Our assemblies in July-December 2020

11:00 am, December 20 2020

Online

Speaker: Lots

Poet: Lots

World Wide Pride

  • 5th July 2020, 11:00am
  • Speaker: Ché Feenie

We welcome all to our annual Pride Assembly! Our main speaker is Ché Feenie. Ché is a lifelong trailblazer in LGBTQ+ rights activism and the Director of Social Impact at KeyoPass, an app that helps people engage in ‘social good travel’. Keyo Pass has benefited nonprofit ‘local heroes’ around the world.

The Sunday Assembly Band and Choir have been working hard on putting together some amazing sing-along videos for us. As always, we will also have a poetry reading and we will hear from a member of our community about how they’re Trying Their Best.

Please stay after for tea and biscuits (provided by you!), and lively conversation with other members of the community via Breakout Rooms.

Because of the lockdown, we cannot meet at Conway Hall, so our meeting will be held on Zoom instead, and livestreamed to YouTube. By turning your camera on, you agree to have your image included in our livestream, which will be recorded and stored on our YouTube channel.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-vW4hckpAQ

Asking Deep Questions

Sometimes we get so caught up in our everyday lives that we forget to stop, look up at the stars, and think about the Big Picture. Why are we here? What makes us human? What does the future hold?

Every summer, Kyrill Potapov takes young people on a journey of self discovery. As co-director of Camp Quest UK, he believes that a summer camp can be more than a place to enjoy outdoor activities. By working together on completing mental and physical activities, Kyrill encourages his campers to marvel at the universe while developing a critical eye and a love of learning. He will help us ‘Wonder More’ by demonstrating one of the camp’s philosophy activities with us.

Hosted by co-founder of Sunday Assembly and creator of Lifefulness Sanderson Jones, this assembly will also have poetry by Olivia Hall, some rocking tunes for you to sing along to, and a talk from a member of our community who is Trying Their Best.

Please stay after for tea and biscuits (provided by you!), and lively conversation with other members of the community via Breakout Rooms. Everyone is welcome.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=45bl4Ns2iMU

‘Meet The Unbelievers’: Online Film Premiere w/ DAN SNOW & SANDERSON JONES

  • Thursday 30th July 2020

The online premiere of ‘Meet The Unbelievers’ – three short films about unbelief. Filmmaker Sanderson Jones will be interviewed by Dan Snow.

Meet The Unbelievers: Online Premiere
Dan Snow interviews filmmaker and presenter Sanderson Jones about 3 Short Films on Unbelief.
‘Meet The Unbelievers’ is a groundbreaking series of three short films, written and presented by Sanderson Jones , into what so-called religious unbelievers do believe.
The films were directed by J on Drever ( Super Bob , his production company won a Oscar for Documentary) and produced by History Hit, and make use of exclusive access to research from the world’s largest study of atheism and agnosticism – ‘Understanding Unbelief’ (University of Kent).
The films will premiere on July 30th in an online event where Dan Snow , the Creative Director of History Hit and BBC presenter, will interview Sanderson Jones.
Sanderson Jones is the co-founder of the worldwide Sunday Assembly movement of non-religious congregations, and an internationally recognised change-maker. He was elected to the prestigious Ashoka Fellowship in 2017 for his work.
Each film looks at a different aspect of life as an ‘unbeliever’:
* Childhood – Sanderson Jones goes into a primary school to find out what non-believing children do believe, drawing on pioneering research by Anna Strhan and Rachael Shillitoe. At the end of the episode the children lead a non-religious school assembly.
* Superstition / Belief – Sanderson Jones entices non-believers into a superstition store, to test their how superstitious they really are. But these rational atheists, who say they don’t believe in spirits, balk at signing a contract for Sanderson to buy their soul.
* Death – The final film explores how atheists and agnostics negotiate the end of life. In this moving film, Sanderson interviews atheists with late stage cancer to speak to them about how they understand their passing.
There are 1.17 billion people in the world who are not part of any religion (if they were a religion – they’d be the third largest in the world) but, academically, they’d be relatively little research into them. Find out what makes them tick, when you watch Meet The Unbelievers.
We’d love to have you attend the premiere, and are pleased to be raising money for Sunday Assembly – the community building charity. If you would like to give a donation, please do. 

Picnics

  • 2nd, 16th and 31st August 2020, 12:00pm

In lieu of regular assemblies, Sunday Assembly London has an annual tradition of hosting picnics in August. This year our picnics will be held at Lincoln’s Inn Fields in Holborn. Grab a blanket, some food, and acoustic instruments and join us in the middle of the park!

