In Praise of Secular Church Services

Posted: 07/01/2013 2:50 pm
Jerry DeWitt
Author, 'Hope after Faith: An Ex-Pastor's Journey from Belief to Atheism'

Last week, I hosted Louisiana's first ever truly "secular service," a Sunday service that was similar to a traditional church service by providing ministry to its participants in the form of music, fellowship, and a message from a person in a pastor type position -- but without any reference to the supernatural. The service, which was covered by The New York Times, helped spark a national debate about atheists adopting religious expression such as prayer.

But while the gathering in Louisiana's capital city had some of the hallmarks of a church service, it no more resembled a typical worship on a Sunday than a political rally or a sporting event. During the service, I played everything from Louis Armstrong's "What a Wonderful World" to fun.'s "We are Young" to genres native to my great state such as zydeco, all music that draws a sharp, unmistakable contrast from religious music that is meant to draw participants away from the here and now and toward the supernatural. Furthermore, in a religious service its leader is assumed to have supernatural guidance or empowerment whereas my service was driven by the idea that we're all equal participants.

All of this is what kept my secular service from becoming a religious service.

Indeed, my service was not about creating a religion among non-believers -- it was an attempt to build a community. Now, of course there are already many different kinds of secular communities in existence, from political activist groups to film- or book-oriented lecture series. But what I sought to do with my service was create an atmosphere akin to a fellowship where a high level of care for your fellow participant is required. One, after all, can participate in a meet-up or a lecture series one week and then not take part the next, which has little or no effect on the gathering itself. It's sort of like one empty seat at a big rock concert. In a fellowship, by contrast, there's an innate sense of responsibility within the family for one another's needs. The well-being of all is paramount.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jerry-dewitt/in-praise-of-secular-chur_b_3525958.html