God is the great absent ” “

The formula is a “Sunday assembly”, a kind of “lay Mass” that enjoys a remarkable degree of popularity in the United Kingdom and in the rest of the world. Its secret is to stir relations in a Country where some 50% of the population, according to a recent survey, suffers from loneliness. Sermons, chants and lectures. Most of them are thirty to forty year-olds, well-trimmed, young professionals with an intellectual demeanor, who filled the hall of the Bright Helm Centre, a social centre in Brighton, on the Southern coast of England, to attend this year’s second “atheist Mass”. “200 participated in our first event, held in September”, said Joanna McQueen, 39-year-old nurse, one of the organizers. The evening opens with a brief sermon by stand-up comedian Sanderson Jones: “We want to help you lead a full life, since our motto is ‘Live better, help often, and wonder more”. Playing is the theme. Time to begin: a musical band plays songs with the rhythm of life like “Happy days” and “We are young, we are free”, that break the ice. In fact, most participants don’t know one another, and when they arrive they take seats alone. Organizers divide participants into couples. They clap their hands on their knees and lift them raising them to the left and to the right. When the hands of the couple are raised in the same direction, they extend them in front, clap them and look into each other’s eyes to get to know each other more and feel closer. After this game, a passage on the character of Pollyanna is read out loud, thus communicating – according to organizers – the importance of finding a positive side to all things. This is followed by a silent pause of a few minutes. The evening ends with the invitation not to miss next month’s appointment. To overcome loneliness. “Sunday assembly was born of the need to overcome isolation and create a community – McQueen said -. Loneliness is a major problem in Britain. We want to give a contribution by providing a place for people to meet”. Until now the churches were the only place where people could meet even without necessarily sharing the same interests or activity, as is the case of British clubs and charities, established to promote a given sport or volunteer work”, pointed out Simon Clare, civil engineer, 35, one of the organizers. “For many people who don’t believe in God and reject religion, our format reproposes Christian Mass with sermons, chants and contemplation”. A world tour. The formula seems to be successful, considering that actors Pippa Evans and Sanderson Jones have just left for a tour in 40 cities, from Edinburgh to Dublin, from Saint Francisco to Vancouver, from Sydney to Belfast. “We were in the car for a stand-up comedy performance”, said Sanderson Jones. “Pippa was telling me how much she missed the church she had attended as a girl while I felt the need to celebrate the fact of being alive, a endless source of renewed enthusiasm”. Thus the first “Sunday Assembly” was set up in an old church, in Islington, a neighbourhood in Northern London. In the world’s most secularized country “Sunday Assembly” is the first explicitly God-less religious service, which is nonetheless “tolerant” towards Christians, that include some of the organizers. Also Christians participate. Anita Mersden, 31, psychologist, attends services of the Church of England along with atheist Masses. “I like the capacity of Sunday Assembly of attracting hundreds of people and promote a community feeling. There are many people who want to make this world a better place, who believe in compassion and generosity but don’t believe in God”, she said. Her words are echoed by Simon Clare. “We identify ourselves in the humanistic philosophy but not in the style of atheism of Richard Dawkins. We believe that a truly secularised person will leave space to religions while protecting Christians’ right to practice their faith”.