Atheist Church (Yes!) Now Meets on Sunday

A news item from England has the headline, “What happens at an atheist church?”

Actually, I would suggest that atheist churches have been operating across the Western nations for a long time. By and large in the USA, public schools and secular universities have really become churches of humanism with many of the teachers and professors being the high priests of this church. In the UK, government-funded schools are not any better. In both nations, schools teach naturalism as fact, using the belief in evolution and millions of years as a supposed “scientific” justification for their atheistic (naturalistic) anti-God religion that they have imposed on generations of students. They legislate to protect their anti-God religion and allow no questions asked or any critical evaluation. It is sheer dogma!

By the way, there are some Christian missionaries in such school system, including some godly teachers—but they are by far the minority.

This latest news item details the formation of an atheist church that meets on Sunday. Why would they do this? Well, it’s really a part of an effort to fill the void in their lives because underneath it all they know God is the Creator and they have a conscience written on their hearts:

… because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse. (Romans 1:19–20)

… who show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and between themselves their thoughts accusing or else excusing them. (Romans 2:15)

In fact, I believe this biblical truth is illustrated in the BBC article where the reporter states, “The audience - overwhelmingly young, white and middle class - appear excited to be part of something new and speak of the void they felt on a Sunday morning when they decided to abandon their Christian faith.”

The article begins this way: “An ‘atheist church’ in North London is proving a big hit with non-believers. Does it feel a bit like a new religion?”

The reporter then states, “Not many sermons include the message that we are all going to die and there is no afterlife.”

This comment really sums it up for me. Atheists believe when they die they will cease to exist—which means they won’t know they were ever conscious beings—so what does that mean about life? It means it is totally meaningless and purposeless! But wait—the atheists are so aggressive in our world today to stop the Christian message. They are so active to protect their meaningless religion in educational institutions. Why do they even bother? If life is ultimately a meaningless existence for a short time—why do their efforts matter at all?

Their actions merely reinforce the fact that there is a spiritual battle going on and that they know in their hearts there is a God. So why are they so active to promote their meaningless religion and to oppose Christians? Well, it’s an illustration of Romans 1:18—they “suppress the truth in unrighteousness.”

This church, yes, meets on Sunday:

But the Sunday Assembly is no ordinary church service.

Launched last month, as a gathering for non-believers, it is, in the words of master of ceremonies Sanderson Jones, “part foot-stomping show, part atheist church, all celebration of life”.

Why would they meet on Sunday? I believe it is a way of shaking their fist at God—to make a mockery of the Christian celebration of Christ’s resurrection.

It reminds me of the time a few years ago when a group of atheists visited the Creation Museum and then met outside the gates to mock communion (in reality, to mock the death and resurrection of Christ). One of them was served Kentucky bourbon and a cheese cracker!

The atheist church doesn’t sing Christian hymns, of course, but as the article states, “Instead of hymns, the non-faithful get to their feet to sing along to Stevie Wonder and Queen songs.”

In reality they are worshiping man. Again, it is Romans 1 illustrated before our very eyes:

… who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. (Romans 1:25)

They even bow to “worship the creature.” The report states the following:

So we bow our heads for two minutes of contemplation about the miracle of life and, in his closing sermon, Jones speaks about how the death of his mother influenced his own spiritual journey and determination to get the most out of every second, aware that life is all too brief and nothing comes after it.

One can only smile at this statement:

“It’s not a church, it’s a congregation of unreligious people.”

They obviously crave the truth of God they are suppressing as illustrated in this statement:

Another attendee, Gintare Karalyte, says: “I think people need that sense of connectedness because everyone is so singular right now, and to be part of something, and to feel like you are part of something. That’s what people are craving in the world.”

And what is happening in England is also happening in America:

The number of people declaring themselves to be of “no religion” in England and Wales has increased by more than six million since 2001 to 14.1 million, according to the latest census. That makes England and Wales two of the most unreligious nations in the Western world.

The Devil always tries to copy the things of God and pervert them for his counterfeit religion:

And writer Alain De Botton has unveiled a Manifesto for Atheists, listing 10 virtues - or as the press has already dubbed them “commandments” - for the faithless. …

He argues for a new breed of secular therapists to take the place of the priesthood ...

There is a concern among some non-believers that atheism is developing into a religion in its own right, with its own code of ethics and self-appointed high priests.

As we’ve been saying for a long time, two-thirds of young people in America are leaving the church by college age—this has already happened in England. The article states that people in this church “decided to abandon their Christian faith.” And the next paragraph really sums it up—and should be a warning for the church in America, for this is the reality of what has happened in England and the reality of where the church in America is heading:

The Sunday Assembly certainly did better business than at the evangelical St Jude and St Paul’s Church next door, where about 30 believers gathered to sing gospel songs and listen to Bible readings.

And then this very telling statement:

But Bishop Harrison, a Christian preacher for 30 years, says he does not see his new neighbours as a threat, confidently predicting that their spiritual journey will eventually lead them to God.

“They have got to start from somewhere,” he says.

Hopeless! He has no clue that it’s really because of the church and its rampant compromise on God’s Word that these people are on a journey away from Christianity!  God’s people need to repent of compromising His Word and start preaching the Word with authority and countering the false arguments of our day that have brainwashed generations into not trusting the Bible, and only then will we even begin to reach these who have been lost from the church.

If you haven’t done so, I encourage you to read the book Already Gone, which discusses this youth exodus in detail and the remedies for a church that is losing the coming generations. You can read it online or purchase the book from our online store.

You can read the entire news item from England at this link.

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for praying,

Ken