I went to an atheist "church"

[Tea Earl Grey Hot]

Here in Boston I went to a "church" for atheists/agnostics today. They don't call it a church but the format and general feel of it feels like one (in a good way). It's called the Humanist Hub and they have their own building space in Harvard Square. It's about 100 people. They meet every Sunday and also in smaller groups during the week. In their Sunday service they sing, read poetry, and have a different guest speaker each week. Today's speaker was a columnist from the Boston Globe. Their building also has a sort of Sunday school for kids (they call it "The Big Question" if I remember correctly) that was decorated and full of toys and books and stuff. Went out to lunch with a few of them. They're really nice. I was just amazed by it because people joke about atheists needing their own "church" a lot but this is the first time I've seen it become a reality.

[Minimalist]

I need a church the way a dog needs a wrist watch.

[Athene]

Nah. Fuck getting up early on my days off for church. Any church.
I don't care to participate in 'fellowship' and junk with goofy-assed strangers, ever again.

Glad you enjoyed yourself, though.

[Tea Earl Grey Hot]

Nah. Fuck getting up early on my days off for church. Any church.
I don't care to participate in 'fellowship' and junk with goofy-assed strangers, ever again.

Glad you enjoyed yourself, though.

I'm the same way but thankfully this group meets at 1:30pm so you can still sleep in.

[ignoramus]

2 questions. Do they want your money? And do they wear funny hats?
If not, then it can't be a church...

[brewer]

Well, that certainly sounds different. 

Questions:

What did you/they sing?
Did they have any rituals?
Did they have pictures of atheists around that they admire? 
Did the poetry suck (not a fan of poetry, can you tell)? (I can tolerate the occasional limerick) 
What was the speakers topic? 
Do you think you will be going back, on Sunday or one of the weekly's? 
If you go back will you up date us, please?

[chimp3]

I'd rather go drink beer on Friday night with Pastafarians.

[vorlon13]

I can't imagine the Unitarian Universalist church I belonged to in the late 70's early 80s would have the slightest problem with atheist members.

And even then, the extremely non-standard theology would scarcely chafe most of the atheists here today. The pastor had a unique view of God: go break a tea cup. Now tape it back together. That's God.

they had so diluted the 'message' and embraced so many different doctrines from around the world that the net sum was zero, LOL.

To their credit, they were very supportive for any members going through anything adverse or untoward. Just totally non/poly/multi/un-doctrinated in how they do it.

[Tea Earl Grey Hot]

Well, that certainly sounds different. 

Questions:

What did you/they sing?
Did they have any rituals?
Did they have pictures of atheists around that they admire? 
Did the poetry suck (not a fan of poetry, can you tell)? (I can tolerate the occasional limerick) 
What was the speakers topic? 
Do you think you will be going back, on Sunday or one of the weekly's? 
If you go back will you up date us, please?

They had a singer with a guitar lead us through two short songs that she wrote herself.

The closest thing to a ritual was that they have everyone form small groups with the people immediately surrounding them to discuss what the speaker said for a few minutes. They also do a question and answer session with the speaker.

I don't know anything about poetry and I actually daydreamed the entire way through the poetry part (I was really tired from little sleep the night before) so I can't remember it really.

Speaker this week was the relationship advice columnist for the Boston Globe. She spoke about her experience writing for the column and mentioned some interesting observations about the questions she gets and the responses she receives from her readers. They have a different speaker each week. There doesn't seem to be an equivalent of a "pastor" in this group.

I'll probably be doing their Sunday groups at least. I'm mainly going for socializing. All my current friends in Boston are very liberal and progressive at least but at the same time they're all still fairly religious. Not knowing people in real life who I can relate to atheist to atheist gets frustrating after a while.

Of course I'll update you all.

---

2 questions. Do they want your money? And do they wear funny hats?
If not, then it can't be a church...

I can't remember if they asked for donations but they ask for volunteers.

No funny hats unfortunately. I'll suggest that.

[chimp3]

Granted , I think it would be nice to socialize with atheists in real time. Not weekly. Maybe once a month . I prefer a salon setting. A friend of mine used to have a Saturday breakfast. Charged a few bucks to cover food cost. There was a speaker, musician, dancer, or performance artist . Very inspiring.