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Faith After Fundamentalism

You’re Not Broken, You’re Brave

For those healing from spiritual abuse, religious trauma, or rigid systems of belief—there’s a different way of doing faith.

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This Might Be For You If…

  • You were told asking questions meant rebellion

  • You were taught God’s love had limits—or conditions

  • You’ve experienced spiritual trauma or religious shame

  • You’ve left a high-control church but still feel drawn to Jesus

  • You’re grieving a lost worldview and wondering what comes next

  • You still feel drawn to something sacred - but not sure what

  • You crave community that values compassion over conformity

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What You’ll Find Here

  • A spiritual home without tests of orthodoxy

  • A community where questions, justice, and inner healing matter

  • Practices centered on peace, openness, and personal integrity

  • Room for you to rest, rethink, and rebuild

Breaking Down Barriers

Community of Christ is not the church of yesterday. As a people that humbly seeks God’s will, our modern scripture challenges rigid orthodoxy, breaks down artificial barriers, and re-centers faith on compassion, justice, and the lived experiences of the marginalized. We believe the Spirit calls us beyond exclusion and into radical welcome—where worth is not measured by belief, conformity, or tradition, but by the sacred value of each person.

In this video, Jenny Lowndes shares how one passage from the Doctrine and Covenants helped her confront old assumptions and embrace a vision of communion where no one is turned away—and all are free to feast.

Beliefs

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From Certainty to Sacred Curiosity

We used to think we had all the answers.

Ours was the “one true church.”
We believed the right doctrines.
We followed the right rules.

But we were missing something:
the courage to ask better questions.

A Faith That Grew Up

In the 1960s, our church started listening to the world beyond itself—cultures, voices, and questions that reshaped us.

We realized faith isn’t about preserving the past.
It’s about responding to the present.

What Changed?

We moved:

  • From rigid doctrine → to thoughtful theology

  • From black-and-white certainty → to sacred dialogue

  • From defending answers → to exploring deeper questions

This journey is still unfolding—and there’s room for you in it.

Through it all, we have moved from teaching “unchanging” or “eternal” “doctrine” to developing a set of Enduring Principles or core values that provide guidance on how we can best represent and engage in the liberaing mission and inistry of Jesus Christ. They focus on grace and generosity, the sacredness of creation, worth of all persons, unity in diversity etc. You can see the full list of Enduring Principles, and learn more about how they shape our communities here.

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Join us in person. Our local congregation meets at 1603 Sydney St. in San Luis Obispo each Sunday. We enjoy coffee and conversation at 10:15 with our small-group worship meeting beginning around 10:30 am.

You can learn more about what to expect here. It is best to reach out ahead of time as there are some Sundays we don’t meet due to camps, retreats, etc.

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Gentle Worship

Our gatherings are simple, thoughtful, and participatory.

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No Judgement

You don’t need to hide or have all the answers.

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Full Welcome

All genders and orientations are honored here.