth psychology, which are provocative and enlarging. This book deserves to be read for it will leave the reader more thoughtful, and no doubt a freer, more emancipated person for having read it.

— James Hollis, Ph.D.
Jungian analyst and author

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Jeanie Miley writes from a deep well of concern about gender imbalance and a lifetime of perceptive observation of the damage it does to both women and men. Even if you do not share her Jungian perspective of the nature of the masculine and feminine dimensions of human life, you will find her insights about joining forces for the healing of the gender war inviting and constructive. She rightly understands its foul fruit to be a spiritual problem, and her significant experience in spiritual direction grants a distinctive wisdom. I have been moved by her stewardship of her life and training to write such a timely book.

— Molly T. Marshall, Ph.D.
President and Professor of Theology and Spiritual Formation
Central Baptist Theological Seminary

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In the book world, there is sacred space at the intersection of genuine warmth and healing wisdom. Jeanie Miley stands solidly in that space. Joining Forces is transformative, daring, and unapologetically hopeful. I have studied and taught gender for over a decade, and this book took me to a new place of healing and liberation. Read Joining Forces, talk about it, share it with people you love, and watch the possibilities unfold!

— Brené Brown, Ph.D., LMSW
Author of I Thought It was Just Me:
Telling the Truth about Perfectionism, Inadequacy and Power

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In this honest and very personal book, Jeanie Miley provides a creative and impassioned response to the "gender wars," calling men and women to recognize similarities and differences as signs of a common humanity. Blending her own experiences with other diverse voices she offers spiritual guidance and pragmatic strategy toward a new paradigm of male/female relationships and honest communication.

— Bill J. Leonard
Wake Forest University Divinity School