Sunday Assembly

Stand-up comedians Sanderson Jones and Pippa Evans started the first Sunday Assembly in North London in January 2013 as they "both wanted to do something like church but without God".{{cite news |url= https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-24766314 |title= Doing church without God |date= 1 November 2013 |accessdate= 2 November 2013 |work= BBC News |first= Robert |last= Pigott}} The first event, attended by over 300 people, was held in a deconsecrated church in Islington,{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-21319945|title=What happens at an atheist church?|publisher=BBC News|accessdate=1 November 2013 |first= Brian |last= Wheeler|date=4 February 2013}} but due to the limited size of the venue later meetings have been held in Conway Hall. Since then events have continued to be held, twice a month, with one attracting as many as 600 people.{{cite web |url= http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/6f6fee48-3737-11e3-9603-00144feab7de.html#axzz2jS0Oq1wt |title= 'Church without god' looks for new ways of funding mission |date= 18 October 2013 |accessdate= 2 November 2013 |first= Emma |last= Jacobs |work= Financial Times}}{{cite journal |journal= New Humanist |date= March–April 2013 |first= Alom |last= Shaha |pages= 28–30 |title=Why we need humanist churches}}

Sunday Assembly generated much press and interest with Stephen Fry discussing it on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson.{{Cite web|last=Stephen|first=Fry|date=May 22, 2013|title=Stephen Fry discussing Sunday Assembly on 'The Late, Late Show' 'Freethought Discussion'.|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RhdjN959NqI|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=18 September 2020|website=YouTube}} In October 2013, Sunday Assembly started an Indiegogo campaign that raised £33,668 out of a £500,000 goal{{cite web|title=Godless Congregations for All: The Sunday Assembly Global Platform|url=https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/godless-congregations-for-all-the-sunday-assembly-global-platform|publisher=Indiegogo}} to fund building a digital platform to help grow the organisation. The formation of satellite congregations was promoted with a 40-day tour through the United Kingdom, Dublin (Ireland), the United States and Australia.{{cite news |url= https://www.economist.com/news/britain/21588412-new-atheist-church-opium-north-london-wholly-spirit |title= Wholly spirit |date= 26 October 2013 |accessdate= 2 November 2013 |newspaper= The Economist}}{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/sep/14/atheist-sunday-assembly-branches-out|title=Atheist Sunday Assembly branches out in first wave of expansion|last=Addley|first=Esther|date=14 September 2013|work=The Guardian|accessdate=2 November 2013}} The platform is designed to help provide a resource for people wishing to set up their own assembly and to connect with each other.{{cite web |url= https://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2013-10/20/sunday-assembly-expansion |title= 'Atheist church' seeks £500,000 in crowdfunding to build online platform |date= 20 October 2013 |accessdate= 2 November 2013 |first= Olivia |last= Solon |work= Wired.co.uk}}

Sanderson Jones said that he does not "expect much objection from religious communities. They are happy for us to use their church model," but he suspected that there may be "more aggressive atheists who will have an issue with it."{{cite web|last=Engelhart|first=Katie|title=Atheism starts its megachurch: Is it a religion now?|url=http://www.salon.com/2013/09/22/atheism_starts_its_megachurch_is_it_a_religion_now/|work=Salon|date=22 September 2013 |accessdate=4 December 2013}} However, some Christians objected: William McCrea, the DUP Member of Parliament for South Antrim (Northern Ireland), called the assembly "highly inappropriate", because of its rejection of God and an afterlife.{{cite news|last=Rutherford|first=Adrian|title=DUP MP criticises first Northern Ireland meeting of atheist 'church'|newspaper=Belfasttelegraph |url=http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/northern-ireland/dup-mp-criticises-first-northern-ireland-meeting-of-atheist-church-29800896.html|publisher=Belfast Telegraph|accessdate=4 December 2013}} During the initial promotion tour in 2013, Kimberly Winston of the Religion News Service stated that some atheists felt that "getting money is their goal".{{cite news|last=Winston|first=Kimberly|title=Sunday Assembly 'Atheist Church' Provokes Criticism|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/29/sunday-assembly-atheist-church_n_4339870.html|work=The Huffington Post|accessdate=4 December 2013|date=29 November 2013}}

Part of the New York City branch split off because they wanted to emphasise the atheist element more than the founders liked.The remaining group in New York halted organising its Sunday Assemblies in 2016: [http://nyc.sundayassembly.com/2016/01/19/assemblies-are-on-hiatus-but-we-arent-stopping/ Assemblies Are On Hiatus…But We Aren’t Stopping!] – Sunday Assembly NYC, 19 January 2016. See also Kimberly Winston's article and the general Sunday Assembly Website FAQ.

Responding to questions about lack of diversity in the people to whom Sunday Assemblies appealed, Sanderson Jones said "I don't [think] there's anything that's inherently elite about people getting together to sing songs and think about themselves and improve their community. But we can't wait to see people doing it in all manner of different places in all manner of different ways, that appeal to all manner of different people."

