I like it. But I hope that Christians are also allowed to
participate in the Atheist Church. And Atheists should also be allowed to
participate in Christian Churches. Let the Atheists and the Christians be
friends! And who cares if there is a “God” or not??? I do not think that even
God cares if there is a God or not.
“Let’s Get Together – Right Now!”
GOD DAMN that would be good!
From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On
Behalf Of Richard
Sent: Sunday, February 03, 2013 10:28 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: RE: [change-links] *? 2 ALL: ATHEISTS FIND TOGETHERNESS AND RITUAL IN
LONDON'S NEW GODLESS CHURCH - WHAT ARE YOUR COMMENTS?*
Church or “Church”? Hell, you can call an occupied chicken coop a church .
Words, words, words. Hey, I get their shtick but I’ve seen it all before and
the script is sooo predictable and b-o-r-i-n-g. Amen.
From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On
Behalf Of Greg Dempsey
Sent: Sunday, February 03, 2013 9:16 PM
To: greg dempsey
Subject: [change-links] *? 2 ALL: ATHEISTS FIND TOGETHERNESS AND RITUAL IN
LONDON'S NEW GODLESS CHURCH - WHAT ARE YOUR COMMENTS?*
http://sundayassembly.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/Web-Banner-2.jpg
Hi Team!
*? 2 ALL:
ATHEISTS FIND TOGETHERNESS AND RITUAL IN LONDON'S NEW GODLESS CHURCH -
The Sunday Assembly
<http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2013/2/3/1359916745689/The-Sunday-Assembly-010.jpg>
(above): The Sunday Assembly: Sanderson Jones (left) and Pippa Evans
(blonde with guitar) have created a morning that is part-atheist church, part-
foot stomping show. Photograph: Sarah Lee for the Guardian
Esther Addley reports:
“’I feel sorry for the church next door, waiting for their three people to
trickle in,’ says Nick Julius, glancing at the small adjacent hall which will
shortly be hosting its own gathering. There are still 40 minutes before the
Sunday Assembly, an atheist service run by two standup comedians, is due to
begin, but a queue of eager congregants is already forming outside a grand but
crumbling former church in Islington, north London, hands shoved deep into
pockets against the cold.
<http://www.islingtongazette.co.uk/1.1747944>
(above): Sanderson Jones
“Julius arrived an hour early, just to be sure of a place at the service, which
is described by its organizers as ‘a godless congregation that meets … to hear
great talks, sing songs and generally celebrate life’. But why? ‘I came last
time and really enjoyed it. It’s got all the good things about church without
the terrible dogma. I like the sense of community – and who doesn’t enjoy a
sing song?’
<http://www.tntmagazine.com/entertainment/interviews/sunday-service-without-god-we-chat-to-the-people-behind-londons-first-atheist-church/page/2>
“This is only the second time organizers Sanderson Jones and Pippa Evans have
hosted the monthly event (motto: live better, help often, wonder more), and
they admit to being a little overwhelmed by the enthusiasm with which the event
has already been greeted. More than 200 people came to the first event; today
there are perhaps 300, with several dozen more carrying on a parallel
discussion in a local pub. Inside the nave of the deconsecrated church,
volunteer helpers have been bunching chairs closer together, adding extra
benches and children’s seats in every scrap of space. It is not a problem most
vicars struggle with on a Sunday morning.
Pippa Evans
<http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2013/1/8/1357643295095/Pippa-Evans-009.jpg>
(above): Sunday school ... Pippa Evans, one of the comedians
involved in setting up the Sunday Assembly.
