They'll be planting once again on Sunday. The event is free and is being sponsored by a local neighborhood council that has worked for years to build interfaith relationships within their own east-side neighborhood.

The Rev. Johnson said he and Millet have hosted such public dialogues nearly 50 times in the past six years, the latest held last weekend at New York University and at a chapel in the same building that houses the Manhattan LDS Temple. He estimates the combined audience at roughly 10,000.

They're also writing a book about their work, called "Bridging the Divide? The Continuing Conversation of a Mormon and an Evangelical," and question-and-answer format that seeks to explain their views on dozens of questions they've been asked by audiences far and wide.

Last year, the Rev. Johnson also accepted a couple of invitations to talk with members of Mitt Romney's national political campaign. "They need to understand why Evangelicals may have a problem voting for him. I told them I wasn't interested in being involved with the campaign but decided it was a good opportunity to just talk with them."

While neither man has changed his core beliefs or plans to, the Rev. Johnson said they've come to an understanding of why each believes in their own way that simply wouldn't be possible without a level of trust that goes along with genuine friendship. Ultimately, they don't expect that most people who listen to them talk will change their minds about any core beliefs.

They do hope they'll open their hearts and ears to those who believe differently, and seek to understand why, rather than falling back on the same old excuses for why Evangelicals and Latter-day Saints can't talk.

When they query audience members who say their dialogue is uncomfortable, Rev. Johnson said few are up front at first about their reasoning. But it most often boils down to this: "I guess the real problem I have is, you're just too nice to each other."

"Some people want you to be very judgmental and condescending," the Rev. Johnson said. "But I figure that's their problem."

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