Sunday Assembly has been the subject of widespread academic research,{{Cite journal|date=2015-07-07|title=The Sunday Assembly : creating community among the nonreligious|url=https://eprints.kingston.ac.uk/id/eprint/45655/|language=en|location=Kingston upon Thames, U.K.}}{{Cite journal|last=Cross|first=Katie|date=2017-07-03|title=The Sunday Assembly in Scotland: Vestiges of Religious Memory and Practise in a Secular Congregation|url=https://doi.org/10.1080/1756073X.2017.1344418|journal=Practical Theology|volume=10|issue=3|pages=249–262|doi=10.1080/1756073X.2017.1344418|hdl=2164/11697|s2cid=148957369|issn=1756-073X|hdl-access=free}} and was featured in the 'How We Gather' report from Harvard University researchers on how millennials are finding community and meaning.{{Cite news|last=Oppenheimer|first=Mark|date=2015-11-27|title=When Some Turn to Church, Others Go to CrossFit (Published 2015)|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/28/us/some-turn-to-church-others-to-crossfit.html|access-date=2020-10-08|issn=0362-4331}} In 2018, the journal Secularism and Nonreligion published a six-month longitudinal study of Sunday Assembly participants, which showed a statistically significant improvement in participant's wellbeing.{{Cite journal|last1=Price|first1=Michael E.|last2=Launay|first2=Jacques|date=2018-08-08|title=Increased Wellbeing from Social Interaction in a Secular Congregation|journal=Secularism and Nonreligion|volume=7|issue=1|pages=6|doi=10.5334/snr.102|issn=2053-6712|doi-access=free}}

Following the initial events held in London, Sunday assemblies have been held in about ninety cities, both in the United Kingdom and in other countries around the world:{{Cite web| url = http://www.sundayassembly.com/assemblies| title = Global Assembly List| author = Sunday Assembly| quote = "Celebrating Life Together Through Inspiring Events and Caring Communities in 70+ Cities Worldwide"| access-date = 4 February 2018| archive-date = 17 March 2017| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170317082224/https://www.sundayassembly.com/assemblies| url-status = dead}}; as of 4 February 2018, the list mentioned 92 places, however not all of them active at the time. including the United States (New York City, Los Angeles, Pittsburgh,{{cite news |title=Sunday assembly: A godless congregation that aims to do good|url=http://www.post-gazette.com/local/city/2015/02/01/Sunday-Assembly-A-godless-congregation-that-aims-to-do-good/stories/201501260164| date=2015-02-01|accessdate= 8 April 2015 |work= Pittsburgh Post-Gazette}} and San Diego, amongst others), the Netherlands,{{cite news |title=Kerk zonder geloof loopt vol|url=https://www.trouw.nl/home/kerk-zonder-geloof-loopt-vol~af34135b/ |work=Trouw|date=29 September 2014}} Germany,Torsten Landsberg, [https://www.faz.net/aktuell/gesellschaft/menschen/in-berlin-treffen-sich-atheisten-zur-sunday-assembly-13415752.html?printPagedArticle=true#pageIndex_0 Dieses schöne Gefühl der Gemeinschaft], in Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung, 8 February 2015, p. 44Ruth van Doornik, [https://www.welt.de/regionales/bayern/article169846336/Es-ist-eine-Art-Kirche-nur-eben-ohne-Gott.html Es ist eine Art Kirche - nur eben ohne Gott], ‘’Die Welt’’, 22-10-2017 New Zealand,{{cite news|title=Godless church launches in Christchurch|url=http://www.3news.co.nz/nznews/godless-church-launches-in-christchurch-2014092712|accessdate=28 December 2014|agency=NZN|publisher=TV3 (New Zealand)|date=2014-09-27}} Australia, Canada, and Hungary. Since 2018, Sunday Assembly has moved from a centralised model with satellite assemblies adhering to the central charter, to an association model where assemblies follow guidance outlining the principles of The Sunday Assembly and some rules which it is suggested are followed for at least some time,{{Cite web|url=https://sundayassembly.online/start-an-assembly/|title=Start an Assembly|website=Sunday Assembly Online|language=en-US|access-date=2019-12-02}} with variations based on geography and local community needs.

File:Amy Boyle 2018 with slide.jpg

Attendees listen to talks by speakers such as Sandi Toksvig,{{cite web |url= http://hackneycitizen.co.uk/2013/10/09/atheist-church-sunday-assembly/ |title= Hackney's atheist church aims to 'do good without God' as it prepares for world tour |date= 9 October 2013 |accessdate= 6 November 2013 |work= Hackney Citizen}} socialise, and sing songs by artists such as Stevie Wonder and others.{{cite web |url= http://positivists.org/blog/archives/1224/ |title= Always look on the bright side of life |date= 10 April 2013 |accessdate= 17 March 2015 |first= Sietske |last= Fransen |work= positivists.org}}{{cite news |url= https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/news/the-bonus-track-sunday-assembly-wants-you-daughter-get-lucky-froggin-country-and-midlakes-new-video-8904514.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220525/https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/news/the-bonus-track-sunday-assembly-wants-you-daughter-get-lucky-froggin-country-and-midlakes-new-video-8904514.html |archive-date=25 May 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title= The Bonus Track: Sunday Assembly wants you, Daughter get lucky, froggin' country and Midlake's new video |date= 27 October 2013 |accessdate= 2 November 2013 |first= Simmy |last= Richman |work= The Independent |location=London}} Some assemblies also run social clubs and community support events such as Live Better groups, where members assemble regularly to support each other in their life goals and challenges.

• The School of Life
• Secular religion
• Ethical movement
• Religion of Humanity
• Unitarian Universalism

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• {{official website}}

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Category:Atheist organizations

Category:Organizations established in 2013

Category:Atheism in the United Kingdom

Category:Atheism in the United States

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Category:Atheism in Ireland