Name: Sunday Assembly

Denomination/religion: Humanist

Location: Box Factory Community Centre, 59 Regent Street South, Adelaide

Service times: Sunday, 10:30am

The best thing: The singing!

The worst thing: Not really knowing some of the songs, thus restricting my opportunities to sing

Tag line: “Live better, help often, wonder more.”

Overall rating: ✞ ✞ ✞ ✞

When I was invited to attend an atheist church, I jumped at the chance. Everything about it intrigued me, especially the oxymoron of the title. If there is no god to worship, what does one do at a church? My friends and I toddled excitedly along to the Box Factory Community Centre in the city to find out. We found ourselves in a smallish white room, with a man playing a welcoming song at the front, its lyrics referencing things like being able to love and achieve together. The tone was set for a truly uplifting morning.

The Sunday Assembly movement was started in the UK in 2013 with the goal of creating a welcoming community environment, complete with music, but lacking any deity. However, they welcome anyone and everyone, so those with a religious bent won’t find themselves shunned.

I didn’t know what to expect from the service. Would there be theological discussions? Would there be a framed picture of Richard Dawkins? Thankfully, the answer is no. The Assembly’s website notes that they focus “not on Atheism but on celebrating life”. This was certainly true at the April assembly, and was a pleasant surprise. Indeed, there was no reference to the existence or lack of any god, but instead a focus on fostering friendships through a welcoming environment.

The service (if you can call it that) started with a wonderful singalong to Help! by The Beatles, followed by Vance Joy’s Riptide. Oh, how glorious this was. In fact, the singing of pop songs in a happy group of nice people was far and away the best aspect of the morning. Later songs included Easy and Throw Your Arms Around Me, whose sexual undertones I chose to ignore, replacing them in my head with images of a nice group snuggle. This might be because the friendly guitar player told us that singing in a group releases the same chemicals as does hugging. I can totally get behind this. Halfway through the service I’m practically giddy with delight.

The songs were interspersed with a brief welcome, a self-reflection activity in which we were asked to think about the different emotional masks we wear, and a talk by a guest speaker about climate change. This was interesting, and well delivered, but it did dampen the mood slightly. No matter: we sang another song to shake off those we’ve-ruined-the-planet blues. After a minute of quiet time, we sang once more. This time, we join the Spice Girls in the ’90s anthem that is Wannabe.

After the service ends you’re welcome to stay for scones, and help plan the next month’s proceedings if you choose. I perused the “humanist propaganda” that we were given and discover some personality profiles and some trivia.

The Sunday Assembly is a welcoming and fun event. It will probably help if you like singing, but even if you don’t, you can still bask in the glory of an unaggressively god-free space. It’s not somewhere to criticise or to push an agenda. Instead, it’s an attempt to create a community. What’s not to like?

– Rose P