Sunday Assembly?
November 12, 2013 3:12 AM Subscribe
Looking for a Church/not a church
Days after telling a friend how much I longed for a Church like experience where I didn't have to hear about God, I stumbled on a piece about Sunday Assembly. As luck would have it I missed their Boston visit by a week. Has anyone attended any of their gatherings and how did it feel?
Days after telling a friend how much I longed for a Church like experience where I didn't have to hear about God, I stumbled on a piece about Sunday Assembly. As luck would have it I missed their Boston visit by a week. Has anyone attended any of their gatherings and how did it feel?
Or Ethical Humanism, which has no god in it. There's a meeting in Cambridge.
posted by Admiral Haddock at 3:34 AM on November 12, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by Admiral Haddock at 3:34 AM on November 12, 2013 [2 favorites]
I'd echo what something something said...the Unitarian Universalists have been a pretty good fit for me whenever I've felt a need for a church/not a church.
posted by richmondparker at 3:56 AM on November 12, 2013
posted by richmondparker at 3:56 AM on November 12, 2013
One more thing to consider: You might feel right at home at a Quaker meeting.
posted by jbickers at 5:12 AM on November 12, 2013
posted by jbickers at 5:12 AM on November 12, 2013
I think you'll really like a UU church. I'm Jewish, but I enjoy moving energy around in the Universe and Husbunny comes from fundamentalist Christain roots, but is enjoying a period of atheism. We were right at home.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 5:29 AM on November 12, 2013
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 5:29 AM on November 12, 2013
IAAA (I Am An Atheist), IWRAA (I Was Raised An Atheist), and I love, love, LOVE the Unitarians. I've visited my sister's UU church a handful of times, and each time, 1. They did not mention god, or any god-synonyms, and 2. You know that feeling you get after you eat a perfectly-portioned, super-healthy meal, full of kale 'n stuff? Like, delightfully and ABUNDANTLY healthy from the inside? My soul feels like that after I attend a Uni service. Your Uni mileage may vary, of course.
posted by julthumbscrew at 6:39 AM on November 12, 2013
posted by julthumbscrew at 6:39 AM on November 12, 2013
Quaker meetings vary a lot on this point: there are some where it's a basically taboo to even say the word "God" out loud, and some where you'll hear people quoting chapter and verse from the New Testament pretty regularly. (And that's just among liberal meetings!)
So give your local meeting a try, but this is a big YMMV.
(I'm an atheist Quaker and I find it perfectly comfortable — but I also have no problem hearing other people talk about God, as long as they're not trying to change my mind on the subject. The meeting I attend meets my needs very well, but probably wouldn't meet yours, since we've got a sizeable contingent of theists who don't feel compelled to hide what they believe.)
posted by Now there are two. There are two _______. at 7:19 AM on November 12, 2013
So give your local meeting a try, but this is a big YMMV.
(I'm an atheist Quaker and I find it perfectly comfortable — but I also have no problem hearing other people talk about God, as long as they're not trying to change my mind on the subject. The meeting I attend meets my needs very well, but probably wouldn't meet yours, since we've got a sizeable contingent of theists who don't feel compelled to hide what they believe.)
posted by Now there are two. There are two _______. at 7:19 AM on November 12, 2013
Gonna say what I usually say about Unitarian Universalists--the mileage varies on those churches also re God-talk. Depends on the minister (some are theist, some not) and the congregation (often a blend of atheists and theists, but some lean more heavily one way or the other). The good thing for you--you live in basically the cradle of UU-ism so if you visit one church and it turns you off, there's a good chance that there's a different flavor a couple towns over.
The small, primarily lay-led UU church that I was a part of for 10 years was much more on the atheist side, and services focused on discussion of moral and ethical values and celebration of the human spirit (basically, it sounds tremendously like these Sunday Assemblies--when I heard about them my husband and I both laughed because we thought they sounded completely UU only a BIT more insistent about the atheism).
posted by dlugoczaj at 7:32 AM on November 12, 2013
The small, primarily lay-led UU church that I was a part of for 10 years was much more on the atheist side, and services focused on discussion of moral and ethical values and celebration of the human spirit (basically, it sounds tremendously like these Sunday Assemblies--when I heard about them my husband and I both laughed because we thought they sounded completely UU only a BIT more insistent about the atheism).
posted by dlugoczaj at 7:32 AM on November 12, 2013
There's a heck of a lot of God, even some Jesus, at the Quaker meetings I've frequented (though not much at my Friends school, now that I think of it, except in Quakerism class).
posted by Pax at 7:33 AM on November 12, 2013
posted by Pax at 7:33 AM on November 12, 2013
No news about Sunday Assembly but my SO and I attend a UU church and our congregation audibly gasps if anyone mentions God. He's atheist and I'm the granddaughter of a good Southern Baptist (meaning I'm too afraid not to believe.) Great community and fellowship and it works for us.
posted by nubianinthedesert at 11:57 AM on November 12, 2013
posted by nubianinthedesert at 11:57 AM on November 12, 2013
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posted by something something at 3:18 AM on November 12, 2013 [5 favorites]