Photograph: Geraint Lewis/Rex Features
“Jones, a tall, bounding figure with a hairstyle and beard verging on the
messianic, says the idea emerged from his own comedy, where he encouraged those
coming to his gigs to get to know each other, and they in turn pressed him for
ways to stay in touch and even build small groups. There was clearly a thirst
for community, he decided, and perhaps others felt, as he did, that words like
awe and transcendence shouldn’t be the preserve only of religious people.
http://www.tntmagazine.com/media/08.-Sunday-Assembly-Venue--The-Nave-a-Deconsecrated-Church.jpg
“’I would go to a carol service or a friend’s wedding, and there would be so
much about it that I really liked – the togetherness, the rituals – but I just
couldn’t get past the God bit.’ Atheism has been caricatured as a cold, empty
position, he says, ‘but for me, my not believing in God if anything makes my
life more precious, knowing that we are here for such a tiny amount of time.’”
(continued below)
http://static01.mediaite.com/med/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Sanderson-Jones-Pippa-Evans.jpg
(above l to r): Sanderson Jones and Pippa Evans
Atheists find togetherness and ritual in London’s new godless church - what are
your comments?
Greg Dempsey
<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SECULARHUMANIST/>
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SECULARHUMANIST/
Voice of the People
=======
Atheists find togetherness and ritual in London’s new godless church
By Esther Addley, The Guardian
Sunday, February 3, 2013 14:38 EST
...The Sunday Assembly may be godless, but a churchgoer who stumbled through
the wrong door would find much they recognise. The service opens with a song,
led by Evans and an enthusiastic band at the front; instead of a hymn, however,
it is “Don’t Stop Me Now” by Queen (“We’ve chosen something that allows hamming
it up to the max”). The service features a reading, a moment of reflective
silence, even a collection to pay for the rental of the church, during which
people are invited to turn in the pews and greet those sitting beside and
behind them. The plan in future is to engage members in community-based good
works.
There is also a sermon, of sorts, on the day’s theme of “wonder”, which sees
<http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/blog/2012/jul/11/science-museum-particle-physicist-harry-cliff>
Dr Harry Cliff, a particle physicist from Cambridge, talking about
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dirac_equation> Dirac’s equation predicting
antimatter (“the most amazing theory in history”) and the enormous statistical
odds against the universe existing in the first place. The congregation then
stands to sing <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDZFf0pm0SE> Superstition by
Stevie Wonder.
Might the early popularity of the Sunday Assembly hint at the start of
something that could take off on a large scale? Andrew Copson, chief executive
of the <http://humanism.org.uk/> British Humanist Association, is sceptical,
noting that a wave of atheist churches were formed in the late nineteenth and
early 20th centuries, “but they petered out because people found other forms of
social organisation that suited them better. I think it’s an interesting
development but it’s something that’s been tried many times before. What’s
probably different is that there’s a strong entertainment element. It’s an
entertainment as well as a communal activity. It just happens to be on a Sunday
morning.”
“I can understand why the format of church would be very appealing,” says David
Robertson, director of the <http://solas-cpc.org/> Solas Centre for Public
Christianity and a Church of Scotland minister in Dundee, “but I do think it’s
going to appeal only to one particular section of the community” – what he
calls “a middle class cultural elite”. “The church is focusing on following
Jesus Christ, and that cuts across cultures and across communities.”
Having been startled by the popularity of the event, Jones insists his thinking
about expanding the assembly has stretched only so far as adding an additional
service <http://www.facebook.com/events/118194975027258/?ref=22> next month,
to be held in the <http://www.facebook.com/events/208287195981520/?ref=22>
afternoon. But there are signs that the idea could bear replicating.
Neil Denham and a small group of friends have come from High Wycombe, hoping
for inspiration. “We were just looking for ideas, whether something like this
could work outside London,” he says. Their verdict? “Some of the things I
thought really wouldn’t work, like the singing, were really good. Normally I
hate singing.”
Churches do a lot of what they do, he notes, “because it works. Atheists make a
mistake to look at church and throw it all out just because they don’t believe
in God. ”___
Change Links Progressive Newspaper.
Act. Act in Love and Spirit.
<http://geo.yahoo.com/serv?s=97476590/grpId=1100933/grpspId=1705063985/msgId=109014/stime=1359955122>
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