Faith community civic participation can bond groups together and/or bridge between groups. Bonding participation tends to keep individuals within the groups to which they are primarily attached. Bridging participation tends to build connections between groups. In this article, written as a chapter for the 2002 book, The Quiet Hand of God: Faith-based Activism and the Public Role of Mainline Protestantism, National Congregations Study researchers Mark Chaves, Helen M. Giesel, and William Tsitsos examine the differences in the ways various U.S. Christian congregations engage in civic bridging activities.