Christopher Stedman (born April 9, 1987) is an American writer who teaches in the department of religion and philosophy at Augsburg University. He was previously the founding executive director of the Yale Humanist Community at

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

and a humanist chaplain at

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

Biography

Stedman was born in the

Twin Cities Twin cities are a special case of two neighboring cities or urban centres that grow into a single conurbation – or narrowly separated urban areas – over time. There are no formal criteria, but twin cities are generally comparable in statu ...

area of

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

. He was raised in a secular household, but converted to

Evangelical Christianity Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide Interdenominationalism, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being "bor ...

at the age of eleven, because he was attracted by its stability during his parents' divorce. Stedman struggled for years to reconcile his gay sexual orientation with his Christian faith and declared himself an atheist in college. Stedman studied

Religion Religion is usually defined as a social- cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatural, ...

Augsburg University Augsburg University is a private university in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It is affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. It was founded in 1869 as a Norwegian-American Lutheran seminary known as Augsburg Seminarium. Today, the u ...

Meadville Lombard Theological School The Meadville Lombard Theological School is a Unitarian Universalism, Unitarian Universalist seminary in Chicago, Illinois. History Meadville Lombard is a result of a merger in the 1930s between two institutions, a American Unitarian Associati ...

at the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...

, obtaining baccalaureate and master's degrees prior to joining

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

at the Humanist Chaplaincy at Harvard. Following his time at Harvard, he founded the Yale Humanist Community. Stedman currently teaches at Augsburg University. He is the author of ''IRL'' and ''Faitheist'', and host of the narrative podcast Unread, named one of the best podcasts of 2021 by the Guardian,The 20 best podcasts of 2021
Retrieved February 25, 2022. Vulture,
Retrieved February 25, 2022. HuffPost,19 Podcasts We Loved In 2021
Retrieved February 25, 2022. Bello Collective,100 Outstanding Podcasts From 2021
Retrieved February 25, 2022. Mashable,Best new podcasts of 2021
Retrieved February 25, 2022. and the CBC.The Best Podcasts of 2021
Retrieved February 25, 2022. Stedman's writing advocates outreach to seek "common moral ground between theists and atheists," and proposes achieving that aim by expanding

interfaith dialogue Interfaith dialogue refers to cooperative, constructive, and positive interaction between people of different religious traditions (i.e. "faiths") and/or spiritual or humanistic beliefs, at both the individual and institutional levels. It is ...

to include atheists."Twin Cities native seeks atheist/religious common ground", St. Paul ''Pioneer Press'', November 28, 2012
Retrieved November 28, 2012.

Awards

Stedman is a past awardee of the 2011 Billings Prize for Most Outstanding Scholastic Achievement. In 2018, Augsburg University selected Stedman for the Decade Award, which recognizes alumni "who have made significant progress in their professional achievements and contributions to the community" in their first decade after graduating.Meet First Decade Award Winner Chris Stedman ‘08
Retrieved February 25, 2022.

Reception

Stedman's advocacy for inclusive

and tolerance has found support from other atheists and interfaith advocates in the

Millennial Millennials, also known as Generation Y or Gen Y, are the Western demographic cohort following Generation X and preceding Generation Z. Researchers and popular media use the early 1980s as starting birth years and the mid-1990s to early 2000 ...

generation,"Chris Stedman is a Faitheist: Atheists Involved in Interfaith Dialogue", ''The Huffington Post'', November 24, 2012
Retrieved November 24, 2012. as well as pluralistic rationalist communities. Stedman has received some criticism for his open embrace of religion from the broader atheist community.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stedman, Chris 1987 births Living people American political consultants American atheism activists Augsburg University alumni University of Chicago alumni Freethought American LGBT rights activists American gay writers People from Robbinsdale, Minnesota American former Christians