The FORUM for Informed Christian Dialogue, after many years of gestation, was formed in October of 2023 when a progressive former Baptist, a questioning Baptist, a progressive former Charismatic, a skeptical Charismatic, a former Baptist turned Atheist, and an Atheist-leaning former Baptist convened to create a group, far removed from traditional “church”, which could meet to discuss the legitimacy, truth, and problems of American Christianity free of dogma, creeds, and cultic naïveté, and informed by real history, philosophy, and science. The desire of each member was to find an understanding of both Christianity and the Jesus of history which would not only appreciate the real Jesus’ teachings of love, grace, and inclusion, but also take into account the legitimate discoveries of modern science, philosophy, and theology, even while still patiently allowing traditional voices to work through the information that made the rest of us skeptical of the dogma we’d been taught.
We held our first gathering in January of 2024, and have since seen a few new faces come and go, and others stay, but all with the hope that we have both challenged erroneous traditional beliefs, but also created a possible space for more people like us: those who have trouble feeling comfortable in a modern church setting given important intellectual challenges not remotely addressed, but who also think that Jesus of Galilee still has some really important things to say about God, humans, and our struggles in this life, and desire the community of others who want to talk about those important things free of dogma and anti-intellectual tendencies.
If you are among this ever-growing crowd, we hope you will reach out to join us.