We’ll be sitting right in the middle of the park. Due to the pandemic, we need to do things a little differently this year. We request that people try to form groups of 6 on the lawn and stay with that group as much as possible. We will all still be near each other, but just a little further apart than usual. During or shortly after the event, we would also like all participants to complete the form on our website to comply with the NHS Test and Trace System.

Sit on the Fence or Take a Stand?

Sometimes the world seems completely binary. We are perpetually pressured to pick a side, join a team, raise a flag, and declare our allegiance. But if we are open-minded and can rationalise both sides of an argument, we often find ourselves sitting on the fence with our toes dipped in two worlds. Which is better, having convictions or empathy?

Lindsay Jordan, a senior lecturer at UAL, wrote her PhD thesis on the ethics of understanding and the connection between contradiction and disillusionment. She will talk to us about the controversy of fence-sitting and how it impacts our daily lives.

Tuning in all the way from New Zealand, Singaporean slam champion, poet, and multidisciplinary artist Deborah Emmanuel (@deborahthepoet) will be our guest performer.

Hosted by street art blogger Stuart Holdsworth (@inspiringcity), this assembly will also have some rocking tunes for you to sing and dance along to and a talk from a member of our community who is Trying Their Best.

Please stay after for tea and biscuits (provided by you!), and lively conversation with other members of the community via Breakout Rooms. Everyone is welcome.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FWiNPBBVb1I

All Together Now – a Mega Assembly

  • 20th September 2020, 11:00am

A whole load of lovely UK based Assemblies have joined together to use their combined powers of goodness to bring you a MEGA ASSEMBLY!

There’s going to be ALL the stuff – interesting speakers, poetry, singing and dancing, sparkles (please wear your best sparkly clothes, hats, headbands) and more hosts than you’ve had hot dinners (we might be exaggerating there).

[Plymouth, Manchester, Sheffield, Brighton, Edinburgh, London, East End]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=04Xwccx1smY

A Whole New World: Lessons We Learn From Musical Theatre

Musical theatre gets a bad rap. People say it’s corny, it’s too big and cartoonish, and characters burst into song and dance, seemingly out of the blue. Performers from other disciplines look down on musical theatre performers as being jacks of all trades and masters of none. But the worst accusation of all is that musicals are pure escapism and don’t tackle modern problems. The reality is that time and again, musical theatre has pushed the boundaries of what topics can be addressed in a public forum.

We are delighted to have Ray Rackham, writer, director, and owner of the popular London piano bar Overtures, as our main speaker. He will tell us about the ways musicals can not only entertain, but also teach us and challenge us to be the best we can be. Through musicals, we gain a better understanding of the world around us and how we can be a part of it.

Hosted by our own song-and-dance man, Sanderson Jones, this assembly will have a bunch of showstoppers for you to belt out, thanks to the Sunday Assembly London band and choir. And to celebrate National Poetry Day on 1 October, we will have special guest Fay Roberts doing a poetry reading.

Please stay after for tea and biscuits (provided by you!), and lively conversation with other members of the community via Breakout Rooms. Everyone is welcome.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aer2SrO1LlY

Why Money Matters

Talking about money makes many of us feel uncomfortable. We know we need it, but we wish we didn’t. We don’t want to know who has more or less than us. We’re not sure if we use it correctly, and often we feel shame over our irresponsible handling of money. And perhaps the most challenging thing about money is learning to place a clear value on our own time and skills.

To help us clear the air and make us feel better about money, our next assembly will feature a talk by “The Female Money Doctor”, Nikki Ramskill. Nikki is a NHS doctor specialising in women’s health, who in her spare time coaches people on financial matters on her award-winning blog and in one-to-one sessions. She believes that many physical and mental health issues are brought on by prolonged money problems that are ignored.

We’ve got some great money-themed songs lined up for you to sing along to, as well as a special performance by the SAL Choir. This assembly will be co-hosted by Stuart Holdsworth and Maddalena Tralli.

Please stay after for tea and biscuits (provided by you!), and lively conversation with other members of the community via Breakout Rooms. Everyone is welcome.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ew_9X4mKANU

The Miseducation of Britain

Every October, we celebrate the lives and accomplishments of notable Black people, and acknowledge the heavy toll Black people have taken throughout history for no reason other than the colour of their skin. But what happens on 1 Nov? Does Black history end? Do we return to ‘just history’?

Dr Nadena Doharty, a sociologist of education and lecturer at the University of Sheffield, believes Black History Month and the way it is approached in schools is too often tokenistic and deficit informed. In her talk, she will help us to understand how British schools and teachers, while they may have the best intentions, may still be reproducing these narratives, and what they can do to improve the curriculum to better incorporate the histories of people of colour.

