The human mind is primed to believe in god, so why are so many people abandoning religion – and should we be worried about living in an atheist world?

Sylvia Serrado/Plainpicture

ON AN unseasonably warm Sunday morning in London, I do something I haven’t done for more than 30 years: get up and go to church. For an hour and a half, I sing, listen to readings, enjoy moments of quiet contemplation and throw a few coins into a collection. At the end there is tea and cake, and a warm feeling in what I guess must be my soul.

This is like hundreds of congregations taking place across the city this morning, but with one notable exception: there is no god.

Welcome to the Sunday Assembly, a “godless congregation” held every other week in Conway Hall, home of the world’s oldest free-thought organisation. On the day I went there were at least 200 people in the hall; sometimes as many as 600 turn up.

Founded by comedians Sanderson Jones and Pippa Evans in 2013, the Sunday Assembly aims to supply some of the uplifting features of a religious service without any of the supernatural stuff. Atheism is also off the agenda: the Assembly is simply about celebrating being alive. “Our mission is to help people live this one life as fully as possible,” says Jones.

The Assembly’s wider goal is “a godless congregation in every town, city and village that wants one”. And many do: from a humble start in a deconsecrated church in London, there are now 28 active assemblies in the UK, Ireland, US and Australia. Jones now works full-time to fulfil the demand for more; he expects to have 100 by the end of this year. …