Main Events

Spring is here, the clouds are gone and the sun is out (sometimes) so let’s PLAY! Not just because it is fun, but because playing is important.

The Assembly will feature two guest speakers, Marie Foulton and Rob Davis, in one action packed double bill. Marie Foulton runs the Wild Rumpus, an indie games night that turns video games into physical activities and encourages adults to rough-house. Her talk is why adults need to keep playing. Then Rob Davis (chief game designer and CEO of Playniac – a company that make ‘thinky games’) will teach us about game design through his mass participation game ‘Cat On Yer Head’

The special bank holiday service will also include a round of ‘Danish Clapping’ – the most fun two hands can have in a family friendly environment – and will finish with a potluck picnic and games aplenty for a super day of fun.

Sound fun? Yes. It does.

There will also be songs! And readings! And tea! And cake! And that magical thing that happens when good people get together to celebrate life!

For those who don’t know: The Sunday Assembly is the godless congregation for people who want to live better, help often and wonder more.

Also: brap.

Our change of venue

We are very sad to announce that The Sunday Assembly has been evicted from its venue, The Nave, by our landlord St. Paul’s Steiner School. A small faction within the school decided that The Sunday Assembly (motto: “Live better, help often and wonder more”) was antithetical to their own ethos.

The news of the eviction came on Friday, and we tried to find a way around, but sadly couldn’t. What makes this super aggravating is that it is only two weeks before the service on ‘Play’ and after the school had agreed to host the Assembly.

Sadly the committee members who took against the godless congregation didn’t spell out the precise reason for their disapproval. Was it novelist Sarah Dunant’s talk on the art of the Resurrection? Vicar Dave Tomlinson’s meditation on the power of metaphor and stories? Or the congregation singing Run Rabbit Run during April’s Easter service?

I’m still not quite sure how it happened. It was bizarre being part of primary school politics. Committee X got to rule us out because The Sunday Assembly hadn’t been raised in the minutes by Trustee Y. It felt like being involved in a poor man’s version of In The Thick Of It.

It is such a shame that it happened like that. We loved The Nave and really enjoyed being part of the community. However, do not worry, this exile to Holborn is a temporary blip. We will return! Pippa wanted to add: “A deconsecrated church with just the right level of shabby chic was perfect. If anyone else can suggest some venues we’d love to hear about them. We’re homeless. Help!”.

Luckily The Conway Hall, that bastion of humanism, has stepped in and agreed to host The Sunday Assembly on Sunday May 5^th.

What? An Easter service in an atheist church, that doesn’t seem right? Don’t worry, we’re as rational as they come but let’s not throw the baby out with the bathwater.

There have been spring festivals since time began, and wouldn’t it be a shame to lose 1400 years of British history over a minor theological difference? Yes. It would. Also, we love chocolate eggs!

11 am service. Speaker: Sarah Dunant

Sarah Dunant is a wonderful historian with expertise on the Borgias, the lives of 14th century nuns and Renaissance women.

1.30 pm service. Speaker: Dave Tomlinson

This wonderful vicar will talk about the power of stories, myths and metaphors as ways of seeing the world, and why humans have enjoyed the Easter tale.

Look at the About page, and you’ll see we’re looking into ways of hooking up The Assembly to some great community projects. Here we’ll outline how.

Bookended between an eternity of absolute nothingness, life should be white knuckle rollercoaster ride of sensory overload. But why does it feel like a drag?

We’re lining up a super scientist to talk about something that is guaranteed to make your brain go ‘Pop!’. Joining her will be Lucy Porter chatting about what it’s like when your little miracles (she owns two children) are also the grind. Plus more ways to wonder.

Our first assembly!

Starting things is so hard. There’s the dread of work, the bogeyman of failures past, and future, and all manner of mental booby traps that prevents you from getting going.

Luckily people like Andy Stanton, fantastic children’s author and creator of the cult Mr. Gum series, show that it can be done. Hear how his first book took almost a decade of dropping out and dead end jobs to write.

How our homepage described us at the time

The Sunday Assembly is a godless congregation that will meet on the first Sunday of every month to hear great talks, sing songs and generally celebrate the wonder of life. It’s a service for anyone who wants to live better, help often and wonder more.

Come on down to hear inspirational speakers and to enjoy a morning that is part-atheist church, part-foot stomping show.

Each event will have a theme – the first one is on ‘Beginnings’ on Sunday January 6th 2013 – with stories, readings and a final address on that topic.

No matter what the subject the goal of The Sunday Assembly is to solace worries, provoke kindness and inject a bit more whizziness into the everyday.

We meet in The Nave on St. Paul’s Road in de Beauvoir, between Hackney and Islington (for directions click here), and it will start at 11 am (latecomers go straight to HELL!). It would be a pleasure to see you there.