Please stay after for tea and biscuits (provided by you!), and lively conversation with other members of the community via Breakout Rooms. Everyone is welcome.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7RajBBKg7IU

“The Gangs Matrix” Screening and Q&A with Kairon Edwards

  • 1st November 2020

Please join this meeting for a special screening of the 20-minute documentary “The Gangs Matrix” and stay after for a Q&A session with director Kairon Edwards.

The Power of the Pen

L J Flanders was a budding entrepreneur who found himself in a bit of tight spot: he had been sentenced to 14 months in prison. When you have a lot of time and only a small amount of space, what do you do? You look at the materials you have to hand: a pen, some paper, and your own body. With these three things L J developed his Cell Workout, which he turned into a book and self-published. L J will share his inspiring story with us and teach us how to find our own power.

Hosted by writer/poet Anj Cairns, this assembly will feature poetry by another former prisoner, David Breakspear, and of course rocking sing-alongs by the Sunday Assembly Band. Please stay after for tea and biscuits (provided by you!), and lively conversation with other members of the community via Breakout Rooms. Everyone is welcome.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fymyGs-_gYs

Everything is Awesome

  • 6th December 2020, 11:00am

Most of us played with Lego when we were kids. Some of us even grew up to be AFOLs- Adult Fans of Lego. Regardless, it’s hard to ignore the impact this one toy brand has had on global culture. What is it that makes it so compelling? Author Abbie Headon (Build Yourself Happy: The Joy of Lego Play) believes that Lego can be used as a tool to practice mindfulness, releasing us from our perceptions that play time is wasted time.

Co-hosted by writer/poet Anj Cairns and all-around nerd Matt Lockwood, this assembly will feature poetry provided by our amazingly creative community as well as fun sing-alongs by the Sunday Assembly Band. Please stay after for tea and biscuits (provided by you!), and lively conversation with other members of the community via Breakout Rooms. Everyone is welcome.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mUL8uEWtpQ

Matt’s Merry Quizmas

  • Tuesday 8th December 2020, 7:30pm

[ …]

Write for Your Life: writing for self-discovery and creativity

  • Wednesday 9th December 2020, 6:30pm

I’m delighted to be supporting Sunday Assembly London’s ’12 Days of Giving’ – All fees for this workshop will go to Sunday Assembly London.

Come along for fun writing exercises and discussion, for self-discovery and creativity.

We use free writing and discussion to explore different topics and themes. This combination of writing and sharing (always optional) never fails to connect those taking part in the joys and challenges of being human. It can also be a lot of fun and a great creative outlet.

Workshops are great for stress relief, confidence, and uncovering different perspectives and sometimes surprising insights. It’s also a lovely way to celebrate your ‘you’-ness and realise that you’re never alone when you have a pen in your hand.

No writing talent, knowledge or experience – and definitely no grammar – is required.

Registration for this event is only through RSVP’s to the Meetup event listing. This is to ensure security when using Zoom.

Writing can be insightful, and we might share things we write (always optional), but please note, this is not a therapy group and isn’t suitable for replacement of individual/group therapeutic work.

About me:
I’m Claire, a Write-for-Life Coach who helps people find, come back to and express themselves through writing. I’ve been running writing workshops and coaching for more than two years.

If you sit next to me long enough, I’ll have you doing a freewriting exercise, or two. I believe writing is the most useful tool we have, either to find, come back to or express ourselves. Oh, and to have fun.

I’ve been using freewriting for myself and to work with others for just over seven years.

You can find more info at https://www.cpsdayoff.com/ 

Christmas Jingles with Tanya

  • Thursday 10th December 2020, 7:30pm

https://www.facebook.com/events/177704110692092

Christmas Jumper Day

  • Friday 11 December 2020

Mitsky’s Festive Board Games

  • Saturday 12th December 2020, 2:00pm

Welcome to the Board Games Group! This will be our 33rd boardgames session during lockdown. So far we’ve played Drawfull 2, Spyfall, Can’t Stop, Codenames, Yaniv, Solo, Perudo, Hanabi, Saboteur and Sushi Go.

DM Mitsky for the zoom link.

Don’t worry if you can’t make it at the start as we generally play short quick games so people can join in at anytime.
It is worth having 2 devices charged as we use Zoom to communicate and play the games on the other screen.
Ideally use the larger screen/device to play games and the smaller for zoom.

If you haven’t already, setup a free account on https://en.boardgamearena.com/ as we often play games there.

This event is part of Sunday Assembly London’s “12 Days of Giving” and a suggested donation of £12, or whatever you can afford, will go towards this great charity which builds community – never been more needed!! https://justgiving.com/campaign/12-days 

12k walkathon

  • Sunday 13th December 2020

Due to current restrictions, the Sunday Assembly London Walking Group is not able to organise a walking tour as we usually do. Instead, we are inviting everyone to do a 12K Walkathon as part of Sunday Assembly London’s “12 Days of Giving” campaign.

