Atheist church spreads to Paris

[rug]

Last edited Mon Sep 29, 2014, 04:29 PM - Edit history (1)

First Sunday Assembly in French capital gathers 130 people for singalongs, party games and to ‘celebrate life’



Sunday Assembly in Islington. Photograph: Sarah Lee for the Guardian

Anne Penketh in Paris
The Guardian, Sunday 28 September 2014 11.31 EDT

In a festive atmosphere evoking a French holiday camp crossed with a Gospel service, Sanderson Jones, the evangelist of a godless church, brought his message of joy to Parisians for the first time on Sunday.

Jones, a British standup comic, announced in French that the city’s first Sunday Assembly would “celebrate life”, before a young woman read a poem and the French philosopher Charles Pépin spoke about the cosmic nature of joy without God.

The gathering of 130 people jumped to their feet and waved their hands in the air when Alexandrie, Alexandra, a hit by the late pop star Claude François, rang out in a small hall beside the boulevard periphérique.

The hour-long event, punctuated by more singalongs and a party game, ended with a moment of silent reflection before coffee was served. A collection was organised to pay for the hall.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/sep/28/atheist-church-sunday-assembly-paris

[immoderate]

1. Sounds like a good place to hook up, make connections.

Some of my atheist acquaintances, have extended to Pot Smokers Anonymous, and Pagan Churches to accomplish what atheist meetups sometimes lack.


--imm

[rug]

2. If they're going to play disco, though, they should play the BeeGees.

[Politicalboi]

5. I like this version

Girl Scouts fighting

[rug]

6. !

[RandySF]

3. Atheist church sounds like jumbo shrimp. n/t

[rug]

4. They call themselves the Assembly. Church is a media term.

But, then "ekklesia" itself means assembly.

ecclesia ( ɪˈkliːzɪə )
n, pl -siae ( -zɪˌiː )
1. (Ecclesiastical Terms) (in formal Church usage) a congregation
2. (Historical Terms) the assembly of citizens of an ancient Greek state