The Dialog Center International (DCI) is a Christian counter-cult organization[1] founded in 1973 by a Danish professor of missiology and ecumenical theology, Dr. Johannes Aagaard (1928–2007).
[2] Considered Christian apologetic and missionary minded, the Dialog Center, led by Aagaard, was for many years the main source of information in Denmark on cults, sects, and new religious movements (NRMs).
[3] According to Mikael Rothstein, an associate professor of religious history at the University of Copenhagen, the Dialog Center International has been greatly influential in promoting a negative public opinion of cults in Denmark and other countries in Europe.
Aagaard retired from his position as leader of the organization in 2003 and was replaced by Svend Erik Erasmi Jacobsen (2003-2004), Jens Linderoth (2004-2008) and Tom Thygesen Daugaard (2009-).
Rothstein and Geertz argue in an article in Nova Religio that Aagaard's push for public education and pedagogical resources on NRMs was a large factor in how the press, schools, and Christian congregations discussed and reacted to cults in Denmark.