Here’s out it works:
1) Plan a 12K-long route anywhere you like.
2) Do the walk anytime on 13 Dec.
3) Post pictures of your journey on this page. You can also include screenshots of travel trackers so we can see the route you took.

You can set up your own personal fundraising campaign on JustGiving so your friends and family can cheer you on: https://www.justgiving.com/sundayassembly
(click on the “Fundraise for us” button)

Or you can donate on the “12 Days of Giving” page: https://justgiving.com/campaign/12-days

Happy Trails!

Wake up and Dance with Claudia

  • Monday 14th December 2020, 7:30am

Dance your way into your day! This bitesize session will get you moving and celebrating life in whatever style you like! Wake Up & Dance is hosted by Claudia of Nobody’s Watching, who is starting a 30 day Wake Up & Dance challenge on January 2nd.

This event is in aid of Sunday Assembly and a suggested donation of £12, or whatever you can afford, will go towards this great charity which builds community – never been more needed!! https://justgiving.com/campaign/12-days 

Shake the Day Off with Claudia

  • Monday 14th December 2020, 6:30pm

Whatever day you’ve just had, this evening session will get you bouncing. We love to dance and cannot wait to shake Monday off and welcome the evening! The party will be hosted by Claudia of Nobody’s Watching.

Poetry Workshop: Giving

  • Wednesday 16th December 2020, 7:00pm

Join the Lively Poets for a workshop exploring what giving means, and all the ways we give.

The event is in aid of Sunday Assembly London and a suggested donation of £12, or whatever you can afford, will go towards our great charity which builds community – never been more needed!! https://justgiving.com/campaign/12-days 

Laughing while Crafting

  • Thursday 17th December 2020, 7:30pm

Join people from the Sunday Assembly London community for a fun evening of socialising and crafting activities. No previous experience required, but we will provide a list of materials you will need to make some of the crafts.

This will be a social evening whilst having a go at making some simple Chrismas decorations. Please have scissors, string, glue, cardboard – old cereal box and paper (even old newspapers) to hand and we can share our skills and stories.

This event is part of Sunday Assembly London’s “12 Days of Giving” and a suggested donation of £12, or whatever you can afford, will go towards this great charity which builds community, something that has never been more needed!! https://justgiving.com/campaign/12-days 

2021 Resolution Workshop with Annie

  • Friday 18th December 2020, 7:00pm

2020 has been one for the history books! Instead of looking back, it’s time to look forward. Annie will guide us as we explore our hopes and goals for the next year to come up with individual resolutions for what we want to achieve.

This event is part of Sunday Assembly London’s ’12 Days of Giving’ fundraising campaign and a suggested donation of £12, or whatever you can afford, will go towards this great charity which builds community, something that has never been more needed!! https://justgiving.com/campaign/12-days 

Yule Lockdown Rockdown!

  • Saturday 19th December 2020, 8:00pm

Sunday Assembly, a global network of secular communities that celebrates life under the motto “Live Better, Help Often, Wonder More” has a tradition of celebrating the winter holiday season with a big sing-along party (frequently featuring confetti cannons). This year, the pandemic has made it impossible for our beautiful communities to gather in person. So, for the first time ever, we will all come together at the same time around the world for one massive online event, from 9pm in Amsterdam to 9am the next day in New Zealand!

Join your fellow assemblers online! There will be singing, there will be talks, and there will be sharing of good tidings with our global community as we bring 2020 to a close. We welcome Assemblers old and new to come together to celebrate this holiday season.

Sunday Assembly founder Sanderson Jones and SA Nashville organizer Adam Newton will co-host the event as SA chapters from around the world contribute holiday songs, readings, and performances.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0z_w4XA2CRI

Hail Santa

  • Sunday 20th December 2020, 11:00am

For our last assembly of the year, we want to have a seasonal celebration! Since we can’t have our usual Yule Rock concert this year, we’re inviting members of our community to contribute poetry readings and musical performances that are meaningful to them. There will be a few special guest performances as well to be announced later!

Because of the current government restrictions, we cannot meet at Conway Hall, so our meeting will be held on Zoom instead, and livestreamed to YouTube.

Christmas Day Zoom Meetup

  • Friday 25th December 2020, 2:00pm

Hello, lovely people!

If you fancy having a virtual meet up to break-up Christmas day this is where we’ll be!

Pop into the Zoom room and say hi. Bring whatever you fancy to eat and drink or nothing at all. It’s going to be all laid back, so if you’re still in your pjs that’s good too.

If we don’t see you on the day have a MERRY CHRISTMAS.

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